Smorgas Chef

New York, United States

3.9

Closed now

21 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 212-422-3500
Website:
www.smorgas.com
Address:
53 Stone St, New York, NY, 10004
b/t Hanover Sq & Coenties Aly
Financial District
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
790 ftBroad Street (J,Z)
810 ftWhitehall-South Ferry (R)
860 ftParada de South St/Whitehall St bus M15
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Brunch, Lunch, Dinner
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (New York) 23:10 Friday, 20 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Scandinavian cuisine – with a focus on fresh, unprocessed, and sustainable ingredients – showcases delicate, yet nuanced flavors such as cloudberries, herring, and lingonberries, all regular features on the Smörgås Chef menu. Starters include 72-​Hour Aquavit Cured Gravlaks with mustard sauce; Parsnip Soup with roasted apples, kasha, and farm yogurt; and Herring Quartet, four flavors of herring, lefse (potato wraps), and Swedish potato salad. The menu also presents a Classic Smörgåsbord, gravlaks, Jansson’s potato, Swedish meatballs, herring, apple-​beet salad, and dill cucumbers.

Main course dining features Heritage Pork Chop with butternut squash and maple glaze root vegetables; Icelandic Cod, accompanied by Swiss chard, potato, and herb purée; and Swedish Meatballs, made with local heritage pork and grass-​fed beef, served with mashed potatoes, pickled red cabbage, grädd (cream) sauce, and lingonberry.

History

Established in 2003.

Founded by Norwegian Restaurateur, Farmer and Entrepreneur Morten Sohlberg and wife/​Partner Min Ye, Smörgås Chef Restaurant Group has demonstrated a dedication to sustainable and refined farm-​to-​table dining. Today, Smörgås Chef is a multiunit restaurant group, with locations in the Financial District and Park Avenue at the Scandinavian House. In addition to using methods such as pickling, curing, and smoking in his new Nordic cuisine, Sohlberg focuses on the flavors of the season through organic ingredients grown specifically for the restaurant at their farm Blenheim Hill Farm in the Catskills. «Eating locally has always been a main tenet of Scandinavian food,» he says. «In everything we do, we come back to this idea of being responsible stewards of the land and its resources. We want our guests to enjoy all-​natural, locally grown ingredients from our own farm.»

Meet the Business Owner

Morten S.

Business Owner

Mr. Sohlberg is the founder of Smorgas Chef Restaurant Group which currently operates 2 Smorgas Chef locations in Manhattan, as well as Crepes Du Nord, «farm to table» creperies with locations in New York and New Jersey, Blenheim Restaurant in the West Village and Blenheim Hill, a farm in upstate New York that produces sustainable dairy, meats, eggs and greens for the restaurants.

Prior to founding Smorgas, Mr. Sohlberg founded Ses​sions​.edu — the world’s largest online school of visual communication, with students from over 140 countries. He served as Sessions’ Chief Executive Officer for 5 years, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 7 years.

Morten is married to Min Ye who is also his business partner, they have 3 boys named Emil, Edvard and Erik. The couple divides their time between Manhattan and the farm upstate.

