The remote two-Michelin-starred dining room will run its last service on 14 December after 11 years in business.
Nilsson wrote on Instagram this weekend that though it was a “hard decision” he knew it was “the right one” for the restaurant, which is already fully booked until its closure.
Fäviken has won global acclaim for its 30-course tasting menu since the chef took over the site in a hunting estate in central Sweden in 2008, appearing on Netflix’s Chef’s Table, winning two Michelin stars and ranking 19th on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2014.
But Nilsson has been open about the stress of running such an operation. In a speech at Irish symposium Food on the Edge in 2017 he admitted that the earlier days of the restaurant had seen staff work an average of 80 hours a week, and he struggled with guilt when away from the kitchen.
This led to radical changes in 2015 with Nilsson tripling the size of his team, expanding the dining room from 16 to 24 covers and almost doubling prices from €175 to €300 to improve work/life balance.
Reflecting on the closure on Instagram, Nilsson wrote: “When I am done here I am going to spend time with my family, reflect, fish, garden, write, rest and get fit, both physically and mentally. I am not going to lie, I am a little bit tired after all this time pushing the development of the restaurant forward.”
In his only interview given about Fäviken's closure, with the LA Times, Nilsson says the restaurant is too personal a project for him to hand over to continue being run by his team. “I’m not leaving because I’m discontent with the restaurant. I’m just leaving because I’m done with it.
“I don’t want to hand it over and write an autobiography.”