Tre Kronor   

3258 W Foster Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
773-267-9888
www.swedishbistro.com

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'Everything's homemade,' according to co-owner Larry Anderson. Tre Kronor is a Swedish and Norwegian restaurant owned by Anderson, who is Swedish, and his wife Patty Rasmussen, who is Norwegian. The restaurant is a family affair, the majority of the staff being relatives. Tre Kronor literally means 'three crowns,' referring to the formation of Sweden from three neighborhing kingdoms. Anderson says that the three-crown symbol is a symbol of Sweden just like the American bald eagle is a symbol of the United States. For dinner, fresh flowers are placed on all the tables. The menu for dinner changes all the time, but free appetizers and desserts are served with each ordered entree. Tre Kronor has regular-sized sandwiches, small smorgasbord sandwiches, pickled herring, lamb dishes, 'potatiskorv' (potato sausage), 'falukorv' (literally, veal sausage, but now made with beef and pork), and 'gravlax' (unsmoked lox). The breakfast menu includes Danish pastry, omelets, French toast and Swedish pancakes with the traditional Swedish topping--lingonberries. Lingonberries are hard to find, and are imported from the mountains of Sweden. Tre Kronor has an authentic, comfortable European feel with wooden floors, a troll mural on the wall and neatly hung white lace curtains on the windows. The counter is nestled in a nook with a wooden cottage roof, a candle chandelier, and wassau bread hanging from the roof, just like it used to be hung in Swedish homes. The restaurant has a mantel containing Bing and Grondahl blue and white porcelain plates, and hand-painted red, wooden Dala horses. On the walls there is an embroidered Norwegian Christmas scene and prints of Carl Larsson paintings. Larsson painted scenes of family life in the country and is Sweden's most famous painter. In the window, there's a miniature Viking ship donated by a customer. (Many of the plates on the mantel are also donated.) 'We're the best bargain in town,' said Anderson, who has experience working in fine dining restaurants. 'Here for $10 you can get salmon, salad, vegetables, and potatoes and everything's homemade.' In the evening the lights are turned down, and the tables are lit by candlelight. 'There are three Swedish restaurants in the city, but we're the most authentic,' he said. 'We're the one that the Swedes come to.'