NTERNATIONAL RADE OURNAL 2/2012 FORTHE H , R C · 2018. 8. 8. · Noma René Redzepi, Noma...

INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOURNALFOR THE HOTEL, RESTAURANTAND CATERING INDUSTRY

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EDITION 2/2012www.food-service-europe.com

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Copenhagen: Food and the City

At one time it was considered a bad joke that the best restaurant in the world – The Fat Duck at the time – was located in the UK, a country not exactly known for its

culinary tradition. The joke is still the same, it has just moved location. The basic culinary tradition in Denmark was never much better than what you would find in theUK. It is a meat and potatoes kitchen – possibly with the one exception that did gaininternational notoriety, the Danish open-face sandwich. But not only does Denmark

now host the world’s best restaurant (Noma) and the world’s best chef, Rasmus Kofoed (Bocuse d’Or 2011), Copenhagen also has more Michelin stars than any of

the other Scandinavian capitals (14). A City Guide by Mike Hohnen.

CI T Y GU I D E

FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST 2/1256

Noma

René Redzepi, Noma

Sticks’n’Sushi

Sticks’n’Sushi Noma

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No portrait of current restauranttrends in Copenhagen would becomplete without mentioningrestaurant Noma, but at the sametime it is probably the most well-covered gastronomy subject inthe city since it was selected as thewinner of the S.Pellegrino World’s50 Best Restaurants in 2010 (andagain in 2011). Noma not only at-tracts gourmet tourism in droves,but it has also opened the world’seyes to a lot of the other interest-ing stuff that is happening inCopenhagen. Noma has been around since2004, when it opened as one ofmany creative ideas that have en-riched Copenhagen over the past15 years and that all have ClausMeyer as at least one of its ‘par-ents’. Noma is all about going backin time in search of the root originof Nordic cooking, before industri-alization, high yield farming andglobal sourcing changed the land-scape. This almost archaeologicalexpedition by chef René Redzepiinto the past and subsequent focuson simplicity has influenced awhole generation of young Danishchefs and, in that sense, Noma hasnot only had a huge influence oncreativity and menu developmentin the industry, but also made themetier wildly fashionable and at-tractive in itself.The story about Noma – the shortversion – is about an idea, newNordic kitchen and its origins thatstep by step, over the past sevenyears, have been developed, re-fined and tweaked with infinitepatience that resembles theJapanese philosophy of Kaizen.And, in that process, the restaur -ant has gone from strength tostrength – it is today an estab-lished classic and Copenhagen’sonly 2-Michelin star establish-ment. www.noma.dk

It’s hard to imagine Copenhagenwithout Sticks’n’Sushi; they arepart of the city fabric and a darlingof Generation X. The concept isthe creation of founder Kim Rahbek Hansen and is a clevercombin ation of what in Japan aretwo very separate and distinctconcepts: traditional Sushi and

grilled Yakitori spits. It’s aboutcomplementarity and interestingpairs: fish or fowl, cold or hot,Japanese and Nordic. The result isa sushi restaurant that is attrac-tive even for those that don’t likefish. It’s sushi with an attitude –they call it ‘sushistainability’. Themenu focus is on providing bite-size delicacies. The first restaurantwas opened back in 1994 and thecompany has grown at a steadypace. Today they have nine Sticks’n’Sushi addresses in cen-tral Copenhagen and the goal isexpanding that to also cover otherurban areas in Denmark. But theyhave set their sights higher thanthat – London is next on the hori-zon, where the first restaurantopened on Wimbledon Hill road inMarch. www.sushi.dk/en

In the bar and nightclub business,there are two main schools ofthought on how to attract busi-ness. One is employ pretty femalesbehind the bar and you will attractthe heavy drinking males. The other is to employ some really cooland good-looking males behindthe bar, and they will attract somegorgeous females, who in turneventually will attract some heavydrinking males. Kaspar Basse, the39-year-old founder of Joe & TheJuice, chose the latter strategy forhis first juice bar when he openedten years ago. He and his teamhave created a special culturearound what they call ‘the juicer’ –the equivalent of the coffeebarista. The juicers have fun whilethey work creating a vibrant high-energy atmosphere, accompaniedby loud music in a stylish loungesetting. There are 23 juice bars intotal, with new ones popping upall the time. And with no lack ofself-confidence, three new storeshave been opened in London, withone more under construction,three are announced for Hamburg,Germany, and a first stake hasbeen planted in Miami, USA. The juices on the menu come inseveral sizes and have fun namesthat help patrons find what theyare looking for: Hang over Heav-en, Sex-me-up, Sweet Kiss or ArtAway for those that need their ar-



teries flushed for calcium. The immedi-ate goal is to triple in size over the nextfew years to 75 units, but ultimately Kas-par Basse is very clear he aims to be theStarbucks of the juice business – and thetattooed Joe & The Juice logo on his leftarm could indicate that he really meansit.www.joejuice.com

