About Geranium, Copenhagen, Janteloven and Noma

When you think about a fancy restaurant that has been regarded as one of the top in the world by Michelin and other well-known critics, you probably think about a very posh, black tie, elegant, sophisticated and probably pompous restaurant with ultra-expensive dishes. I must admit that I used to think of them exactly like that. But then, I got to understand Copenhagen, the city that houses the best restaurant in the world, and a few other of the most awarded ones in recent years.

København

The famous canals in Copenhagen

Copenhagen is known for many things: the bicycles that crowd the streets in lieu of cars, cold weather, Hans Christian Andersen and tall, slender blondes that practice a balanced lifestyle where happiness is the most important thing. It is though, less known for being one of the places where they have something called Janteloven.

Janteloven, or The Law of Jante is the idea that there is a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals within Scandinavian communities that negatively portrays and criticises individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate.

Probably this explains why, in Copenhagen, the best restaurants are not about creating a flashy and fancy experience where you are required to wear a coat just to get in, but where you are expected to have fun, enjoy, learn and leave happier than when you arrived.

The best in the world

Noma, the best restaurant in the world for the last 4 years as per Restaurant Magazine, and winner of two Michelin stars, is the exemplification of this Law of Jante. A down-to-earth experience where ingredients are sourced from within 60 miles of the restaurant, using varieties of vegetables, vegetation and seafood in unconventional ways that only make sense when combined in a dish by virtuosos.

Geranium

Not too far away from Noma, you can find Geranium, the subject of this writing. This is not in the top 10 restaurants in the world (It was 42nd in 2014 by Restaurant Magazine), but it does have 2 Michelin Stars, and is run by the World’s Best Chef in 2011, Rasmus Kofoed, who won the world championships in cooking — better known as the Bocuse d’Or — in January 2011.

Rasmus Kofoed, Chef — Geranium

Rasmus Kofoed is a triple winner of the gold, silver, and bronze medals — the most winning chef in Bocuse D’ore-competition ever.

The experience, from the moment you enter the restaurant, is sublime, yet simple. A gorgeous wooden floor with 12 tables overlooking a large city park and hundreds of Copenhagen’s roofs. Simple lines, white tablecloths, candles and an open kitchen behind floor-to-ceiling glass walls where about 12 chefs work under Rasmus’ constant supervision.

It’s snowing outside, and the warmth from the kitchen is obscured by that of the servers, who are respectful, knowledgeable and speak many languages as well as the chefs, who act as servers as well, providing an overall experience matched by no other and bringing the kitchen to the table, and the table to the kitchen — literally- as one of the 15 courses in the menu is served in a special table inside the kitchen, given it’s delicacy and need for speed regarding time from kitchen to palate.

Watching this chefs from around the world (I met a Mexican, an American, a Dane, a Swedish and a French) cook, is more comparable to watching scientists dissect a small insect and a doctor performing brain surgery. Torches, liquid nitrogen, tweezers, sprays, magnifying lenses, and precision instruments to achieve incredible textures, flavors and aromas. All in an immaculate white kitchen that is light, spacious and relatively quiet, but very busy.

The decoration is very simple, because the food is the center of everything.

Geranium offers either a menu of 15 courses, or a longer 24 courses. You can match with juice, wines (Wine Spectator awarded them for having the most impressive wine list in the world in 2014) and local organic beers from micro-breweries.

The “small” alternative that I chose, gave me around 9 appetizers, 2 main courses and 4 desserts.

Pinetree dust, fermented artichokes, 15 year-old oysters, onion caramel, flowers, apple gel, cucumber snow (granita), dried moss, seaweed, buckthorn oils are some of the words chosen by the chefs and servers that explain each menu item next to your table. This is a feast for your eyes, your ears and your nose.

No words can describe each dish, but I do want to share the pictures that I took.

Next time you go to Copenhagen, be sure to book (with at least 3 months in advance) a seat at Geranium, or Noma.

The writer with the chefs and Rasums (far right)

Chocolate egg with Dulce De Leche inside. The green layer is pine tree dust.

Jerusalem Artichokes paste, dried and fried to form the two green leaves that you can see on the far left. The rest is non-edible vegetation, but in the bottom right you can see a Walnut filled with walnut mayonnaise.

Onion Caramel in a plum packet layer

Green rocks, which are nothing “more” than a nitrogen frozen scallop with an outside layer of dill gel. Presented on Kobenhavn bay rocks

the small black ball inside the big bowl is a charred potato. You pick it with your fingers and put it on the spoon, where it’s met by a lightly smoked sheep milk butter and herbs

Pheasant in calm surrounding. That means juniper, pickled pine, elder moss.

Beets that have been processed in a “cracker” and presented in an art piece inspired in the lingonberry bush.

slices of pears with pear vinegar gel that “glues” it together with the lemon verbena herb. Presented on a silver piece of art by a local artisan

This red ball appears to be floating on a plate with sand. It’s a very delicate and thin esphere made with milk and fermented juice of carrots, with crab and sea Buckthorn oil inside.

Aromatic flower package. The package is made of a sheet of pressed apple juice that is transparent, flexible and melts in your mouth

15 year-old oysters from Limfjorden with fermented cabbage juice, dried and matured seaweed and thime