Stallmästaregården is the oldest surviving inn in the Stockholm area, serving the same purpose since the mid-17th century. Queen Christina used to frequently ride and hunt in the vicinity. When she passed by Stallmästare Håkansson's farm with her entourage one day in 1645, she was taken by the beauty of the house and its surroundings and decided to celebrate Midsummer there. The news spread throughout the city, and thereafter, the smart stable master Ebbe Håkansson decided to open an inn.
Håkansson ran his inn for fourteen years, and after his death, it transformed into a more traditional tavern serving beer and spirits. In 1672, the customs office was relocated to the intersection of Norrtullsgatan, Uppsalavägen, and the heavily trafficked winter road across Brunnsviken. This significantly improved business opportunities.
Despite numerous changes, the estate has preserved its typical 18th-century character. The original ceiling and wall paintings from around 1735 are still intact inside the building. At the initiative of Lucas Booger (falconer at the court of Frederick I), the eastern building, known as Tingshuset (Courthouse), was added, the inn was raised by one floor, and the terrace facing Brunnsviken was created. Booger also had the small octagonal 17th-century pleasure house moved here and planted four lime trees, of which two still remain today. This arrangement has been called "Queen Christina's leafy hall."
Stallmästaregården - view from Brunnsviken 1879, by G. Forsell
In 1840, the business was taken over by Pierre Bichard, once a chef for King Charles XIV John and a restaurateur at Hasselbacken. The hugely popular winter horse races in Brunnsviken also began during this time, often followed by drinking parties at the inn.
From 1884 to 1906, the Southern Roslagen district court held its sessions in a banquet hall added to the eastern building in 1815 until they obtained their own building in Hagaparken. Ever since, the hall is called the Court House and is used today for parties and conferences.
In the 1920s, the western building was expanded when a single-story dining room, known as the Hagapaviljongen, was erected facing Brunnsviken according to Carl Åkerblad's designs. In 1950 Tore Wretman, a chef and restaurateur, took over Stallmästaregården. Wretman is known for introducing cooking to men in Sweden, and his work as a restaurateur founding several of Stockholm's most popular restaurants. He is also known for creating Toast Skagen, an iconic Swedish starter. During his time, the inn got more or less the style it has maintained up until today.
The inn has seen many famous patrons over the years, including Carl Michael Bellman (a famous Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer), Johan Tobias Sergel (a well-known Swedish neoclassical sculptor), Esaias Tegnér (Swedish writer, professor of the Greek language, and bishop), and Johan August Strindberg (world-famous Swedish playwright, novelist, poet and essayist). Stallmästaregården has also witnessed a number of remarkable events, from duels (between Portugal's minister de Soto Maior and a British diplomat Baker in front of the restaurant in 1857) to spy stories (the infamous spy Stig Bergling had dinner here with his wife Elisabeth in 1987 the night before they fled to the former Soviet Union, read more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stig_Bergling).
Since 1988, Stallmästaregården has been owned by the Swedish hotel and restaurant industry entrepreneur Alessandro Catenacci. He owns several of Sweden's most renowned restaurants, such as Café Opera and Operakällaren. The restaurant serves modern home-cooked food with influences from both traditional cuisine and new Swedish flavors, with an emphasis on organic and locally sourced ingredients in a classic 18th century atmosphere. Since 2000, there is also a small boutique hotel under the same name on the premises.
