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‘Nordic Cuisine’ has become the talk of the culinary world, with its proponents in the Danish capital taking a haul of international food awards in recent months. Michael Raffael discovers a buzz inside the kitchens, delis and microbreweries of Copenhagen Photography by sarah coghill probably the best .... 68 foodC & traveopenhagenl previous pages: aamanns takeaway smørrebrød; street graffiti. this page, from top: beetroot and beef with travel strap smoked marrow at aoc, and jars with tissues scented with dishes from the menu (below); inside nimb brasserie; a ‘christiania’ bicycle; shrimp with crisp parmesan, and shrimp with samphire at aoc; welcome to nimb. Opposite, clockwise from top right: Nimb’s salted mackerel with cucumber, rhubarb sago and chickweed; the palads cinema; salted turbot with pickled radish and sea trout eggs and the interior at nimb; fiskebaren’s twist on rhubarb and custard; photographs of jaegersborggade residents The cultural topography of Copenhagen is never flat. An organic hotel is round the corner from a knocking shop. Roses thrive unvandalised outside terraces daubed with graffiti. Only bicycles and those astride them can claim to own the streets

idnight is long-gone and Ruby bar is shaking and stirring: Five parts genever, two parts Cherry Heering, two parts This is a rustic land with a strong agricultural basis – even before the Romans, Celtic tribes M lime juice, two parts sugar syrup, a dash of Angostura bitters and a twist of orange. Shake with ice cubes and strain into cultivated grapes This is a rustic land with a strong agricultural basis – This is a rustic land a martini glass – a ‘Copenhagen’ cocktail. Assorted blondes recline on Ruby’s sofas in the cobbled indoor garden. Suits, resting on a with a strong agricultural basis – even before the Romans, Celtic tribes cultivated grapes Chesterfield, smooth away the furrows of the day’s deals. A guy in This is a rustic land with a strong agricultural basis – shorts orders another round. Owner Rasmus Lomborg’s mother- in-law drops in for a nightcap, or to catch up with his ravishing Edinburgh-born spouse who’s behind the bar. It’s Copenhagen’s coolest spot. Like the city itself, it accepts all-comers mindless of age, sex, beauty or dress sense. The cultural topography of this capital is never quite flat. Fiskebaren, a fish restaurant, stands in the heart of the meatpacking district. Axel, an organic hotel, is round the corner from a knocking- shop. Laundromat combines clothes-washing à la Dot Cotton with funky-café status. Climbing roses and boxes of culinary herbs thrive, unvandalised, outside terraced rows and blocks of flats. Gangland graffiti daub walls beside them. Only bicycles and those astride them can claim to own the streets. Their baskets packed with babies, puppies, double basses, they move between traffic- lights in purposeful waves. The city’s most famous restaurant, Noma – recently crowned number one restaurant in the world – also throws up a surprises. René Redzepi, its acclaimed chef, is Albanian on his father’s side. The cradle of ‘Nordic Cuisine’, Noma has swapped musk ox for Danish bacon and Icelandic ladled buttermilk for Lurpak packets. Vinegars and juices replace the vinous sauces of haute cuisine and weed-tips and resinous leaves the basil and chervil of classic repertoire.

