Rooms of Affection
Clara Wedholm´s Dream Kitchen
By: xxx Published: d/m/Y
Image courtesy Layered. Photographer Jimmy Eriksson. Stylist Sofia Hjem.“My dad hangs on the wall in the kitchen and monitors us so that we never serve any fast food. Perhaps that explains why we have never had sandwiches for dinner but always cooked food, although sometimes very simple”
Clara grew up in her father’s kitchen, the late Bengt Wedholm’s restaurant, Wedholm’s Fisk in Stockholm. An institution and landmark in Stockholm’s nightlife still many years after Bengt’s passing. The undersigned remembers high school Friday afternoons with Clara, sitting together in the bar at Wedholms Fisk, enjoying the classic bouillabaisse while planning the night out with friends. In contrast to the restaurant’s eminent guests, our dress code was rather flip-flops and sweatpants, which meant that as soon as the restaurant started to fill up with guests, we slipped out through the kitchen and into the evening.
Growing up in a restaurateur family with a father nurturing a deep interest and a great taste for everything involving great food and fresh, high-quality ingredients and a mother caring equally as much about the table setting and the importance of fresh flowers in the kitchen, has clearly left its marks on Clara.
The old menus from favorite restaurants decorating the walls and the collection of rare cookbooks (only bought for inspiration– following recipes is not Clara’s strength) in her new home, are just a few of many details revealing that Clara has it in her blood.
The kitchen has always been the heart of Clara’s home, wherever she’s laid her hat, so when moving into this new apartment together with her husband Gustav and their all together four children, the kitchen was the highest priority for the family to finish first of all the rooms that needed to be painted and decorated.
We wanted the kitchen to feel like any other room and not so typically kitchen-like. Our dream was to fit in a large, striped sofa, but unfortunately, there was too little space.
Cutlery with BW initials, collection of old cookbooks and ceramics. Vintage glassware.
Instead, they found a vintage bookshelf in teak that would become the center of attention in the kitchen. The Poul Cadovius ”Royal System” shelf and panel found at Lauritz, turned out to be just the perfect element for adding a cozy and warm feel to the room without losing any of the charms that is already sitting in the walls.
After all, we live in a house from the 17th century situated in the Old Town so we feel it’s important to respect and preserve parts of that atmosphere and mysticism. Living here is like living in the old quarters of Rome!
I spend a large part of my free time on auction sites, always looking for something special to add to the collection.
Dining chairs, Wegner CH30P, some of them upholstered with a vintage Gucci fabric. Tabletop custom ordered from brother Thörner. Table base designed by Clara and Gustav and crafted by furniture designer Peter Lindquist. Porcelain from Wedholm’s Fisk and inherited classic coffee set. In the background, the Bruno leather armchair, designed by Mats Theselius in 1997 for Källemo.We think it is just as important which ingredients you use in your cooking as how you present your dish on the plate, not to forget the table setting and the atmosphere around a dining table. We love to gather family and friends in our home so we chose a large, round table because we think round tables give such a wonderful dynamic to a dining area and open up for more spontaneous conversations.
Actually, I dream of opening a small fish restaurant. But with four kids I realize the timing is not right just now, but maybe in the near future…
Clara Wedholm, as told to Linnéa Bach Gärde, December 2022.