Copenhagen Dispatch #1
Eating, hiking, and biking my way through Denmark's capital.
I just spent a week in Copenhagen, and have returned with dining recommendations, thoughts about eating at Noma for a second time (!!), and despair at car culture’s stubborn hold on America. My intention was to send brief dispatches throughout my time in Denmark’s capital, but in what has become a recurring theme of this newsletter, I was too busy doing stuff to sit down and write about it. I quite literally had to strap myself into a chair to get this done: I wrote almost all of these on my plane ride home, with no internet access.
These dispatches will be a somewhat diaristic overview of my trip. And if you don’t care for my writing and just want the recommendations, I’ll follow up this series with a shortlist of restaurant/museum/sightseeing from both this trip and my previous to Copenhagen, as well as a semi-informed guide to getting around the city, should you ever visit.
And you should visit: more than any city I’ve visited (not that I’m the most seasoned traveler), Copenhagen is the most eminently livable. A friend noticed how quiet the streets are: there aren’t that many cars, and the cars you do see tend to be hybrids or fully electric.
That said, I’m not sure if I’d love this city if I were living there permanently. But if you’re able to work remotely for a month or two? You’ll have a great time. If you’re on vacation, a week seemed like enough time, at least it did to me. But it’s not enough, especially if you’re trying to immerse yourself more into the city’s daily rhythms. I’ve now made two week-long vacations and I still have a couple places I didn’t get to see.
Friday 26 April
Landed at the Copenhagen airport at 2 PM. This was the coldest and rainiest day of my trip. The weather got so much better from here.
On Tapa the World
First bite in Copenhagen was at a casual tapas pop-up that my friend Amy had found on The Jungle List (basically a Time Out Copenhagen, but focused on dining and drinking). It was called Cañas Club with Mati Pichi at Amator. No one was really sure what Amator was, but apparently they would be launching a more permanent restaurant of sorts pretty soon. The menu was simple: bread and butter, and a plate of three tapas. Beer or natural wine to wash it all down.
The tapas were very good, and an excellent way to start the evening.
Tortilla de patatas with saffron mayo
Boquerones en vinagre de Jerez with salsa verde
Ensaladilla Oaxaqueña with taggiasche olives
A large plate, with two of each tapa, was 120 kronor, about $17 USD, which I split with Amy (put another way, that’s $3 per bite).
And The Sky Began To Scream
A local pro-Palestine organization, Palæstina Fortalt, hosted a talk with Youmna El-Sayed, a journalist who lived in Gaza during the outbreak of war in October. It’s one thing to read about the conflict and the people affected by it, it’s one thing to watch a video. It’s another thing entirely to hear a testimony from someone who has lived through the atrocities, still living it, to be in the room and feel the air become charged with grief and fury. The emotional talk, which was delivered in English, certainly galvanized the people in the room, many of whom likely attended a demonstration the next afternoon. (While America provides a lot of funding to the Israeli government, Denmark also exports weapons and the Foreign Ministry is being sued by various NGOs.)
Right Back At It
A late dinner at Baka d’Busk, a vegetarian small plates restaurant with kitschy décor and a cozy atmosphere. Seasonally driven and creative, but certainly for people who already love to eat veggies. I don’t think The Liver King would be converted by this restaurant. Readers of my previous newsletter will know that I am not a liver king. I liked this restaurant a lot!
Highlights:
New potatoes that were harvested the day before. Boiled and garnished with herb salt. Served with radishes and herb butter.
Cigar frito with a fennel and sweet potato filling, with sweet potato and gochujang sauce. Crispy, and warm, very tasty and fun.
Radish confit with a blue cheese cream. Not my favorite but certainly has a point of view!
Celery root carpaccio with buttermilk and sherry vinegar cream, hazelnuts, pickled mushrooms, and thinly sliced ramson leaves (the European equivalent of ramps). Amazing, by far my favorite dish of the night, thanks to the interplay of nutty crunch and velvety cream that is a trademark of contemporary Danish cuisine.
Total: 1155kr ($165) for the meal, a cocktail, and a glass of wine. Food cost split three ways $46. My glass of wine was $16, which is the going rate in a trendy restaurant here. (This is more expensive than France, but still cheaper than New York since there’s no tip, and tax is factored into all of the menu prices.)