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Redzepi can still just about toss Frisbees in a local park with a wall. The signage to shops echoes the New Age community of his mates without being recognised. Not so Claus Meyer. Danish Christiania. Christian Puglisi picked it for his bistro and takeaway, heads turn when he comes into a room. Entrepreneur, vinegar Manfred’s – no waiters, two main courses, a counter and a few maker, TV chef, badminton champion tables. He remembers watching customers and one-time au pair, he’s the not-so-grey from Noma’s open-plan kitchen where he eminence behind Noma. He put together worked as sous chef. ‘It had taken them the team, found the star player. Before it 12 months to book and finally it was their opened, Meyer says, the concept didn’t night and you could see the expectation exist: ‘Nobody wanted it. Nobody knew in their faces; it was like they were looking what it was. The notion didn’t exist. If at an altar.’ people loaded some meaning into it [the Puglisi plays with the same northern name’s an acronym for Nordic food], they raw materials, but switches the mood thought of rotten fish, fermented meat, from gastro-piety to rock ’n’ roll. His whale or seal.’ second restaurant, Relæ, opening across From the outset Meyer recognised the road, will only have space for three a fundamental difference between his chefs. There’s no way, he says, it will ever goals and his chef’s. Redzepi learnt his become exclusive. craft at El Bulli and The French Laundry. ABOVE: entrance to tivoli gardens. below: the dome of Claus Meyer has opened his own chain He wanted to measure himself against fredrikskirken; interactive wall at copenhagen museum of deli-diners, bought himself a fruit farm on them. Meyer’s agenda was much broader. the island of Lilleø, in Smålandsfarvandet, ‘For me Noma has always been a tool, an instrument to change south-west of Copenhagen, and taken up cider vinegar making. food culture,’ he explains. After eight years, his first batch of apple balsamic is ready for Jægersborggade is a residential street in Nørrebro, just outside the tasting. His estate also includes a small vineyard that he shares city centre, that’s run as a kind of collective. At the corner, photos of with Anders Selmer, the owner of Fiskebaren. its inhabitants standing in the doorways to their apartments plaster The wine, Arwen (a blend of solaris, sauvignon

Except for its Friday-night rock concerts, Tivoli Gardens has hardly changed in decades. Children still lick candy floss and ice cream cornets. The original 1914 helterskelter can still evoke a scream or two. Pickled herring is there too, even if it has to compete with a sushi bar

clockwise from top: nyhavn harbour; a snifter at told & snaps; dizzying views at tivoli gardens; pouring beer at nørrebro

travel information Currency is the Danish krone (£11=1 DKK). Denmark follows booking information and upcoming events and attractions. central European time, one hour ahead of GMT. With warm It offers a Copenhagen Card which you can use to gain free entry summers and cold winters, Denmark is warmest during the to 60 museums and attractions and free public transport around months of July and August, when temperatures reach around the city from around £25 for 24 hours. 20°C, and averages 2°C in February, its coldest month. VisitDenmark (020 7259 5955; visitdenmark.com) Everything you need for planning a trip to Denmark. Getting there Norwegian Airlines (020 8099 7254; norwegian.com) operates Further Reading direct daily flights from Gatwick to Copenhagen. Noma: Time & Place in Nordic Cuisine by René Redzepi SAS (flysas.com) operates direct daily flights from London (Phaidon Publishing, £29.95) provides an in-depth look at Heathrow, Birmingham and Aberdeen to Copenhagen. contemporary Nordic Cuisine in more than 90 beautifully photographed recipes. Resources Danish Food and Cooking by John Nielson and Judith H. Dern Wonderful Copenhagen (00 45 3325 7400; visitcopenhagen. (Anness Publishing, £15.99) A guide to Danish cuisine, with 65 com) The official tourist board for Copenhagen provides maps, traditional recipes.

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left: the city’s preferred mode of transport, and captured in a mural in central copenhagen opposite, clockwise from left: birch- smoked ham with elderberry marmalade at aoc; shrimps with cucumber gel at fiskebaren, and the restaurant’s interior licorice root for sale in tivoli gardens; aamanns cookbooks

