There are many reasons behind the brand-new title of “Best Restaurant in the World” given to Geranium in Copenhagen. And perhaps the most important one is that for the first time, the cuisine is as important as the other aspects.
Geranium is a contemporary restaurant in terms of the values shining over it, even before considering its style of cooking – a detailed and inventive style, mostly focused on fish and local vegetables, and a clear classic French background. In 15 years of history, friends and co-patrons Soren Ledet and Rasmus Kofoed have always had a discrete attitude, away from the clamour: hard work, very few public appearances, zero announcements. A special humbleness. Coherently, Ledet explained at Identità Milano only a few months ago, the most important task of all who work here is «not to impress people, but to make sure they have a good time».
On the 8th floor of Parken, which also hosts the FC Copenhagen stadium, we’re struck by the totally laid-back, relaxed atmosphere: guests can dress as they please, encouraged by the absence of a dress code. Overall, they avoid the classic formal attitude, which often makes clients uneasy – an attitude which is luckily declining. Having said this, the dining room staff was incredibly professional, young and smart. And very Italian. «You have a special talent for hosting », Ledet confessed, «while in Denmark we’re basically helpless».
The restaurant is on the 8th floor of Parken, which also hosts the FC Copenhagen stadium. On the other side, the view overlooks the magnificent Fælledparken
Søren Ledet and Rasmus Kofoed, Danish patrons and respectively general manager and chef. They opened Geranium in Kongens Have, in 2007. In 2010 they moved to the current location. On the 24th February 2016 it became the first Danish restaurant to get 3 Michelin stars. On the 18th of July 2022, the triumph at the World's 50Best (photo from Claes Bech-Poulsen)
The restaurant can seat 34 guests, plus between 6 and 20 in the private dining room
So, for example, for quite some time
Mattia Spedicato (restaurant manager from Lecce) and
Andrea Sala (head sommelier from Brianza), have been moving swiftly among the tables seating 34 people in the main dining room. Encyclopaedic knowledge, bright and timely chat and no severe looks if the guest doesn’t recall how dry the 2003 vintage was. Since 2018
Giulia Caffiero, from Cagliari has been working with them. She’s the
floor manager and
juice pairing manager – today at lunchtime 50% of clients choose it, a huge number. Giulia dedicates up to 15 hours a day to extracting and combining juices from berries, fruits and roots. And she uses no fermentations, only freshness, favouring her solar Mediterranean inclination.
The enticing thing for all the (many) people who decide to send their curriculum to Geranium is the respectful treatment of the staff. If you show you have potential and will, they will immediately give you important responsibilities: Giulia was hired after her trial day, a rarity in Italy. We haven’t checked, but we also got a feeling that the average age, in the dining room and in the kitchen, is among the youngest in all the 50Best.
Martina Pistolesi, from Fermo in the Marche, sous chef at Geranium. Her curriculum includes Gellius, Del Cambio and Madonnina del Pescatore
Jackie Doucette, from Boston, head sommelier
Andrea Sala, head sommelier from Brianza, and Nicole Fioridi, waitress, from Cattolica in Romagna
The restaurant has only 6 weekly services: dinner from Wednesday to Saturday, lunch only on Friday and Saturday. This gives the team lots of freedom («without time for us we can go mad», Ledet pointed out at Identità) but also invest on professional growth and benefits (they paid the entire sommelier course to
Mattia). The salary is dignified and proportioned to the high cost of living in Copenhagen, and was paid even during the lockdown. The number of non-paid interns (a maximum of 3 or 4) out of the total of the staff (around 40 people between dining room, kitchen and admin) is much smaller than in other restaurants in the same category.
A happy family, that is, a more and more necessary condition to preserve the resources and grow gradually but constantly. Up to 3 stars and the top of the 50Best, goals chased with determination but also with enough funds. «These titles, however, do not define you as a person», Ledet pointed out, «that exercise is never over».
