Per Styregård got hooked on food, wine, and writing when studying philosophy in California in the late 1980s. His roommate at the Jesuit-run University of San Francisco happened to be a German winemaker. The restaurant scene of the Bay Area was light-years ahead of the Swedish food scene. Per fully engulfed the world-class Californian wine culture and the fantastic diversity of food cultures of the city from Latin America, the Pacific Rim, South East Asia, China, India, Persia, and the Pacific Northwest.
Simultaneously, thanks to the encouragement of a visiting professor in rhetoric from the University of California at Berkley, Dennis Lynch, Per started to take writing more seriously.
Since Per returned to Sweden from California in the early 1990s, he’s been working full time as a food writer, wine critic, editor, and creative in the world of food and beverages.
Today, Per writes about food and wine in the weekend edition, DI Weekend of the Swedish daily business newspaper Dagens Industri. He co-founded and ran the gastronomic debate forum Skafferiet (The Pantry) in Stockholm and frequently appeared on Swedish public television SVT Gomorron Sverige 2012-2017 as an expert on food and beverages.
At the innovation platform Openlab, run by four universities and Stockholm, Per is the host and editor of the podcast Matlaboratoriet made together with podcast producer Soundtelling.
His latest book, Smakens makt (The Power of Taste), is an autobiographical quest for the most captivating taste experiences worldwide. It’s also a tribute to the chemical senses. They cannot be overrated for the immense pleasure they bring and how they will affect our expected future quality of life. In the book, Per places the sense of taste in different contexts, all of which have great importance for society today. He also discusses the relationship between taste and the art of hospitality, the latest research on the interaction of the senses, the difficult task of eating both climate-friendly and healthy food, and the effects of myocardial infarction in 2014 on Per’s own diet and lifestyle.
Per has also published two previous books, Rödvin älskar mat at ICA bokförlag in 2003, and Sveriges godaste mat at Nygren & Nygren förlag in 2012.
During 2015, he worked as a lecturer at the Department of Hospitality, Culinary Arts, and Meal Science at Örebro University.
Between 2006 and 2010, Per was the Editor-in-chief for the Swedish Gourmet Magazine. From 2011–2012 held the same position at the Nordic restaurant guide White Guide. His articles are published in the weekly news magazine Fokus, ICON Magazine, Dagens Industri Idé Magazine, and White PAPER. Internationally, his writings are published in Eater.com, Saveur, FOOL, Cook_inc, and Australian Virgin Voyeur Magazine.
Per is also a speaker and has been leading many seminars and debates, some arranged by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, VisitSweden, American Express, Stockholms läns landsting, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet SLU, Scandinavian Man and Matlust.