The intention at The Flying Elk was to replicate a classic British pub atmosphere in Stockholm – now I don’t hang out in the best areas of town, but if they wanted to recreate my local, designers sandellsandberg should have added a couple of fruit machines and a few sacks of dog hair. Still, whether or not the firm has nailed the authenticity is neither here nor there when what it has come up with is so nice.
Divided into two bars – Gaston and Corner Club – The Flying Elk boasts an upmarket, modern look with burnt oak panels set against marble, and polished copper against a verdigris furniture set, which is all a welcome departure from my pub experiences. Something I can relate to is the Elk philosophy of, in their own words, “talking shit”; the pub is named after a tall tale dating back to the 1600s of a gigantic moose with a crown of thorns that kept on impossibly eluding his trappers at the last second. I don’t know how that story ends – maybe the beast was signed up for Santa’s sleigh team – but it beats the standard “I caught a fish this big” yarns hands down.