2022 SUMMER MENU
The current Summer Menu is 3’200 Danish crowns (430 euros) and the 4 options of wine pairings range between 2’000 crowns (heart and soil, 268 euros) to 18’000 crowns (rare & unique, 2’400 euros). The alcohol-free pairing is 1’300 crowns (175 euros)
With 4’500 labels, the wine list at Geranium is one of the richest in the world. An encyclopaedia with no preconceptions with regards to styles, Domaines and Chateaux and natural wines or of new generation. You can read it all in digital format
Salted herring in crispy algae, dill stems & aquavit
We start with a small tasting that puts together some emblems and habits of the popular culinary tradition of Denmark: tartlet of seaweeds with smoked herring, dill and a spray of aquavit on top. It’s the first of 20 servings
Lightly smoked bleak roe, milk, kale and apple
We find a pairing quite common in the dishes served at Geranium: caviar with dairy products. Kalix caviar, lightly smoked, milk, cabbage and apple. The series of initial appetizers includes 6 small servings
Cucumber stuffed with oysters, spring shoots & snail eggs
Vegetables are a particular favourite of chef Kofoed: during the pandemic he launched pop-up Angelika in the private room, serving 100% vegetarian cuisine
Oscietra caviar "Gold" lightly smoked, sunflower seeds, pickled walnut leaves & whipped cream
The first of 6 alcohol-free pairings from Giulia Caffiero. Extract of raw yellow turnips and sweet green pairs, to which they add a reduction of burnt Jerusalem artichoke, later added as an infusion. Only natural sugars
Raw vegetables from local farms, crispy scallops & trout roe emulsion
Raw vegetables and herbs from local farms, to be dipped in an emulsion of trout roe and dried and then fried scallops. Playful and good
Boiled beetroot Birkemosegård, dried blueberries & horseradish
The first alcoholic break in our alcohol-free journey: Eisele Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2019 (Napa Valley, California)
Second juice pairing. Extract of (seedless) green apples and cucumber mixed with the shaker by the table with dill oil and powdered fresh dill (dried in the oven overnight at 70°C). Sour, fresh, herbaceous
Lightly salted mackerel, smoked oil & vegetable juice
It’s the first tasting of phase two of the menu, the seven savoury servings
Celeriac with Rygeost & fermented cream with caviar
Celeriac with crispy vegetables and powdered vegetables (produced by Zelmer Olsen, who also designed many of the plates at Geranium), Rygeost (a lightly smoked cheese from cow’s milk) and fermented cream with Belgian caviar
Third alcohol-free pairing. Gooseberry juice cooked in sugar and water, left in infusion overnight with lovage, another emblem of Danish cuisine (served with potatoes in a very popular dish). Pleasant sips, sour, balsamic. This will be followed by a fourth cocktail, made with red and yellow apple juice (10 different varieties), celeriac juice and reduction of hay
New potatoes, fermented cabbage, lovage & mustard seeds
Green asparagus, aged cheese & wild plants
Blanc de Blancs Nyetimber 2014, English bottle-fermented sparkling wine
Bread pancake with buttermilk, ramson & winter truffle
Bread pancake, wild garlic, fresh truffle, smoked cheese and caramelised shallot. The first more structured serving
Barolo Pira Roagna 2013, Langhe
Next to the glass of Barolo (to the right) they serve a very similar nectar. It’s not wine but Giulia’s fifth alcohol-free pairing: blackberries, lingonberries and dried cherries in infusion, with homemade pine powder and smoked pine added to the glass
Turbot with langoustine, morels & pickled pine
Perfectly cooked, very juicy
Infusion with grilled white asparagus, pickled elderberries, truffle & crispy grains with grain coffee
Chateuneuf-du-Pape Reserve 2005, Pignan
Aroma of black locust, wood sorrel & frozen ymer
Ymer is a Danish sour milk, served frozen. It’s the first of 7 Sweets, the last third of the menu
Rhubarb, yoghurt & frozen black currant leaf tea
Dark chocolate & Jerusalem artichoke reduction
Two pearls: one with reduction of Jerusalem artichoke, one with dark chocolate
Last alcoholic pairing, a glorious and soave Royal Tokaji 6 Puttonyos Aszù 2016, Hungary
Sea buckthorn, carrot, pumpkin seed & white chocolate
Giulia served the sixth and last alcohol-free pairing matched with the dish: a delicious juice of cloudberry, toasted pumpkin seeds and sea buckthorn
Frozen raspberry juice & mild liquorice
Warm potato cake with nutmeg & tykmælk
Tykmælk is a fermented milk, similar to kefir
Giulia and Mattia serving the coffee at the end, pressed at the table with Flair Espresso machines. Very good. The restaurant has just closed for the summer holidays. They will open again on the 11th of August
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
