Food & Wine Chickie Eats Her Way through Copenhagen

Last month, after a business trip to London, I visited friends who moved to Copenhagen. While the purpose of the trip was to see where our friends and experience the city they’ve moved to, we knew food and wine would be an integral part of the long weekend.

From intimate bistros to Michelin-starred restaurants, Copenhagen has it all. The vibrant food scene is among the world’s most creative and it offers options for all budgets. According to the 2015 Guide Michelin Nordic Cities, 18 stars have been awarded to 15 restaurants in Copenhagen – the highest number ever.

Here are overviews of some of the restaurants we visited.

Geranium

Geranium boasts two Michelin stars in the 2015 Nordic Cities guide. In 2015, it also ranked the 51 Best Restaurant in the World in 2015 by Restaurant Magazine. Who’s heading that award-winning kitchen? Rasmus Kofoed the 2011 Bocuse D’Or winner.

Our friends chose this restaurant as they’re making their way through the Best Restaurant in the World list. Some diners will have sticker shock at the prices (dinner and lunch pricing is the same): 1800 DKK (USD $265) for tasting dinner, an extra 1400 DKK (USD $205) for the wine pairing or 700 DKK (USD $102) if a juice pairing is preferred. Reservations can be made up to 90 days in advance and patrons will need every bit of that time to secure a table.

The space is located on the 8^th floor of a non-descript building with sweeping views of the city on clear days and nights. The vibe is elegant meets minimalistic yet has a very comfortable atmosphere. The open kitchen features glass walls and pristinely-clean work spaces. We got to know this when our 4^th amuse-bouche was served in the kitchen with Chefs posing for photos with us – not exactly Nordic cool and aloof – simply welcoming.

Chef Kofoed is known to transform local ingredients into edible work of Nordic art. From the very first amuse-bouche (there were four) to the petits-fours, each bite was both intrinsically-beautiful and incredibly delicious. As one would expect of this caliber restaurant, ingredients were pristine, luxurious and prepared masterly by the extensive kitchen staff. The tasting menu typically ranges from 15-20 dishes.

As expected, the wine list is extensive, creative and mostly costly. The restaurant uses Coravin and offers very impressive wines by the glass as a result.

The staff could be snooty and overly-stuffy but each member is young, welcoming, professional yet casual. I don’t mean ‘casual’ as in less than stellar as the polished team isn’t that. Each staff member truly behaves as if he/she is delighted to be waiting on their guests….even the Sommeliers are approachable and unpretentious.

Geranium is an incredible experience. Everything from the space to the food to the staff and the wines was very special and memorable.

Amass

Dining at Amass was my special request while in Copenhagen. Chef Matt Orlando, whose culinary resumé reads like a dream: Aureole, Le Bernardin, The Fat Duck and most-recently, Noma. With such a pedigree, one might expect Amass to resemble these formal places, but it’s anything but. The building where Amass is located is literally in the middle of nowhere. Diners climb up a flight of stairs outside before reaching the front door. When I walked in, I was pleasantly-surprised to hear hip hop playing at an energetic volume level and to see graffiti on the walls. All I could think was – good for this guy, he got out and is now doing his thing. The restaurant actually goes out of its way to state there’s no dress code.

Three guests at our table opted for the six-course “Current Menu” for 595 DKK (USD $87) while one chose the three-course “Simplicity Menu” also priced at 595 DKK (pairing of four wines 395 DKK – USD $58). The simplicity menu features a choice of either monkfish or dry-aged beef, which is displayed in ageing coolers as guests enter Amass. The current menu changes daily based on the freshest ingredients available from purveyors and on the evening we visited, we enjoyed:

• Celeriac, Salted Apple, Wormwood
• Grilled Mackerel, Almond, Burnt Kale, Chili Oil
• Squid, Bitter Radish, Egg Yolk, Plums
• Soft Scrambled Egg, Mushrooms, Red Seaweed, Sour Curd
• Wild Duck, Pumpkin, Coffee, Charred Parsley
• Sugar Beet, Yogurt, Sweet Potato, Amass Honey

While every dish was outstanding, if I had to pick a winner, it’d be the scrambled egg – stellar dish.

A neat feature of Amass is what’s known as Table 153, a communal table where four to eight guests are seated together randomly where a chef’s menu is served at a cost of 695 DKK (USD $102).

The wine list’s categories are epic: grape free, safe & solid and wild & crazy. Prices vary wildly but there are some good/affordable finds.

While I loved Geranium and I believe everyone should visit at least once, if I lived in Copenhagen with access to these restaurants, I’d rather do two dinners at Amass than one at Geranium.

Hija de Sanchez

Tacos in Denmark? Yes if done this well by former Noma pastry chef Rosio Sanchez. Hija de Sanchez is a tacos stand situated in the Torvehallerne Market of Copenhagen.

While ingredients features in the tacos are sourced locally, dried corn for the hand-made tortillas is imported from a small cooperative in Oaxaca Mexico, along with aged chilies. We opted for a sampler trio of some of the best tacos I’ve enjoyed anywhere in the world.

For breakfasts, we grabbed pastries…yes, stereotypical Danishes. I’m not usually a sweets person in the morning, but when I Copenhagen, one does Danishes. We also tried a Danish hot dog with the lauded red snappy wieners – truly not for me.

The trip was indeed a foodie success yet I know there are so many other places to try. Perhaps on a future visit.

Cheers,

Veronique