Capri in the archipelago: Peroni’s Italian affair on a secluded sea-fort island drew the who’s who of Stockholm

For a second – just a millisecond – my stomach drops as the helicopter lifts. Tinny voices ripple through headsets as the red chopper banks into a low U-turn, offering up Stockholm’s skyline in its very best light. Then we’re off, slicing eastward through the early summer haze at 240 kilometres per hour, soaring over sparkling seas and sun-drenched skerries, bound for a centuries-old fortress island that once guarded the city’s sea lanes. It’s exhilarating. An intoxicating sight that sends a buzz through me and my fellow flyers. The kind that compares only to that first sip of cold beer on a scorching summer day. How fitting, then, that an Italian brewery is hosting.

The culprit? Peroni Nastro Azzurro, who, together with the nimble creatives at Studio Bon, brought a bit of Italy to the archipelago. Quite literally. Between rounds of antipasti misti, charismatic celebrity chef Max Mariola (flown in from Rome) hosted a live demonstration of concocting Pasta al Limone. The trick, he revealed, is letting the zest bloom in extra-virgin olive oil before the al dente tagliolini even hits the pan. Plates landed on tables faster than you could say “mamma mia”, chased by crisp bottles of Peroni – both the classic Nastro Azzurro and the surprisingly sophisticated 0.0%, which saw the mum-to-be crowd (hi, Hedda Stiernstedt) savouring chilled, non-alcoholic bottles all night.

The Mediterranean flavour carried into the evening. Within minutes, Tuscan DJ and saxophone duo Tasten’Sax had guests out of their seats (and onto them), dancing under striped awnings to a soundtrack that bounced between classic Italian melodies and Ibiza-coded beats. Star-spotting was inevitable: Frida Gustavsson, Barracuda Queen breakout Alva Bratt, multi-hyphenate Alexander Abdallah, and model-entrepreneur Roger Dupé, just to name a few.

Below, explore the fly-in, fly-out evening that made the archipelago feel a little more Amalfi, if only for one night. An event that proves the best summer nights start with a view and a very cold bottle of beer (zero-alcohol or otherwise).