Magnus Nillson's Fäviken to close in December

Magnus Nillson is set to close his flagship restaurant, Fäviken, the chef and author of The Nordic Cookbook told The LA Times.

The restaurant, arguably Sweden's most revered, took reservations until April 1st and is fully booked until its closure on December 14th - a deliberate decision by the chef, who didn't want to attract hoards of wistful customers in the its final months.

Chef Magnus Nilsson of Fäviken and World’s Best Female Chef Ana Roš at Food On The Edge 2017

He said: “In every strategic way, this is not a wise decision,” said Nilsson. “But what’s the reason that someone runs a restaurant like Fäviken? Because you want to; it’s entirely driven by passion.”

Magnus' first restaurant, Fäviken, has been showered with praise since it opened in 2008. It was one of the first to be featured on the Netflix hit series Chef's Table as well as on Anthony Bourdain's Mind of a Chef.

Located in the historical province of Jämtland in central Sweden, near the chef's hometown of Östersund, Fäviken belongs to a local couple, and originally served moose fondue for large groups.

Now, the restaurant and inn caters to guests for every meal, offering 30-course tasting menus in the evening, made up of ingredients foraged, grown and preserved by the team of 40 working there.

“I’ve always known that Fäviken was not going to be forever,” the chef said.

“That's not really a revelation, because it applies to all restaurants and all businesses and really everything.”

While he admitted the decision to close was a selfish one, but doesn't want to hand it over to the team and let it become what he calls "a museum."

“I'm not leaving because I'm discontent with the restaurant. I’m just leaving because I'm done with it. Because I want to do other things," he said.

As for the future, the chef said he plans on tending to a 44-acre, WWII-era orchard he and his wife recently purchased, learning more about gardening by doing workshops.

Owner Patrick Brummer didn't confirm plans to launch a restaurant elsewhere, but said that running a restaurant on Fäviken's premises without Magnus was out of the question.

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