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Nearby

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21 reviews of Smorgas Chef

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Elmhurst, Queens, NY
I love this place. Very cozy and stylish ambience. Has a definite Nordic feel, or what I imagine to
be a Nordic feel anyway with the non fussy décor and interesting art work. The gravalax was extremely satisfying as was the beet salad I ordered. I also had an interesting drink that was like sparkling water with crushed berries. The perfect accompaniment to my lunch. I’ve been twice and can’t wait to go back. Memorable and delicious.
Place rating: 4
Brooklyn, NY
There are a few Smorgas Chefs around the City now, although the most important is located in the Scandinavia House just south of Grand Central. If a cultural institution devoted to the Nordic countries is allowing this food to be served, who, as the Pope would say, are we to judge?
The somewhat lighter food of the far north is a welcome change from the heavy Mexican, barbecue, buger and German options scattered on this half of Stone Street. All of these places do have some sort of sad salad, but other than that it’s typically meat and cheese on top of meat.
The gravlax came in a solid portion, with mustard and a cream dill on the side and a hard dark cracker for texture. The potato salad and crunch of the cucumber helped mix alternate the sour and savory bites in a pleasant way. My co-​worker got the meatballs, which I suppose aren’t light, but I’ve had in the past and do pass muster.
This isn’t the absolutely high point of Nordic dining in the city, it’s a bit too workaday and affordable to dive into the eccentricities of New Nordic cuisine, but it is a reliable and dependable option for when you want to eat outside not munch on a salad.
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
I’ve been to the West Village location and loved it there. This location is just as good! The lingonberry soda was amazing, the chocolate & raspberry crêpe was sheer heaven and my entrée? It was more like brunch — salmon over eggs and toast. OH, and the mushroom soup special was not to be missed. Man was I full. But every bite was worth it!
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
I like going there once in a while for Sunday brunch. Great food. Very tight space though.
Place rating: 4
Brooklyn, NY
I come here often for lunch and I love the food. It’s on the healthier side. Must try the Gravlaxs club sandwich. Swedish meatballs are good too.
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
Great salmon burger, amazing bacon and waffles with very fresh berries on top! Overall great restaurant.
Place rating: 4
Manhattan, NY
The thing that drew me to this restaurant were the pictures of beautifully played dishes and vibrant colors. I was not let down. I ordered the salmon with potatoes and butternut squash. I asked for medium rare but they cooked it a little over that. However, the fish was delicious. It was a beautiful pink color, tender and flavorful. The potatoes were absolutely delicious and the sauce was buttery and yummy. The butternut squash could have been a little more roasted and they were a strange temperature, almost cold. My friend got the smörgåsbord which was plated beautifully. The cured salmon was delicious as well as the herring.
Our server was very attentive and always filled our water, although the restaurant was pretty empty when we went. I would go again for the food but for the price I was expecting something a bit more amazing.
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
The food here is consistently awesome. It’s a great way to feel like you’re escaping to a Nordic country while staying right in NYC. The setting is perfect for dates too! I highly recommend it.
Place rating: 4
Alexandria, VA
The food in at Smorgas is top of the line. If you’ve never had Scandinavian food, I’d definitely give it a try. Their fish is very than any type of fish that I’ve ever had. I’d suggest getting the classic smörgåsbord. It comes with 3 – 4 types of fish, an delicious apple and beet salad, as well as 2 different potato dishes. The service on the other hand was pretty bad. Lazy waiters and waitresses, a stuck up hostess, and charging for refills on fountain sodas is what killed this place for me. Definitely worth checking out once for the food but come bearing thick skin for the horrendous service
Place rating: 4
Manhattan, NY
Top Scandinavian restaurant. Sorry IKEA but your meatballs are just shit compared to Smorgas Chef. Let’s say your meatballs are as good as your furniture.
The meatballs are so tender and juicy that melts in your mouth. They come with a perfect gravy that kicks up all the flavors. The chutney or whatever you call that cranberry sauce is extraordinary.
The salmon toast was as good as the meatballs and I don’t even bother to review the awesome dessert they have… just order it: Dulce de leche crêpe!
Stone Street is a landmark already and having the opportunity to dine in a place in the center of the fun is just great.
