Gates Wretman

Gates Wretman

Tore Fredrik Wretman (born May 7, 1916 in Lidingö , Stockholm County ; † February 13, 2003 in Stockholm ;) residing in Mougins , Provence , was a Swedish restaurateur. Wretman was a co-founder of the Gastronomiska academies and owner of plate number 9 . He was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy in 1962 and professors namn in 2000. He was particularly committed to the renewal of Swedish cuisine .

biography

Wretman was the son of the writer Harald Wretman and Helga Nordström and the nephew of the writer Tora Nordström-Bonier .

In 1932, at the age of 16, Wretman began an apprenticeship as a chef at the Hotel Continental in Stockholm. The following year he worked as a bartender at the bar des Operakällare . At this time he met the wine merchant Fredrik König, who got him a job at Maxim's in Paris in 1933 . There he learned the basics of French cuisine under the chef Louis Barth and the restaurant chef Albert Blaser. He worked as a clerk Saucier , Poissonnier and after a few years as Trancheur in the dining room.

In 1937 Wretman worked as a bar master in the Soleil de Minuit restaurant in the Swedish Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris, where he made the acquaintance of Sara Reuterskiöld , who hired him as head chef for her newly opened Regenbågen restaurant . The employment was short-lived as Wretman served his military service in the Svea Livgarde from the end of 1937 .

After compulsory military service, Wretman spent a few years in the United States. In 1942 he hired the Finnish cargo ship S / S Winha to return to Sweden via neutral Finland. However, the ship was boarded north of Iceland by the British Armed Forces and brought to Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands . From there, Wretman was taken to a detention center in London and then released again. Due to the war, however, he was unable to return to Sweden. Until his return to Sweden in 1943 he worked as a receptionist in a hotel in Great Britain.

From 1943 to 1944 Wretman worked as a restaurant manager at Operakällaren . In 1945, at the age of 29, he bought the Riche restaurant on Birger Jarlsgatan . The place was shabby and Wretman carried out various renovations. The restaurant was split up and given another entrance on Nybogatan, where a new restaurant was built, the Teatergrillen . The restaurant quickly became one of the most popular spots in Stockholm.

Operakällaren 2009

Five years later, Wretman took over Stallmästaregården which, with major changes, he made one of the best houses in Sweden. In 1955, Wretman also took over the Operakällaren . After extensive renovation and conversion work, the company was opened in 1961 with Werner Vögeli as head chef. Also the Operakällaren quickly became one of the leading restaurants in Sweden.

family

Wretman was married to actress Lillebil Kjellén in his first marriage from 1945 to 1953 . His daughters Ann-Sofie and Charlotta came from this marriage. A second time Tore Wretman was married to actress Meg Westergren . With her he had two sons, Fredrik Wretman and Malin Wretman Krüll. The marriage lasted from 1953 to 1971. From 1971 onwards Wretman was married to the flight attendant Ewa Wilkmar with whom he had two other sons, Johan and Filip.

Merits

Tore Wretman played a big role in the public through his commitment to Swedish cuisine. From 1950 he designed the radio show Novisen vid spisen (novices at the stove) together with Folke Olhagen . The collaboration was later continued on television. The programs were of great importance in establishing upscale Swedish gastronomy and, last but not least, Wretman was able to inspire a lot of men who had not been particularly interested in the kitchen up to now. With his instinct for gastronomy in general, his training in French cuisine and his interest in Swedish home cooking, he led the previously rather ambitious Swedish cuisine to a more continental, Central European level. Numerous ingredients, preparation methods and recipes bear his signature. He revived the Swedish Smörgåsbord and introduced new foods and ingredients such as avocado and green pepper into Swedish cuisine.

Honors

Wretman was made an honorary doctorate in philosophy and a hedge professor of gastronomy by Umeå University . He was appointed a member of the Commanderie des Cordons Bleus de France and was a founding member of the Gastronomiska academies . In addition, in 2002 Wretman was honored with a commemorative stamp in the Swedish Gastronomy series .

bibliography

• Ur främmande grytor. 1953.
• Menu. 1958.
• Svensk husmanskost. 1966, ISBN 91-7424-649-6 .
• På tal om mat. 1970.
• Bjudningsboken I. 1973.
• Bjudningsboken II. 1974.
• Smörgåsbordet. 1976, ISBN 91-37-08249-3 .
• The Swedish Smörgåsbord. 1970, ISBN 91-37-08251-5 .
• Festival meny. 1980, ISBN 82-03-10747-8 .
• Mat & minnen. 1987, ISBN 91-7160-834-6 .
• Om den arbara vällusten. 1988.
• Kökspojken. 1996, ISBN 91-518-3052-3 .

swell

1. ↑ Jörg Zipprick: The inventors of good taste. Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-8387-4535-0 .
2. ↑ gastronomiskaakademien.akademierna.se
3. ↑ umu.se ( Memento of the original from August 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ WRETMAN, TORE F, källarmästare, Sthlm i Vem är Vem? / Stor-Stockholm 1962 / s 1425.
5. ↑ Sveriges Dödbok, 1901–2009. DVD-ROM, version 5.00, Sveriges Släktforskarförbund, 2010, ISBN 978-91-87676-57-4 .
6. ↑ wretmanestate.com
7. ↑ Svenska Kockars Förening gates Wretman medalj. on: medalj.nu