Born in 1978, Niklas partly grew up in Järpen, a small village outside the famous Swedish ski resort of Åre. Following a serious back injury, he decided to forego being a professional snowboarder and chose to pursue his other passion in life - food. Niklas was hailed a gastronomic wunderkind when he opened his first restaurant at the age of 21. "Restaurant Niklas" in Helsingborg, a town in the south of Sweden, was an immediate success and won several awards. With characteristic energy, he celebrated his accomplishment with the opening of a summer restaurant called "Niklas i Viken."Six years later, Niklas decided it was time to move to Stockholm and opened "1900", focusing on Swedish ingredients and local traditional cuisine with a modern twist. "1900" and "Restaurant Niklas" have since changed names to "Niklas", and their direction to embrace an international outlook. In search of further challenges, Niklas conceived the bold idea of creating a cuisine using only flames to cook with. After a number of technical issues "EKSTEDT" opened in 2011. Soon after, the restaurant was pronounced a smoking success and considered the talk of the town. It still is.