Ever Since I Left The City
Make time to check out an event at Folkhuset Absalon, a former church turned community center with fun programming throughout the week, including yoga, crocheting classes, communal dinners, and dance parties. Most of the events are in Danish, but some are in English. Or you could attend a dance party, where one can communicate with movement instead of language. Sometimes there’s a fun theme, liked the Backstreet Boys, sometimes there’s no idea of what to expect. There was a decent amount of people on this Friday night — at least a hundred at any given time — and plenty of room to dance. The DJ played a mix of throwback dance pop hits ranging from Donna Summer to Drake to Bruno Mars — the kind of stuff you hear in a Midtown Manhattan Irish pub on a Thursday night. Of course, Danish pop classics were thrown in, and the crowd went wild for those. The only off-note was putting on R.Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” towards the end… I guess cancel culture didn’t make it to Denmark. The music ended at 2 AM, which is early for New York but late for Denmark.
Saturday 27 April
A late night and jetlag caught up to me. Basically laid in bed until 2 PM. No matter. My plan was to bike literally everywhere this week, so I rented one from a random shop nearby — a clunky cruiser that seemed like it could handle countryside rides (I was wrong). The rental was 100kr a day, so the weeklong rental was 600kr or $85.
Baking In The Sun
Hopped on my new bike and went to the Nordvest neighborhood (which is in the Northwest of Copenhagen) and ate some pastries from Flere Fugle. It’s in a super cute warehouse space, with ample outdoor seating, perfect for a sunny day like this. I ate a croissant, a kanelsnegl (basically a cinnamon roll but without icing), and a laminated miso-sesame pastry that I did not get the name of. Also sipped on an IPA from To Øl, a local brewery.
Then biked to a nearby cemetery and walked around for a bit. There are quite a few cemeteries in Copenhagen, and they’re very popular places for folks to hang out. Many dates start with a walk through one.
Then off to my first Michelin starred restaurant of the trip.
Yes Thank You…
…is the literal translation of Jatak, a one-starred fine dining restaurant helmed by Edmonton native Jonathan Tam, who was once a chef de partie at Noma. “Yes, thank you,” would also be my response every time a chef passed me a plate. The twelve-course tasting menu successfully combines Scandinavian haute cuisine with a variety of Asian ingredients, reflecting ethos of contemporary Danish food as well as the chef’s multicultural upbringing. It was a delight to sit at the chef’s counter, observing everyone assemble each plate with care and seeming ease.
Highlights:
Nixtamalized rye tostada topped with whitefish roe, thinly sliced radishes, and lovage. A salty and sour combination that thoughtfully incorporated Denmark’s favorite grain.
Squid with agretti and nasturtium kosho. The raw squid was thinly sliced and piled over the agretti, and dressed with the nasturtium kosho and avocado oil. I felt it was a touch too oily; you could really feel the fat on your tongue. But it was damn tasty.
Fresh pressed rice noodles in leek broth and a grilled ramson leaf. So simple, but so cozy. Really loved this, and it helped reset the palate for the next few courses.
A piece of steamed skate wing with rhubarb relish, green garlic, and quince paste. Mildly sinus clearing, in a good way.
Hindsholm Pork loin and belly, with a quenelle of Chinese mustard and a side of trimmed endives that came with a juniper berry and soy dressing, a piece of shallot, and wood ear mushrooms. The pork was perfectly cooked: it was velveted and marinated in vinegar, then roasted in the oven at a low heat, then increased to get a nice crunch on the belly.
A fun sidecar came not long after: a dumpling with the pork loin trimmings and some pork brain to improve the texture. Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste too much like brain!
Raw, marinated fjord shrimp with fried koshikari rice, crosne (aka Chinese artichoke), and sambal chili paste. The fanciest fried rice I’ve ever eaten, with a melty shrimp, crunchy crosne, and the earthy sambal melding together beautifully.
Of the desserts, my favorite was a Japanese cheesecake made out of caramelized Chanterelles (don’t ask me how they do this), and a frothy milk ice cream that had the texture of a milkshake.
I realize I put half of the menu in the highlights section, but this was such a great meal. The chef’s counter menu costs 1,600 kr ($230), plus $68 for three glasses of wine (Jousset Exile Rosé Pét Nat, Katoro 90 namagenshu saké, Monte de Grazia 2017).
Skål!
It was 8 PM when we left the restaurant, and it was still bright outside (it doesn’t really get dark until 9 PM in the summertime.)