Not a restaurant, not a café, maybe apeople’s kitchen except for the pricing,BioMio is hard to categorise. But the pur-pose is clear: to serve healthy and nutri-tious food with deep bow to the environ-ment that surrounds us. So not only arethe carrots and everything else you willeat bio, but so is the cotton in their uni-forms and the wood used to make theirhigh chairs and long tables that seat 250people. No doubt inspired by GermanVapiano is the very large open kitchenwhere you order directly from the chef.Patrons pick up a plastic card at the en-trance and fetch what they need at thevarious stations. With one small but im-portant change: you don’t wait for yourfood to be ready at the counter, you justorder and it will then be brought to yourtable when it is ready. From the menu: Happy Pork on YourFork – protein rich and lean pork mari-nated in herbs, grilled and served withroot crops, sun dried tomatoes and coldtarragon sauce for DKK185 (c25). Therestaurant is not vegetarian as such, butthere are lots of options for non-meatdishes or selecting versions without meat.In the dishes that do contain meat, theaim is for that meat to be only 30% of thedish – leaving plenty of room for interestinggrains and vegetables. www.biomio.dk

Copenhagen has its fair share – if notmore – of pizza places. But nothing reallynew there, except for one – Mother.Opened in 2009 and located in an oldbutcher shop in the Meatpackers’ Dis-trict, where the most obvious changesince the time when you could purchasea whole side of beef here is the beautifulwhitewashed beehive of a pizza oven inthe middle of the open kitchen.The oven plays the lead role in the pro-duction and everything else literally orbits around it. The main show is ofcourse the pizza here in a sourdough ver-sion that has given the restaurant ravingreviews from most of the local press. Thesimple pizza margarita is DKK90 (c12)and more elaborate versions with a lightspread of prosciutto and rucola will set

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C I T Y GU I D E


Mother

Kødbyens Fiskebar

Kødbyens Fiskebar

Geist

Geist

Nose2Tail

Mother

Photos Kødbyens Fiskebar: Mikkel Bo


you back DKK120 (c16). Dailyspecials – roast lamb or lasagne –are often also available, but thereis no large set menu. Zen-like sim-plicity is the order of the day – if itwill cook in the oven we can do it.Mother is owned and run by a di-verse trio: Theo Langley, NickPound and the Roman chef DavidBiffani, a diversity that is also re-flected in their rest of the staffwhere you will rarely find a personwho actually speaks Danish.www.mother.dk

Copenhagen’s most interestingfish restaurant, Kødbyens Fiske-bar, is also located in the heart ofthe Meatpackers’ District. Set inraw minimalist concrete settingwith the most unimposing facadeyou can imagine, this relativelysmall fish bar has attracted the at-tention of the world press. WallStreet Journal has it among thebest ten fish restaurants in theworld. The decorative piece de re-sistance is a large fish tank in thecentre with an interesting collec-tion of – no, not lobster in pain –but jellyfish. The menu is newNordic – of course –, there is a trailfrom the owner Anders Selmer’spast back to Noma where he onceworked, but here the focus is on fish– fresh, local and, most of all, sim-ple. The menu has dropped theformality of starters, mains anddesserts and is instead divided in-to ‘raw’ smaller delicacies includ-ing oysters, ‘medium’ and ‘larger’dishes including baked cod, andeven a steak for those not in themood for fish. The easygoing in-formality is also reflected in thedécor. You can choose to book atable formally, but there is alsothe possibility of just enjoying afew oysters and a glass of whitewine on lounge style sofas on yourway to a fun night in town. Or dropby in the later part of the eveningand enjoy a light meal from yourbarstool – maybe ‘fish lounge’would be an even more appropri-ate name. www.fiskebaren.dk

