The Restaurant

Monday May 7, 1945 – the Second World War finally comes to an end and a new, brighter future beckons. In the midst of central Stockholm celebrations, two strangers come together with a quick kiss, parting company immediately after. Upper-class girl Nina and kitchen hand Calle don’t yet know that their brief encounter will come to have tumultuous consequences.

The Restaurant (2017-2021) is a Swedish period drama series created by Ulf Kvensler, Malin Nevander and Johan Rosenlind for SVT1. Set in Stockholm in 1945, the story begins on the night the Second World War ends, when upper-class Nina (Hedda Stiernstedt) shares a quick kiss with kitchen hand Calle (Charlie Gustafsson) and then parts from him without knowing the encounter will carry tumultuous consequences. Their story pulls them across class lines, with a restaurant as the place where their lives and those of the staff and family around them keep colliding. Ethel Jonsson (Anna Bjelkerud) and Peter Löwander (Adam Lundgren) add further threads of work, loyalty and family pressure. The engine of the show is the push and pull between romantic longing and the rigid expectations of wealth and status in a city trying to rebuild its sense of normal. Across four seasons of episodic arcs, the drama leans on everyday workplace friction and family secrets. The tone is warm and emotional, with a nostalgic glow over postwar optimism tempered by class resentment. Fans of Downton Abbey and The Paradise will find resonance in its period setting, ensemble staffing and romantic tension.

• Downton AbbeyPost-war Stockholm class divide, upper-class and working-class lives colliding, Swedish period drama tone
• The BridgeScandinavian period drama, ensemble of ordinary and privileged characters, serialized melodrama
• The ParadiseSerialized period drama with romance and class tension in a restaurant or service setting

Created by

Ulf Kvensler, Malin Nevander, Johan Rosenlind

Release Date

2017-10-02

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

8.2 / 10 (27)

What is The Restaurant about?

In postwar Stockholm, a chance kiss between an upper-class girl and a kitchen hand sets off a restaurant-centered drama of class and romance.

What is The Restaurant like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Restaurant as measured, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is The Restaurant violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Restaurant.

Which shows are like The Restaurant?

Shows with a similar feel include Downton Abbey, The Bridge, and The Paradise.

How long is The Restaurant?

The Restaurant: 4 seasons, 32 episodes.

Is The Restaurant still running?

No, The Restaurant has ended.

Where can I watch The Restaurant?

In United States, The Restaurant streams on Philo, Spectrum On Demand, WETA+.