We recently connected with Melvin Glimstål and have shared our conversation below.

Melvin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

So I am born in a family where my dad used to be a Chef. So I have been in the kitchen at home, cooking, for as long as I can remember.
But it wasn´t until around the aged of fourteen I relized that being a Chef was the proffession I wanted to persue. I love the fact that me as a chef gets to work with my hands every day. That I get to be creative every day, creating and cooking new dishes working with only the best produce. I live the whole process of me getting an idea, creating the dish in my head, putting in on paper and then finally cooking it for my guests and custemers.

So at the age of fourteen I took my first steps into the kitchen and never looked back.

Melvin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Melvin Glimstal and I am the Group Executive Chef for The Swedish Restaurant Maffia in Florida. So I an incharge of the four kitchens and restaurants we have in out group, meaning everything from creating the menus, hiring people, handling our budget and every thing that goes with it.

So I grew up in the southern part of Sweden with a dad who used to be a chef (he quit when I was still young to spend more time at home). So while growing up I cooked almost every day together with him, learning from him.
But my parents were never super happy with the fact that I wanted to become a chef, because of the long hours, the kitchen environment and so on. So when I was fourteen years old I had one week of internship at a small local restaurant where I grew up (Bryggan). Before stepping in the kitchen I made a promise to myself that if I liked it I would go against what my parents wanted me to do and become a chef. But if I were to become a chef I also promised myself to become the best chef in the world to make my parents proud. So that is the end goal I keep working towards every day, every week and every year. So I hopefully can reach that goal one day!

And yes, it took me just a few hours in the kitchen at Bryggan as a young kid to fall in love with the kitchen, the atmosphere and the people. And from that point in my life, I have been hooked.
So I got a job at Bryggan at fourteen years old, doing simple prep things and learning from the older chefs in the evening and on the weekends. I also got in contact with a chef named Titti Qvarnström, who was the first Swedish woman to be a head chef and receive One Michelin Star. She ran the kitchen at restaurant Bloom In The Park for years and for two weekends a month I traveled down to her restaurant where I worked for free to take my first steps into the world of fine dining. I did this from the age of fifteen to sixteen.

I then went to culinary school where I meanwhile did all my work in school that they demanded of me, went one step further. I kept working for free at some of the best restaurants in Skåne (Southern part of Sweden) such as Daniel Berlin Krog. Daniel Berlin Krog was run by chef Daniel Berlin and held Two Michelin Stars.
It was also around the same time that I got into the world of competition. At the age of seventeen I joined “Skåne Kulinar”, a Swedish Regional Team. I, together with that team competed in what’s called Culinary arts at the world cup in 2018 and came in 5 Place.

After graduating culinary school at nineteen years old I packed my bags and moved up to Stockholm. So freshly graduated from school I got a Job at my dream restaurant at the time which was Oaxen Krog located on the Island of Djurgården.
Oaxen krog was a Two Michelin star restaurant run by Magnus Ek and Agneta Green. It was a small fine dining restaurant focused on cooking only new nordic cuisine and working with only locally produced ingredients. We also had our own garden where we farmed our own vegetables that we then cooked and served at the restaurant. I stayed here for almost two years working the different sections in the kitchen.

It was also during this time I applied to the Swedish Junior Culinary team. On the 14 of April 2021 I became an official member of the team and two months later I was appointed the Team Captain of the team.
We competed in the Culinary world cup in November 2022 and came in fourth place. So with even more hunger and determination we kept our head downs and went on practicing for the Culinary Olympics. So in February 2024 we competed at the Culinary Olympics and won the gold medal. So we as a team and chefs became the Best Junior Chefs in the world and received our Culinary Olympic Golds.

So while I was in the team, I left my job at Oaxen Krog and took a job at Operakällaren. Operakällaren is one of the oldest restaurants in Sweden and has a rich history with some of Sweden’s best chefs working there. It holds One Michelin star and when I worked there Viktor Westerlind ran the kitchen. Viktor is a well known chef back home with a rich history in a lot of competitions and restaurant openings. At Operakällaren I was a Sous Chef with my main focus on creating new dishes for the menu.

And lastly to take you to where I am today. I met Patrik Waxin the summer last year where he told me everything about Swedish Restaurant Maffia. So after spending three months at Waxins Palm Beach I took the job as Group Executive Chef. I fell in love with Florida, the people here and the fact that I think that the ever evolving Swedish Restaurant Maffia will be a great stepping stone for me to grow even more as a chef. I see myself staying in the company for a long time to work up a great relationship where I grow as a chef, together with Swedish Restaurant Maffia, to take more steps towards becoming the best chef in the world. And bringing the company with me on this journey.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I feel like I have a few lessons I have had to unlearn, because thats a part of growing and becoming better. You live and you learn.

But I think that the biggest lesson I had to unlearn, is the fact that you dont have to do everything at the same time, There is no stress.

I am only 25 years old and I have all my life thought I have to do everything at the same time in a rush. I never gave myself room to take a moment and actually enjoy where I am at that specific moment. I learnt this after coming home from the Olympics and finally having my first vacation. I sat on a balcony in Spain and tried to reflect back on all the amizing things I actually have done and for the first time not what I was going to do as a next step.
We all have our whole lifes to do great things. So when you accomplish that thing you have worked on for so long, take a moment and enjoy that win. Because you deserve it!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My main mission is something I promised myself the first day I stept into the kitchen. I promised myself that I will give it my everything to one day become the best chef in the world to make my parents proud.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: melvinglimstal