Nose2Tail is an innovative newconcept started by three youngidealists on a mission. They callthemselves a food pub – in Dan-

ish, ‘mad bodega’ – the pub parthas to do with the informal atmos-phere and the rustic décor. Theoriginal white 60x60 Raca tiles(standard tiles issued when build-ing food facilities in Denmark foras long as anyone can remember)are still on the walls, as well as thewell-scrubbed terrazzo flooringwith the worn-out wrought irongrids. The furniture must havebeen sourced in a we’ll-take-it-alldeal from a second-hand shopthat wanted to clear its stock – asmall scale but very sincereprotest against all that waste thattakes place in modern society.Sustainability is the new black inCopenhagen. Which is why theoverall idea here is ‘no waste’. Sothey put everything – nose to tail –on the menu one way or the other.On the menu you find Animal ofthe day (ask your waiter) and Fishof the day (ask your waiter). Veg-etables are all of the organic vari-ety and sourced from friends andfamily – meaning people that theowners know personally andtrust. This whole approach alsohelps keep prices reasonable andso the main dish of the day willtypically be around DKK150 (c20) and fun starters such aspork crackling with tarragon mayonnaise – sustainable is notnecessarily health conscious – atDKK50 (c7). http://nose2tail.dk

Talk of the town has for a whilebeen all about the newly openedrestaurant Geist – the word inDanish means enthusiasm andplus energy. And there is no doubtthat chef Bo Bech has just thatwhen it comes to food. Food en-thusiasts will recognise his namefrom restaurant Paustian, wherehe was for some years the headchef and secured a Michelin starfor the restaurant. But all that isnow history. Geist is a largerestaurant that seats 150 peopleand could easily have been in-spired by L’Atelier de Joël Robu-chon in Paris.If the trend at the moment hasbeen towards very simple con-cepts with a narrow menu focus –Geist goes exactly the oppositeway. Here there is more than plenty



of choice – between 30 and 40 items on agiven day. The portions are small anddelicate, although not quite as small astraditional tapas, more like large starters– the challenge really is to decide whatnot to have. Prices range from DKK80(c11) up to DKK165 (c22).The idea is that you compose your owntasting menu, but you are also welcometo have just a snack and a glass of wine.For a foodie, the main attraction is sittingin the bar/kitchen with a full view of pro-ceedings – Bo Bech, a huge man, towersin the centre and calls out the tickets in asurprisingly low voice as they come in –but that is the only sound you hearwhich is remarkable in a kitchen thissize, rolling out 4- and 5-course menus ofthe highest culinary standard to a fullhouse. www.restaurantgeist.dk

The location in the intersection betweenthe west and northeast section of thecity, close to where the Danish broad-casting corporation used to have theirheadquarters for many years, has giventhe name to Claus Meyer’s latest venturerestaurant, Radio. Together with whathe describes as his two food mates JesperKirketerp and Rasmus Kliim, they havedeveloped the idea to focus on vege -tables, the new Nordic way but at moreaccessible prices – not to the extremethat this is a vegetarian restaurant. Meatis served, but it has a less prominent role to play than is normally the case. There are two reasons behind this: one is sustainability, i.e. the belief that weneed to appreciate vegetables more andreduce our consumption of meat. Theother: a lot of what grows in Denmarkdoes so at the limits of what is climaticpossible. This means that sometimesmore interesting tastes, smells or coloursoccur than is normal in their prime habitat. The 50-seat restaurant offers a 5-course menu at DKK400 (c54) or 3-course at DKK300 (c40). What isserved truly depends on the season andrelates directly to what is coming out ofthe ground at Grantoftegaard, the farmnear Copenhagen that supplies them.Meyer’s ambition is that the New Nordicdiet, as he calls it, will be to the 21st century what the Mediterranean diet hasbeen to the 20th century – nothing less.www.restaurantradio.dk

In 2012 Claus Meyer’s is going to partnerwith the Singapore/Danish coupleMichael and Tin Pan-Larsen to open a

■ ■ ■ Navigating the City ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Copenhagen’s current downtown area corresponds to what was at one point the medievalcity. The city’s restaurant and café life started here in the early eighties with a wave of most-ly Mediterranean inspired restaurants, bars and cafés. Today the city area is also wherespace is difficult to find and, if you do, the rent is high; so, with a few exceptions, most ofwhat is in the city today is relatively well-established and has a traditional approach. Thus,as with so many other things, the interesting stuff tends to happen at the edge. The Nørrebro area was the first to develop significantly during the late 80’s. And in the early90’s this was the area of town where the fun new stuff was happening – typically bars, cafésand music venues in a combination with very affordable ethnic food places. It is still an in-teresting area, but not considered as cutting edge as it once was.