blanc, silvaner and riesling), matches Fiskebaren’s native Limfjord parmesan. Pleated beetroot folios sprinkled with smoked bone oysters to perfection. In the meatpacking district, a low-slung marrow mask an undersized grilled steak. squadron of 1930s warehouses, it dishes up the fish and shellfish Copenhagen isn’t that much bigger than Bristol and it has, or that until recently was shipped to France. Tiny Rømø shrimps served had, 13 Michelin-starred restaurants. AOC is one of them. Another, in a Kilner jar on a cucumber jelly with quenelles of smoked cheese Paustian, has just closed, though it may reopen. Others may be on and herbed crème fraîche taste as good as they look. The cod-like the brink. It raises, ironically, the question of sustainability. In summer, torsk, halibut and plaice dazzle with their freshness. the populist eateries of Nyhaven, the town’s iconic wharf, pile food For pudding there’s rhubarb and custard, but not as we know it; high for tourists and locals alike untroubled by aesthetic or ecological the fruit is a granita, and the cream is flavoured with tonka beans aims and do very nicely. The habitués of Laundromat spill out onto and crunchy knobs of caramelised white chocolate. the pavement, wrapping themselves in tartan rugs when north Danes say that if you want to speak Danish you have to be able winds blow, happy to tuck into their bacon and egg brunch or BLT. to say Rødgrød med fløde, which translates as ‘red pudding with So long as the average lunch hour is more like half an hour, cream’. Think mashed strawberries with cream and you get the Copenhagen isn’t likely to ditch its enduring passion for the open picture. In his delis, Claus Meyer adds blackcurrants and blueberry sandwich, smørrebrød. Its basis is a treacle-brown rye bread juice. Others prefer raspberries. Nordic Cuisine desserts tend to be that nobody makes like the Danes. Bo Bech’s bakery does it to easy on the eye, unlike the precise, plated arrangements of other perfection, moist, chewy, with little crunchy bits of seed. It’s compact courses. Even the white chocolate ice cream with dill snaps and but not hard like German pumpernickel. water ice topped with liquorice dust at Nimb Brasserie looks homely. There’s no such thing as a ‘best’ smørrebrød restaurant, but Designer dining doesn’t get more Scandinavian than the sensory Told & Snaps has a charisma of its own. A few steps below street evening menu at AOC. Crisp ham wafers stick to a miniature birch level, it’s cramped, has a waitress with attitude (rare for Copenhagen) log, imitating fungi. Raw shelled prawns lie on pebbles in a glass and a bar adorned with flavoured snaps bottles. Here, the trick is to bowl ready for dipping with tweezers in mayonnaise and crumbled order one sandwich with a snifter to accompany it, maybe

So long as the average lunch hour is more like half an hour, the city isn’t likely to ditch its passion for the open sandwich, smørrebrød. Its basis is a treacle-brown rye bread that nobody makes like the Danes

Where to SHOP Where to STAY

Bo Bech Bakery Kongensgade 46 (00 45 3918 5501; bobech. Prices quoted are for a double room based on two people net) Only two organic breads on sale – a chewy medium-acid sharing (unless stated otherwise) with breakfast. sourdough and a nutty, grainy rye – but they are exceptional. 71 Nyhaven Nyhaven 71 (00 45 3343 6200; Karamelleriet Jægersborggade 36 (00 45 7023 7777; 71nyhavnhotel.com) Hard to beat for location, especially karamelleriet.dk) Toffees and caramels, hand-made by a still- the rooms overlooking the harbour. Neat four-star, part beautiful former pop star. of the Hansen chain that owns about 10 Copenhagen Meyer’s Deli Gammel Kongevej 107 (00 45 3325 4595; hotels. Doubles from £135. meyersdeli.dk) The original diner and deli of Claus Meyer’s growing Axel Guldsmeden Helgolandsgade 7-11 (00 45 3331 empire. Super deli produce, including his own cider vinegars from 3266; hotelguldsmeden.com). This hotel has a Balinese Lilleø. The two other branches are located at Gothersgade 60 and theme and lovely laid-back staff. Doubles from £90. Kongens Nytorv 13. Nimb Bernstorffsgade 5 (00 45 8870 0000; nimb.dk) Hotel Ostehjørnet Store Kongensgade 56 (00 45 3315 5011; with 14 beautiful rooms, a brasserie with three open-plan ostehjornet.dk) All the best Scandinavian cheeses including kitchens overlooking Tivoli, a luxury restaurant, colonial unusual blues and pressed cheeses. style bar, vinotek and even a dairy. Doubles from £300.

