Geranium, a stunning hake

When you walk into Geranium, in Copenhagen, you enter one of the Sancta Sanctorum of Nordic cuisine. Not the pure one of the Nordic manifesto but the softer and more accessible one, filtered through extremely elegant French influences, and supported by a dining room team whose service is close to perfection. After all, this is also proven by the recent Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality award – created in collaboration with Cantine Ferrari, as we also explained during our Congress – which the restaurant guided by Rasmus Kofoed received during the recent edition of the World's 50Best in Bilbao.

Indeed, it is this mix of balance that makes the experience unforgettable: on the one hand, you have the competent and discreet Søren Ledet, the restaurant manager leading the expert dozen of dining room staff members. On the other you have the 15 standard bearers who liven up with silent and perfect movements the carousel of dishes that are magically composed in front of the guests (the kitchen is open view, at the end of the room), following the guidelines of the calm Rasmus.

It comes as no surprise that the chef is one of the minds behind the constant Danish presence at the top of the Bocuse d’Or, given he’s the only one in the world to have all three statues, the gold, the silver and the bronze one. They are carefully displayed in the lounge area where guests go before sitting at their table.

These days, Geranium presents the Summer Universemenu, made of 5 appetizers, 5 main courses, 5 desserts and a few more sweet delicacies served at the end of the meal. The menu is based on lightness, despite its seeming length. It is a perfect balance of signature dishes, seasonal variations that portray the history of the restaurant and reinvent it, and dishes that reflect the unbreakable connection with nature and Nordic seasonal products from both sea and mainland. These sensations are perfectly coherent with the initial choice of name for the restaurant, representing the awakening of the senses and the representation of the environment, of life, and of a constantly evolving energy.

There are many dishes that can be defined as somehow "historic", such as Razor clams (entirely edible, even the shell) with minerals and sour cream, or “Stones” with dill and mackerel, horseradish and frozen cucumber and dill juice (the current menu includes a version of this dish with scallops and beetroot,). However, we chose the inspiring “marbled” Hake with caviar and buttermilk, which in 2015 received the dish of the year award from Danish culinary critics. The hake filet is salted in a liquid solution for some 15 minutes and then “rolled” in burnt parsley ashes (20 minutes in the oven at 200°C turn it into a dark powder); finally the fish is rolled and frozen until it is used.

The sauce, instead, is made of clarified buttermilk, butter and a broth of mussels. The dish is then finished with a tablespoon of parsley, caviar and oil aromatised with parsley. The crispy side of the dish is made of flakes of hake scattered on the surface. To sum it up, elegance, taste, Nordic sensations, balance. Rasmus Kofoed continues to have few rivals.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso

Geranium
Per Henrik Lings Allé 4, 8
Copenhagen, Denmark
+45.69960020
Closed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 
Tasting menuSummer Universe: 2.500 Danish Krones (335 euros)