Just go there and have real Scandinavian meatballs in a great street. I recommend having brunch outside. They have a nice outdoor seating
Place rating: 3
Brooklyn, NY
I came here to get a preview of what I am going to eat for an upcoming trip to the Scandinavia region, and even met some new people as a couple of new friends were coordinating an event. I thought my experience here was fairly average, not great nor excellent.
The Swedish meatballs were pretty good, I ordered the appetizer size, and it’s large enough for a light meal before going on a moderate food tour of New York. Really liked the flavor of the gravy and the texture of the mashed potatoes had a nice softness.
As for service, when you’re sitting outside, it was kind of difficult to get a server’s attention, maybe they were busy serving the people inside, but the inside was not really that busy. One thing that was understandable but extremely irritating and uncomfortable was the demeanor and mannerisms of the manager on duty at that time. Someone in our party brought some outside food from one of the restaurants next door and sat down with us to continue eating. The manager came over to our table and was being very hostile and rude, saying that we can’t bring outside food and lectured to us that he has to make money to upkeep the outside tables and pretty much how life is not really easy. I understand the frustrations, but I don’t think it justifies rudeness and borderline hostility to the paying guests at this place. If he really is so passionate about not having outside food, my recommendation would be that he post a sign and be more considerate and tactful. The place is located next to a lot of other restaurants with outdoor seating, making the street look like an outdoor food court.
Overall, if you are looking for some decently good Scandinavian influenced food in this part of New York, this is not a bad choice. If the manager on duty changes his demeanor very significantly, I might even come back to this place, but the likelihood of me coming to this place is very minimal.
Place rating: 4
México, D.F., México
Ubicado en un lugar totalmente neoyorkino, si escoges comer dentro tiene lindas y románticas mesas para comer. El servicio muy bueno pero la comida es extraordinaria, desde el pan tipo europeo, tienen platillos escandinavos de gran calidad. Yo pedí el Bergen Seafood Chowder y puedo decir que es de lo mejor que he probado en Chowders. También pedimos un Smörgåsbord que es platillo de degustación de sus especialidades, muy recomendable. La calidad de la comida inmejorable y muy buena presentación. El precio es accesible en relación costo beneficio, vale mucho la pena.
Place rating: 3
Jersey City, NJ
The Swedish meatballs looked really good. So I wanted to try them. They were just eh. Not very flavorful. The wings smelled really good. I was torn between the wings and the meatballs, but I chose the meatballs. Smh. Wish I tried the wings. My friend had the French fries. Those were delish. We ordered the fruit punch to drink. There was not much alcohol in it. Very sugary and very sweet. We also had the sangria. That surely was not the best sangria I ever had. Pretty mediocre.
I will come back becuase I want to try those wings. I’ll stay away from the meatballs. I’ll also just stick to beer when I come. The great thing about beer is, you always know what you’re going to get. Cocktails depend on how good your bartender is & if the bartender sucks, so will your drink.
Place rating: 5
ELMHURST, NY
Had an amazing 4th of July dinner. Came in and had no wait time. Had the options of sitting outside or inside. The wait staff was friendly and kind. We started with a Swedish meatballs in a lovely brown gravy and lingonberry jam. My wife had the pan seared salmon on a bed of ginger snap, snow peas, and asparagus with a leek veloute. I had the chicken schnitzel with lemon caper sauce. Silky mashed potatoes, with a watercress salad.
Overall the experience was very nice, ambience was very nice. Would come back. However it does get packed her during lunch. Just fyi.
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
PROS:
–KOPPARBERG PEAR CIDER (Sweden) 4.5% 12oz — $ 7 — Light, bubbly and sweet.
— SWEDISH MEATBALLS — the mash potatoes, gradd sauce and lingonberries work really well together with meatballs.
THE OKAY:
— CRISPY CHICKEN SANDWICH $ 15 (blenheim ham, gruyère, mustard sauce on brioche instead since I don’t like sourdough) This was very big and there was too much meat and protein. Good thing I split this sandwich with E.
–SALMON BURGER $ 16 (atlantic salmon, lettuce, tomato, toasted brioche, chili mayo) The salmon burger was pretty good and very filling.
CONS:
— VIKING ROMANCE — $ 13 (Zante, Vikingfjord Vodka, Fresh Lemon Juice, Ginger Infused Simple Syrup) — The drink is strong that can goes to your nose however I didn’t ‘t like the taste. It was overly sweet that it’s bitter and overpowering.
Place rating: 1
Redlands, CA
