Primo Ciao Ciao - a Södermalm afternoon

I’ve already apologized once (to my diary) so this seems a bit redundant, but here goes – “I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while”. Alright, now for what you’ve all been waiting for, a bonafide ToucanSam GCL post…

Today it was sunny in Stockholm. Since this only happens about once every other week, I try to go outside and generate as much Vitamin D as my sun-deprived body can manage. I decided to pair this experience with a walk through Stockholm's Södermalm neighborhood. Lonely Planet describes it as “Stockholm’s coolest ‘hood, jammed with up-and-coming boutiques … it melds indie cool with old-school Söder shab”. Its as if Stockholm heard ToucanSam was coming and decided to he needed a place to ‘roost’. (that’s the last one, I promise)

My first stop after getting off the T was 6/5/4 (Nytorgsgatan 27), one of the many aforementioned ‘up-and-coming boutiques’. This one attempted to combine a surf shop with designer clothes (think Penguin and Red Collar Project) and a café. Of course I felt a little out of place because my jeans looked more like jeans rather than male leggings but the concept works. If I’m ever in the need of stripped Waldo socks, a longboard and Italian coffee, I know exactly where to go. And now, so do you.

Just down the street from 6/5/4 is Primo Ciao Ciao (Bondegatan 44). Its chalkboard listing the day’s lunch specials included the Bagarens (Baker's) Special vegetarian pizza for 80SEK (~$11.20) with unlimited side salad and bread piqued this food critic’s interest. Apologies for the more than usual number of photos but the restaurant is worth seeing.

I was starting to figure out what made Södermalm different; like 6/5/4, Primo Ciao Ciao was not just a restaurant. It was a mini Italian grocery store that managed to squeeze a deli and the obligatory Italian-made espresso machine all into in a very small area. Your favorite demanding Swedish customer was beginning to get the picture, he needed to start drinking way more expensive Italian coffee.

I sat at the window at the seats meant for parties of one. The pizza arrived just as I was finishing the side salad (in this case side salad is misleading, it was basically cabbage pickled in vinegar and salt). Let me take a moment here and try to describe this pizza in all its pfefferoni (banana pepper) glory. Sure this is no Sarpino’s (627 West Lake Street) or even Piece with their sublime, some might even say pugnacious, hot banana peppers; but I will argue this Bagarens Special should be proud to stand up and announce itself. The rödlök (red onions) combined with artistic splotches of grön pesto (green pesto) and the whole, unadulterated, yet still somehow de-juiced banana peppers made the pizza bold and irresistible.

The whole experience only lasted about 30 minutes because, let’s face it, without a newspaper or book for companionship, sitting at the window ledge can get boring fairly quickly. Plus, there were more combination boutiques to discover…