74 food & travel food & travel 73 from top: Claus Meyer, and his take on stegt flÆsk (fried pork) and salmon and rye bread (below) at meyer’s gourmet traveller deli; charlotte vigel at karamelliert. opposite, clockwise from top, centre: confit of veal at kokkoriet and its makers at kokkeriet; beers at nørrebro bryghus; holmens kirke; shutters on fredericiagade; fresh mackerel; street sign; sourdough at bo bech bakery, served with a smile

curried herring or smoked eel, or perhaps roast pork that arrives overlapping the bread in warm slices, complete with crackling. Aamann’s, the takeaway arm of yet another Michelin star, allies itself to the new school. Chefs from its restaurant show up with bags of woodruff, chickweed and wood sorrel for toppings that may combine rhubarb with potato and capers, dry-cured Grambogård ham, sausagemeat crumble or mackerel with raw tomato. The prices are accessible too, given the scarifying cost of Denmark’s tax-inflated food. Four pieces to go, packed in a neat cardboard box, cost around £20. Although Carlsberg possibly isn’t the best lager in the world, it’s probably the best-known export. In Copenhagen it has to compete with microbreweries that are springing up to challenge it. A decade ago there wasn’t one; today there are more than one hundred. Nørrebro Bryghus, in Ryesgade, a street of junk shops and antique dealers, started the trend. Its dark brown Tripel de Lente, aged in sauternes barrels, was a recent world champion. At ground level it’s a pub with a dozen taps behind the bar, stainless steel vats and wooden barrels. Upstairs it has a beer-matching menu with 250ml of ale, stout or pilsener accompanying every course – there’s beer in the nettle soup with smoked mackerel and poached egg, too. Its publicity trumpets the country’s first carbon-neutral beer and the brewery takes its organic brews to the annual Roskilde music festival that received a Green World award for supporting environmental issues. Claus Meyer has his stand there

FOOD GLOSSARY

Cherry Heering Danish brandy-based cherry liqueur. Chickweed A small wild plant found often in Danish dishes that can be either boiled and eaten as a vegetable (it tastes rather like spinach) or used raw in salads. Frikadelle Meatballs of minced beef or pork with grated onion, allspice and egg, deep or shallow fried and traditionally served in tomato sauce with potatoes. Genever or jenever Juniper-flavoured spirit. Guf Marshmallow-like substance made with whipped egg whites that is used as a topping for ice cream. Pickled herring Traditional Danish dish in which herrings are pickled in spiced vinegar and served cold. Rødgrød med fløde A sweet pudding made from potato starch, red berries, vanilla and custard or cream. Rømø shrimp Small and tender prawns found in the deeper, saltier waters around the isle of Rømø. Smørrebrød Open sandwich topped with cold savoury items such as salad, meat or fish as an informal meal or snack. Torsk Native fish from the cod family. Woodruff A white flowered herb usually used to flavour wine, apple juice, liqueurs and beer. Wood sorrel A plant with small, sour heart-shaped leaves used for flavouring in salads and soups.

84 food & travel food & travel 75 gourmet traveller below and right: travel strap laundromat cafe. opposite, below: beer and nettle soup with poached egg, served at nørrebro bryghus cafe

and so does Christian Puglisi with his partner Kim Rossen. The state Pavillion of Nimb and the fairground fantasy changes. Its packed manages organic accreditation; its logo appears outside restaurants brasserie bears the stamp of the Nordic Cuisine revolution: roasted like BioMio and the bakery chain Emmerys. As Meyer eloquently sweetbreads with new-season garlic, cured mackerel with sago in points out, so few people in such a wide area make it the ideal rhubarb juice, salted turbot with sweet and sour radishes, beef from terroir for a sustainable lifestyle. Even a local cab company carries a a herd of rare-breed Welsh Blacks that graze on Middle Isle. CO² neutral sticker on its wings. ‘We don’t,’ Meyer insists, ‘want to Danes aren’t about to give up on their ice cream with guf, a raw, belong to a minority of biodynamic farmers and Michelin wannabes. strawberry-coloured meringue they spoon on top of their cornets. We want to bring what we do into everyday lives and aspirations.’ Nor are they going to turn off the Carlsberg tap. They are open Except for its Friday-night rock concerts, Tivoli Gardens has to change and this is coming fast and furious into Copenhagen’s hardly changed in decades. Children still lick candy floss and ice mainstream. In the open, inclusive society Danes enjoy, Nordic cream cornets. The Boys’ Guard – red uniforms and busbies – Cuisine is finding its own level in the same way as the city’s marches through the park playing fife and drums.T he original 1914 alternative society of Christiania. helterskelter can still evoke a scream or two. Pickled herring is there, even if it has to compete with a sushi bar. The frikadelle at Grøftens Michael Raffael and Sarah Coghill travelled to Copenhagen take on the burgers of the Hard Rock Café. You can still find a stall courtesy of VisitDenmark (visitdenmark.com) and Norwegian selling salty liquorice. Step off the main drag into the mini-Brighton Airlines (norwegian.com)