With all the cool restaurants on Stone Street, you just can’t have bad service and sub par food. Case in point: when you think of a Scandinavian smörgåsbord, you automatically think of a horn of plenty overflowing with sensuous delights. What you get when you order the smörgåsbord here, you get the opposite. For $ 21, you get a plate with a few small portions of food and oversized crackers used to try to fill the plate. Complete smörgåsbord fail.
Then, the waitress doesn’t come around very often, but when she does she doesn’t have much time for you. We were often left with trying to track down a waitress. We even had to resort to picking up our wrong order and bringing it inside for the waitress to replace. TWICE!!!
The one thing that you’d think they could never screw up, the burger, was dry and didn’t come with mustard. This place left me wishing we had walked another 15 feet to the Bavarian restaurant.
Place rating: 4
Jersey City, NJ
The menu is limited, but could that just be due to the lack of variety on classic Scandinavian food? It’s definitely a great place to try something different. Might impress a date our your co-​workers by suggesting a different kind of «ethnic» food.
The salmon burger is tasty and not fishy at all as I unfortunately have experienced at other places. Meatballs are of course of the Swedish variety. My favorite might be the lingonberry juice though! It is a super food after all!
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
After doing Escape The Stadium out in Staten Island, a few of us settled at the Vintry a few stops down from Smorgas Chef to split a few bottles of wine. After that, we were HUNGRY! And lo and behold, a fab Scandinavian place happened to be just a few stops down, so here we were!
I’d been here a few times (as well as Crepes Du Nord, which shares the opposite entrance on William Street) and have always enjoyed the food. I’ve always found it to be a little pricy though, but I guess that’s the cost (pun intended) of eating Scandinavian cuisine. Between us, we had the chicken schnitzel, the seafood chowder, and the burger. The burger came with In and Out style fries! All the food was tasty, but I don’t think any of it was blow-​your-​mind awesome, which is usually what I think we ALL aim for, am I right?
We all ordered dessert, which came from Crepes Du Nord. They also offer a Scandinavian waffle, which is softer than most waffles, but it didn’t rock my world. I had the blueberry crêpe, which was tasty and had a ton of fresh blueberries. The dulce de leche was also solid.
I think I might keep looking. This seems to be a good option til I can afford Aquavit. ;-)
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
Update: I came back again during the winter for brunch and had the gravalax sandwich which was good. BUT there were some crazy people who wanted to sit outdoors even though it was 34 degrees out. Of course I chose to sit indoors where it supposed to be warm. However, I could feel cold air blowing down my back. That is because the waitresses were too lazy to keep opening and closing the door to serve the clients outside, so they just decided to keep the door OPEN. After unsuccessfully trying to hail down our waitress, somebody finally closed the front door. Nobody wants to sit in an ice box ok? I would only come back here if I am desperate for brunch downtown.
Place rating: 5
London, United Kingdom
I grew up with Danish relatives so when I recognized a lot of the items on the brunch menu I got pretty excited.
Went here for brunch and it did not disappoint. Everything tastes really fresh and the presentation is excellent. I got the Classic Smörgåsbord with a side of the waffles and my husband got the Norwegian Benedict. My Smörgåsbord was very, very tasty — I would definitely get it again. While the waffles were good, they did taste like other waffles — that’s not to say that they were ordinary, but since they did taste like other waffles I would not get them again. I would just stick to the more traditional Scandinavian food. My husband really enjoyed his Norwegian Benedict and said he was looking forward to coming back and trying some of the other options as well.
Also they have Kopparberg Pear Cider. This is not a common cider sold in the US so when I saw this on the menu I for sure had to have it.
Don’t miss this place for brunch!
Place rating: 3
SUNNYSIDE, NY
Cozy little Scandinavian mix up from the other bars on Stone St. Big downfall: 6 pm ending of happy hour and the waiter most (6 out of 7) of the time not providing the cheaper-​booze-​menu. Ive never had any of the cocktails but they do offer some interesting mixes. The food is nothing that will knock your socks off but its not bad either. Some of the yum-​yums are on the happy hour menu as well. Good options include Swedish meatballs (comes with mashed & lingonberries); Beet Salad with arugula, ricotta & walnuts; French Fries with 3 dipping sauces.
The inside of the restaurant is very lovely. Tall stands a tree in the center of the dining room covered with white Christmas lights. Small window seats in between walls of exposed brick make the dining experience very intimate. Also a solid spot to share a row on the cobblestone in the warm weather.