The next area to catch the attention ofwhat the French so precisely call ‘La Clien-tèle Locomotive’ was the Østerbro area –but now with café/restaurant conceptsaimed at slightly more affluent patrons cor-responding to the general increase in eco-nomic activity in the capital. Østerbro be-came and is still to some the more ‘chic’area.Since around 2005, the new area of inter-est and where most of the cutting-edgeconcept development is happening is inthe area known as Vesterbro and in twohot spots bordering that area. One is theold Meatpackers’ area where the city bor-ders the west area – for years a smaller ver-

sion of Les Halles in Paris. Today, the area is home to a myriad of small businesses in everyimaginable sector, from architects to filmmakers and, of course, new creative food and bev-erage concepts. The other is the intersection between the harbour, city and the west areaknown as Islands Brygge – the old wharf area which is now largely residential and as resulthas all sorts of fun stuff popping up in order to cater to the influx of tenants.


Radio

Kent Kaffe Laboratorium

Kent Kaffe Laboratorium

Les Trois Cochons


restaurant with the name NamNamin the new vibrant west part ofCopenhagen. The 190-seat restaur -ant will feature the Peranakancuisine – an Asian fusion cuisinewith 500 years to its credit thatcombines flavours from China,Malaysia, Indonesia and Singa-pore. The menu includes itemssuch as octopus with sambal andginger flower, hang roasted lamband stir-fried pork with tamarindand palm sugar. The dishes andpresentation are designed toshare in the Asian way – but ifguests prefer, individual portionscan also be served. www.clausmeyer.dk

You will find espresso bars all overCopenhagen – the Danes havetaken to Caffè Latte, Macchiato or Cortado and the rest of theMediterranean coffee menu in thesame way that most other urbanareas have. Coffee to go is boom-ing and coffee bars sproutingeverywhere. One exception to the mainstreamapproach is newly opened KentKaffe Laboratorium located in a200 sq m basement just off theNørreport subway station, whohave made it their mission to con-vince the Danes that adding hotmilk to your coffee spoils the realpleasure of drinking coffee. KentCoffee therefore offers a large variety of more or less complicat-ed brewing methods and a largevariety of beans and roasts. Youcan choose Haio Siphon thatbrews using a vacuum principle,the V60 filter brewer or ice coffeebrewed on cold water or the highpressure Trifecta machine. It doesnot make the decision process anyeasier, but definitely adds to theexperience and guests’ under-standing of how different coffeecan taste – and that is the mainpoint. If you insist, they will make

you a traditional espresso thesame way everybody else does. www.kentkaffe.com

When investigating the Copen-hagen restaurant scene, there isone name that will keep poppingup: Copenhagen Food Consultinggenerally known as CoFoCo.Started by a young chef, TorbenKlitbo, in 2003, the red threadthat runs through everything theydo seems to be ‘KISS – keep it simple, stupid’. Under this mottoCoFoCo have developed ninerestaurants in the city, a cateringdivision, two banqueting facilitiesand a charming auberge in thesouth of France (two more open-ings are announced for 2012).The first restaurant was namedCoFoCo and offered a 4-coursedinner ‘surprise’, in the sense thatthe menu changes daily. In add -ition, there are nine items on itsmenu – all smallish portions morelike starters than main coursesthat can be combined as add-onsto the menu. A 4-course dinner isDKK275 (c37) and a 5-course ormore from the menu is DKK50+(c6.5) for each. The restaurantwas an immediate hit when itopened and you would soon needto book two to three months in advance to get a table.Realising they had struck a rawnerve with the local population,they quickly opened their secondrestaurant, Les Trois Cochons –slightly different, but again verysimple. A 3-course dinner atDKK295 (c40) – the starters, a se-lection according to the mood of thechef – the same served for the wholetable, a choice of three mains, FriedPlaice, Confit de Canard or with asupplement Cote de Boeuf at DKK50 (c6.5). All main coursesmust be ordered by minimum twopeople at the table and are servedwith mashed potatoes and ‘haricotverts’. As dessert, ‘Assiette gour-mandise’; if you feel like it, you canadd a cheese plate at DKK75 (c10).The wine list reflects the same sim-plicity – a decent house wine and aselection of 4-5 white and red winesat moderate prices.Continuing along the same vein,they have subsequently opened:

