Volante
The Greek gods would find Panos Panos Tavern’s menu flavoursome, while Jacy’z hits the mark for being trendy. Jack Yan takes in Göteborg after two decades away
Photographed by the author
It wasn’t the easiest to book what would be a pleasant train ride from Stockholm to Göteborg. The SJ site for Sweden’s national railway seemed less efficient in 2024 than in 2010, with errors popping up, leading you to wonder if the bookings had been done, if it were not for the email confirmations. But, it was a nice, effortless journey through the countryside, considering I drove there on my last visit 21 years ago. In the interests of carbon emissions, and one’s own alertness, it was far easier to mask up and train down.
The quality of the train is largely what one would expect, free of the disappointment that greeted us when flying SAS earlier in the summer, and arrival at Göteborg’s central station revealed a breezier, clearer climate, without the uncharacteristic humidity that had hit the capital.
This was our chance to sample two things that we had wanted to in Göteborg: Panos Papadopoulos’s latest venture, the Panos Panos Tavern, and the accommodations at the city’s trendy new hotel, Jacy’z.
Some readers will know that Panos and I have known each other for over two decades, and last year we won an award for his autobiography at the Business Book Awards 2023. I knew his fashion (and everyone I ever gifted Panos swimwear to uniformly said it was the most comfortable they had ever worn), but I didn’t know his food.
Near enough to the city centre but without being inundated with its crowds, the Panos Panos Tavern (Teknologgatan 3, panostavern.se) aims to offer authentic Greek food with its special Greek hospitality. A nondescript exterior hid what awaited inside, with surroundings that felt incredibly familiar. Photos from Panos’s history as ‘the king of swimwear’, the title given to him by the Swedish press in the 1990s, adorned the walls, while to the left of the entrance were copies of the book he and I worked on for many months in 2021. I finally saw the certificate we jointly won—the Awards’ organizers said there would only be a single one issued—and it was particularly fitting that I had brought along the paperback edition, newly published this year.
But this establishment does not trade on that earlier career, it trades on the quality of its food, and on that I cannot fault it.
Of course having the proprietor there personally suggesting food helps, but we were aided, too, by the quality of his staff. Panos tells me that he has a high staff-to-customer ratio as he wants people to enjoy themselves: being someone who has dined in fine establishments, he has an innate sense of the touchpoints of a restaurant’s quality.
Flavoursome, fragrant and memorable—the feta, kalamarakia (squid rings), halloumi, souvlaki, kotopoulo (marinated chicken), and the classic moussaka were all done to what must amount to the Greek gods’ approval. If not the gods, then certainly Kroisos. Having grown up in a Greek neighbourhood—probably one of the things that Panos and I found common ground on when we first met—I knew this was the real thing, and you could not help but ask for seconds. The desserts were equally wholesome, whether one tried the homemade orange pie with vanilla ice-cream (portokalopita) or the sorbet, as are the craft beers on offer, created with Panos’s direct input: an IPA (called Agapi) or a lager (Eros).
Whilst in London even earlier in the summer, I had wound up with a tummy bug, which the Panos Panos Tavern seemed to heal with food on the top end of the quality scale. Maybe Hygieia had a hand in it?
With hindsight I should have grabbed some more of the fresh breads, which, unlike bread in so many other places, was easily digestible, and the pasta à la grec would be the next must-try on the list. When the Tavern returns from its August break, we suggest readers who are visiting do.
Jacy’z (Drakegatan 10) proved to be a very different establishment to the traditional inner-city hotel that we had sampled in Stockholm. A new development by Erik Selin, it had trendy architecture on the outside, something which carried through internally, with startling artworks in the corridors and in the rooms. The rooms themselves were narrow—many Swedish hotel rooms we’ve sampled are on the compact side—but with decent air conditioning and comfort. The television menu did present some confusion: when first getting in, a lot more Swedish TV channel apps were present, but we never got that menu back, instead being restricted to the Jacy’z home screen and whatever was on there (which meant no SVT, the national network).
The beds were on the soft side, but the air conditioning was so welcome, even if Göteborg was milder than Stockholm this summer.
Jacy’z à la carte breakfast was excellent, with many tastes catered for, and it proved to be one of the most substantial we’d encountered for its range. You’d normally have to be in Asia to see a selection this wide, with continental, cooked meats, cereals, non-dairy milks and fresh, in-season fruit.
Not having to drive meant relaxing a bit more in the city, absorbing the statues such as Poseidon at the top of Avenyn, surrounded by the concert hall, city theatre and art museum; and the 11 m high Kopparmärra of King Karl IX atop a horse, and enjoying the rivers. The air is remarkably clean, too: Panos tells us that there are only two petrol stations nearby as they are all closing. Having a petrol station is a sunset industry here, and evidently so as we spy not just his EV, but so many others on the streets of Sweden’s second city—more so than in the capital. Chinese EVs make more of an appearance, as do Teslas and Toyota hybrids, plus various electric-only Volvos and Mercedes-Benzes. Almost all its trams run on renewable energy, if you prefer public transport.
It was a relatively short stay compared with Stockholm, and we did eat elsewhere that didn’t merit mentioning for our readers. Göteborg remains a walkable, liveable place, and no wonder Panos bases himself here rather than the larger Stockholm, which he prefers to visit when needed. Göteborg’s freshness and ease of living makes it an attractive location, where one can unwind more readily without losing the conveniences of being in a city. •
Jack Yan is founder and publisher of Lucire.
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