Noma has swapped musk ox for Danish bacon and Icelandic ladled buttermilk for Lurpak packets. Vinegars replace the vinous sauces of haute cuisine and resinous leaves the basil of classic repertoire

WHERE TO DRINK

Café Sommerskø Kronprinsensgade 6 (00 45 3314 8189; sommersko.dk) Stylish café that shape-shifts effortlessly into a noisy bar in the late evening. Coffee Collective Jægersborggade 10 (00 45 6015 1525; coffeecollective.dk) Bohemian café where coffee beans are hand-roasted in very small quantities. K Bar Ved stranden 20 (00 45 3391 9222; k-bar.dk) Cool cocktail bar named after owner Kirsten Holm who is the city’s undisputed Martini queen. Ruby Nybrogade 10 (00 45 3393 1203; rby.dk). Queue at weekends but the rest of the time just walk into this world-ranking bar that shares a building with the Georgian Embassy.

WHERE TO eat

Prices quoted are per person for three courses (without wine) Kokkeriet Kronprinsessegade 64 (00 45 3315 2777; kokkeriet.dk) unless otherwise stated. One of the city’s Michelin stars. More body and flavour than in Aamanns Smørrebrød deli Øster Farimagsgade 10 (00 45 3555 purist Nordic Cuisine restaurants, but Scandinavian touches make 3344; aamanns.dk) This is the takeaway, adjoining a Michelin- it always interesting. Cookery courses here too. From £65 starred restaurant. Updated open sandwiches have layers of taste Laundromat Elmegade 15 (thelaundromatcafe.com; 00 45 3535 and texture from about £6 each. 2672) Café-cum-launderette and hangout for beautiful people. AOC Dronningens Tværgade 2 (00 45 3311 1145; premisse.dk) Manfred’s Jægersborggade 40 (00 45 3696 6593; manfreds.dk) Vaulted cellar, sexy presentations, Michelin star, exquisite wines No waiters, no booking, takeaway too. Only open in the evenings, and prices to match. Four-glass wine matching menu around £75. but a great vibe at this bistro with vinyl accompaniments. £20 BioM Fredericiagade 78 (00 45 3332 2466; biom.dk) The £20 Nørrebro Bryghus Ryesgade 3 (00 45 3530 0530; organic brunch represents excellent value. noerrebrobryghus.dk) Brewery, pub and café downstairs. Upstairs BioMio Halmtorvet 19 (00 45 3331 2000; biomio.dk) Large, fun restaurant specialising in beer-matching menus for about £60 and fashionable organic hang-out, just off the meatpacking district. Noma Strandgade 93 (00 45 3296 3297; noma.dk) Noma is No need to book. £30 booked up months ahead. You won’t miss out on any of the Fiskebaren Flæsketorvet 100 (00 45 3215 5656; fiskebaren.dk) Nordic Cuisine themes by eating out in restaurants where it’s Owned by Noma’s ex-sommelier and still very close to Nordic influence will already have permeated. £120 Cuisine’s ideals. Warehouse atmosphere allied to beautifully Told & Snaps Toldbodgade 2 (00 45 3393 8385; toldogsnaps.dk) presented fish and shellfish. Oysters are a real treat. £40 Expensive but worth it. The snaps menu is worth the detour. £35

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