Saturday night in Copenhagen! Time to drink! An okay cocktail in Fantom Bar (95kr or $14). Then off to Paloma Vermuteria. As you could guess from the name, it’s a vermouth bar. They had an interesting vermouth based cocktails that was topped off with a sour beer, but I don’t recall the particulars of it. Paloma was packed and we had to jostle for a table. We ended up meeting a group of American expats (and some of their Danish partners), who were all lovely and also very interesting to talk to, having lived in Copenhagen for anywhere between five and fourteen years.
Last call at Paloma was super early (10:30 PM? On a Saturday?), so we all decamped to Café Friheden, a casual bar with outdoor seating. Tons of people were hanging out here, and we chilled for a couple more hours.
Sunday 28 April
Woke up at 6 AM for a day trip to Møns Klint (literally “Møns Cliff,” Møns being the name of a town), a seaside park about ninety minutes south of the city. My group went to the Copenhagen Airport to pick up a rental car from Europcar (about $50, gas was more expensive than this). Since it was so early, it was a very pleasant drive down to the southern coast. There were fields and fields of mustard, with the yellow flowers blooming like a scene right out of DDLJ.
We’re Really On A Roll Now
Along the way, we stopped by Netto, the local supermarket chain, to pick up some snacks, and next door was Øbageren, a bakery with sourdough bread and pastries. For breakfast, I had bolle with ost, a rye sourdough roll with butter and cheese. A simple sandwich, and a good one. I also tried a banana and cacao muffin that was really delightful. ($14 for both.)
After the hike, I was really hungry. Fortunately, I had packed a sandwich from that bakery. It had cured sausage, arugula, and a really great olive tapenade. It hit the spot ($10).
Finding the Klint
Not too many Copenhageners have actually made the trip, though they’ve all heard of Møns Klint. Absolutely worth the drive to get there. There’s a really easy hiking loop you can do that takes you through some meadows, into the forested hills, and up to the top of beautiful chalk cliffs that overlook the sea. The glimmering water is a bright blue thanks to the clay in the sand. (You don’t want to go in the water here!) Normally, you can go down to the beach, but a big storm destroyed all the staircases. I saw a few people in the sand, so there’s definitely a way to get down there… just not sure how.
Also, we encountered an extremely friendly, sweet cat at the visitor’s center.
Shine Bright Like A 💎
One of the trendy pizza shops in Copenhagen is Diamond Slice Shop, and they opened a second location while I happened to be in town. To celebrate the occasion, they were selling the Danish equivalent of the dollar slice: cheese pizza, 10kr a pop ($1.40). Unlike New York, there isn’t a constant stream of restaurants opening and closing, so every time there is a new spot opening up, every hip Copenhagener will swarm it. That was certainly the case on this Sunday afternoon, with a line wrapping around the building, almost to the start of the line.
Very lucky for us, some of the folks we met the night before were already there. They had queued up thirty minutes before the store opened, and we shamelessly joined their place in line. I got a slice and a can of beer ($2.89, hell yeah) and we took our pizzas to a nearby park, following the lead of many others to enjoy the sunshine. This was the first nice weekend in Copenhagen, and similar to the first nice weekend in New York, it seemed like everyone was out enjoying the weather. “Everyone’s coming out of their shells,” one of my new American-Danish acquaintances remarked.
Diamond’s cheese slice would rank pretty highly in New York, though the crust is a bit thicker than a NY-style pizza. But that cheese slice is usually 60kr (currently $8.64) which is insanely high… even a “premium” slice shop in New York will sell a cheese slice for about $4. I’ve found the one thing that is far cheaper back home!
Begone, Sunday Scaries
Went back to the apartment afterwards to take a quick nap before dinner at Calma, an Italian/French restaurant in trendy Nørrebro. At the end of the weekend, they serve a three-course prix-fixe “Sunday Supper,” and it was as comforting as the name suggests. The space is decorated with some modern art, the furniture mid-century modern.
The first course consisted of three appetizers: a pâté en croute with pistachios and a very sharp mustard, romaine salad with anchovy vinaigrette, and a beef tartare laced with almonds. All three were lovely.
For the main course, we were served a piece of cod fillet with new potatoes, green & white asparagus, and peas, bathed in a luscious sauce of fumet (fish stock) and cream. Reminiscent of a strongly flavored but fancy chowder.
Dessert was crême anglaise with hazelnut, rhubarb and a berry compote. The crunch of the nuts and rhubarb was definitely needed, and a biscuit on the side would have completed this dish.
Per person, this Sunday Supper was $54, and I also had a glass of wine for $16. Very good, would love to try their full menu.
Next up: searching for deer, exploring Copenhagen via boat, and a few words on Noma…