Skål
The road from smørrebrød to New Nordic is paved with hot dog stands and 7-Eleven.
A century-old institution, the popular Danish street food is served from hot dog carts around town. Everything from traditional smoked pork sausage with cardamom and nutmeg topped with apple ketchup, mustard, remoulade, fried onions and pickles to all vegan tofu dogs.
On street corners and in trains traveling ‘7-Eleven girls’ serve snacks. Go figure.
The new cuisine started in 2004 when the Danish culinary entrepreneur Claus Meyer gathered 12 visionary Nordic chefs (including René Redzepi from world-famous Noma) in Copenahgen. Together they created the Nordic Kitchen manifesto pledging purity, season, ethics, health, sustainability and quality.
Fast forward to this year when Guide Michelin Nordic Cities 2021 awarded a total of 23 stars to 14 restaurants in Copenhagen.
About their water. Safe and delicious. A Danish company even fills recyclable cartons with tap water and plants a tree for every 100 cartons sold. But in restaurants, tap water is by request only and there's a charge for it.
At Kødbyens Fiskebar, fresh seafood is served raw and rustic in Copenhagen’s Meatpacking District.
American convenience and head scratching water protocols aside, almost everything is artfully arranged and sprinkled with weeds and twigs and edible flowers.
Five stars to the dessert at Høst (Danish for harvest) made of birch bark ice cream, deliciously shrunken chewy Russian pine cones (not sure how they did that) with blueberries and white chocolate.
This cozy neighborhood restaurant, with lots of exposed brick, recycled wood and live trees, has won several international design awards. So hygge!