Eat Your Way Through Copenhagen

How does the Danish capital continue to reign as a gastronome’s paradise?

Few were surprised when Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, took the top spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list last year. It has now held that position five times. Geranium, also in Copenhagen, took second place. Each has three Michelin stars.

Alchemist, located down the road from Noma in the warehouses of Refshaleøen island, is No. 58 on the top 100 extended World’s Best list. Five restaurants in Copenhagen have two stars, and seven have one Michelin star—a healthy crop for a city of around 800,000 inhabitants.

Food writers, industry players and gastronomes make regular pilgrimages to the city, where even restaurants without stars or other accolades serve memorable meals.

This is the big attraction for Singapore-born Kenneth Foong, Noma’s first Asian head chef. He says, “The energy of the Copenhagen dining scene is unique. It isn’t as erratic as NYC, but it’s not like Japan either, where the best restaurants are closely guarded secrets. It has its own brand of accessibility and a wide variety of food venues, from natural wine bars to bodegas, and hole-in-the-wall places to white-tablecloth establishments,” he says. “There is, of course, also the geographic location, which offers some of the best seafood and produce in the world.”

Copenhagen’s recipe for success has been built on the concept of local produce since 2004, when the New Nordic Food manifesto was drawn up by chef Claus Meyer, Noma’s co-founder, along with René Redzepi. It included 10 principles that focussed on locality, seasonality, and sustainability, and was signed by chefs across the Nordic region.