Matthew Orlando

crediti: Brambilla - Serrani

crediti: Brambilla - Serrani

Amass

Refshalevej, 153
Copenhagen
t: +45.(0)43.584330
info@amassrestaurant.com 

He doesn't want to hear definitions such as 'post nordic' or 'new nordic', to avoid falling into set categories and stereotypes hard to shake off. For him, it's the ingredients, regardless of their origin and how they are used and interpreted, that define the very essence of his cooking. Matt Orlando has become, in a relatively short time, one of the rising stars of the Scandinavian culinary landscape's evolution.

He, who was born and raised thousands of miles away on the sunny shores of California with the ocean by his side and the surf board on his shoulders. Yet he found his way of life in Northern Europe, working his way up through the UK (at the Fat Duck and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons), then, after chance encounter with legendary Redzepi, in Copenhagen. Two years at Noma formed and inspired him and got him ready to fly on his own, moving just outside the town centre to Refshalevej.

He opened  Amass in 2013 in a former ship yard warehouse, right by the seafront, surrounded by open fields and the bright open sky. Here he sows, grows and nurtures most of his ingredients, well aware that nature never promises anything. His dishes are, in fact, often only present on the menu just for the duration of particular herb's season or a particular mushroom's lifespan, almost in a rare planet alignment.

There is no test kitchen at Amass: a dish can be put together right in the middle of a busy service, in the spur of the moment. The result is something incredible and unforgettable. Away from labels, Orlando wants to be free to experiment with flavours, their intensity and layers. Fully respecting the environment in which he operates: highly sustainable his approach, nothing goes to waste, from the drinking water left over on the tables to the bread which is reborn as crisps, a chef can become a role model to follow. This is his motto, and his goal in this corner of Scandinavia.

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by

Federica Carr

A British citizen from Naples, obsessive scuba diver, digital marketing manager Monday to Friday, foodie at any given time