Brasserie 1742

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Art Glass Dining in the Heart of the Swedish Glass Kingdom

One floor below the famous glass bar at Kosta Boda Art Hotel, Brasserie 1742 has carved out something genuinely singular: a brasserie where fine dining and the centuries-old craft of Swedish glassmaking are inseparable. Every dish arrives on tableware produced at Kosta Glasbruk, just a short walk from the restaurant, making the glassware as much a part of the meal as what rests upon it.

The concept — which the restaurant calls "art glass dining" — earned recognition from the White Guide, whose reviewers praised the kitchen's ambition and the seamless integration of all the senses. What struck them immediately was a Wagyu beef tartare with Osetra caviar, presented on an upturned candleholder: elegant, precise, and quietly theatrical. The evening continued with lobster and scallops grilled over birch charcoal from northern Sweden, served alongside a shellfish consommé that the guide described as mouth-watering. Further courses brought baked cod with cauliflower purée and mussel sauce, then fallow deer with seared foie gras, bone marrow, roasted beetroot, truffle and a veal-bone jus. A blood-orange granita clears the palate before a lingonberry bavaroise with pear cream, honey tuile and hazelnut forest ice cream closes the menu.

That menu — six courses at 1 895 kr per person — changes several times a year to follow the seasons, with ingredients selected for both quality and provenance. Wine pairings are offered at three tiers, from a three-glass selection to a deluxe five-glass package, and the White Guide noted the cellar is well-stocked and the pairings consistently satisfying.

The room itself matches the ambition of the kitchen: elegance and rusticity in balance, with glass as the unifying thread throughout the décor and the table setting. Service, according to the guide, is impeccable — a notable feat given how busy the wider hotel tends to be on a Friday evening, which is the one night the brasserie opens each week.

For a small village in Småland, Kosta already punches well above its weight with a renowned glassworks and an art hotel. That it also houses a kitchen of this calibre makes Brasserie 1742 worth planning a trip around.