Photo: Erik Nissen Johansen
Restaurant of the Month, Sweden
Flamboyant cocktails in a quirky pharmacy — just what the doctor ordered When strolling around the picturesque Old Town, Gamla Stan, on your visit to Stockholm, you’ll soon find yourself at the famous square Stortorget. Opposite the Nobel Museum, in amongst haphazardly scattered, colourful old houses is a place of magic, dating back to the year 1575 – an old pharmacy turned cocktail bar, where some of the medicinal herbs are turned into the most divine cocktails with an unexpected twist. Pharmarium is the talk of the town. By Ulrika Kuoppa-Jones | Photos: Pharmarium
Even if you’re not a history buff, Stortorget in Gamla Stan will spark a fascination with the past. You can almost hear precarious hoofs trotting past on the cobbled streets. The cannonball fired in 1520 at the Danish King 112 | Issue 128 | September 2019
Christian Tyrant can still be seen in one of the walls surrounding the square, once the place of the infamous Stockholm Bloodbath. Stortorget is riddled with history – there’s no escaping it.
With that in mind, six years ago, the creators of Pharmarium set upon recreating the atmosphere of the pharmacy’s past. Sweden’s first apothecary, Master Lucas, was cleverly placed on these premises in 1575. Only a stone’s throw away from the royal palace, it could offer help in haste in case of emergencies. Lucas’ successor, Anthonius Busenius, looked after the famous King Gustav Vasa, the king who, legend has it, skied 90 kilometres cross-country through the forest to escape Danish soldiers, later commemorated in the world’s biggest ski race, Vasaloppet.