61FOODSERVICE EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST 2/12

Claus Meyer


two Scarpetta Italian restaurants withmenus along the same principles as theoriginal CoFocCo restaurant, but withclassic Italian items; the restaurantSpuntino, again auberge-style but withan Italian accent; Vespa, a more upmar-ket Italian 3-course dinner place, testinga price range of DKK400 (c53); and theCoFoCo version of the classic surf andturf theme called Oysters&Grill. Forstarters: oysters, mussels or lan-goustines at prix du jour; main course:three types of steak or a grilled sea bass;three desserts, one of them being cheese.And the restaurant does not accept cash– only credit cards to keep it simple. Finally, they have also launched a newmagazine: ‘Copenhagen Food’ with chefinterviews and tips and tricks for thehome gourmet, and of course a few ideaswhere to go in town if you don’t feel likecooking it yourself. www.cofoco.dk

Originally, there were three partners atCoFoCo – but then one partner, AndersAagaard, broke out and started Mad-klubben (the Food Club). The conceptualrelationship comes through clearly in thatthe Food Club also targets that apparentlymagic formula of achieving a 3-coursedinner in the DKK200-300 price bracket.But there is a difference when you lookcloser. The Food Club is more purpose-dri-ven and in a sense even more minimalistthan CoFoCo. There are five restaurants inthe group: Madklubben, MadklubbenTivoli, Madklubben Steak, Tony’s andFrankie’s Kitchen. All the menus have thesame basic bistro design – including theall important manifesto that outlines whythey do it the way they do.At Madklubben, guests choose one, two,three or four courses and pay DKK100,150, 200, or 250 accordingly. But severalof the menu items have add-on prices ofDKK25, 50 or even 100. The main cours-es are as no-nonsense as everything else:Steak, Duck, Pork, Fish or Roots (for thevegetarians). Tony’s is same principle,but based on an Italian menu interpretedin a New York style. Frankie’s Kitchen is … well, just Frankie’s kitchen because,as Anders Aagaards says, all really goodparties end up in the kitchen – so thisrestaurant idea is a homage to his friendFrankie, who is known for organising thebest private parties in town. They call it‘international bistro’, which means thatbasically anything goes. Again, guestspick 3 courses for DKK200 or 4 forDKK250 – a further DKK50 or 100 per

item might be added depending on thechoice. www.madklubben.info

One part of Copenhagen City that is arestaurant area all to itself is the Tivoligardens. The portfolio of concepts thatthe park operates itself spans an impres-sive range, from simple hot dog stands tothe Herman, the one-star Michelinrestaurant. Most of the Tivoli conceptsare developed internally. From pirateships to cool lounge bars and top of therange fine dining. The only exception isWagamama where Tivoli is a franchiseeand has one unit in the park, and for afew years now has been rumoured to beon the look-out for additional sites out-side the park. Tivoli also houses and operates Copen-hagen’s possibly most exclusive hotel,the 15-room Nimb. The hotel is part of alarger Nimb complex in the section of thepark facing Copenhagen central station,where you will also find the one-starrestaurant Herman and the newlyopened New York inspired Bar’n’Grill, aswell as the large Scandinavian version ofthe traditional French brasserie built uparound three beautiful cast iron Moltenistoves in the open kitchen called NimbBrasserie. www.tivoli.dk

The newly opened Bar’n’Grill is a classyinterpretation of a New York style up-market steak house, including a bar thatserves serious size drinks. Just like its rolemodels in the Big Apple, this is not a culi-nary temple but a well-executed and no-nonsense high-quality cuisine. Themenu has a number of tempting appetiz-ers like oysters, petite friture with aiolidip or even Oscietre Selection Caviar forthe big spenders. But the main items arethe steaks. They range from a whooping600-g Cote de Boeuf at DKK435, over theclassic Rib Eye steak to smaller moremodest cuts from the flank 250-g forDKK200. Seafood suitable for grilling isalso an option, including lobsters, lan-goustines, tuna or turbot also in theDKK250-300 range per main course. www.tivoli.dk/composite-9583.htm

What to include and what to leave out ina city portrait like this is not easy. Copen-hagen definitely has more to showcasethan one can fit into one article. Thosewho want to take a tour of the townthemselves should do so in summer,when the city is infinitely more friendlythan in winter. ■


CI T Y GU I D E

Bar’n’Grill

Spuntino

Wagamama

Oysters and Grill


NTERNATIONAL RADE OURNAL 2/2012 FORTHE H , R C · 2018. 8. 8. · Noma René Redzepi, Noma...

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Transcript of NTERNATIONAL RADE OURNAL 2/2012 FORTHE H , R C · 2018. 8. 8. · Noma René Redzepi, Noma...