Just back from a trip to Copenhagen, primarily to visit Restaurant Jordnær, Geranium, and noma, with Geranium being the second dinner service after the stellar Restaurant Jordnær.
Geranium was the first restaurant in Denmark to be awarded three Michelin stars back in 2016, and went on to be crowned the World's Best Restaurant in 2022 by the 50 Best. If I thought Restaurant Jordnær was an outlier, Geranium proved otherwise; Danish hospitality really is something else. Led by co-owners Rasmus Kofoed and Søren Ledet, Geranium seeks to work with the finest produce that Scandinavia has to offer. The restaurant offers one menu, the 'Universe' menu, that changes according to season; as such, I had the 'Summer Universe' menu.
Being a solo diner sometimes has its perks, and in this instance I was given a seat in the kitchen. From that, to the tour of the prep kitchen, pastry station and events room, let alone the sheer mastery of the cooking at hand, Geranium is a real bucket list restaurant that I am incredibly happy to have attended (I will be thinking of that plum tart for years. In a city where pastry is done so well so often, this was simply the best sweet I ate).
Courses:
1. "Today's harvest from the plant kingdom" (served as the last savoury serving)
2. "Danish tradition" salted herring in crispy algae, dill stems and aquavit
3. Lightly smoked bleak roe, milk and kale
4. Boiled beetroot from "Birkemosegård" with horseradish
5. Marinated squash, herbs and burnt goat cheese
6. Kohlrabi with söl, raw apple, hazelnut oil and caviar
7. Jerusalem artichoke, walnuts, fermented cabbage juice and truffle
8. "A tribute to Demeter" bread pancake with caramelized onions and truffle and crispy grain branches
9. Grilled scallops, intense juice from scallop roe and dried black currant
10. Turbot stuffed with turbot fins and sauce with pickled forest garlic, mushrooms and smoked peas
11. Sea buckthorn, carrot, pumpkin seeds and white chocolate
12 and 13. Plums in two servings with yoghurt, sunflower and fig leaves
14. Mild liquorice, lemon thyme and dried berries
15. Milk chocolate and pickled rose hip
16. Crispy "Flowers" with exotic spices
by MaaDFoXX
6 Comments
Might be my fave in Copenhagen. The thing I’ll always remember about eating here – 7 desserts without feeling like I’ve been overloaded with sugar and sweetness. Gorgeous platings. It’s also probably what people would consider the most “stuffy” but that’s quite extreme as it’s relative.
Across your different posts from Copenhagen: Amazing photos!
Looks just like the noma post from earlier. And people were dissing st John ?
I loved all of the high level Copenhagen restaurants, although Geranium is just peak perfection of Western cooking from my perspective. It doesn’t get better than this.
First restaurants where every single dish was a hit, every dish looks utterly beautiful, and there wasn’t a single off note or cooking imperfection anywhere whatsoever.
Noma and Alchemist a little more interesting for a variety of reasons (I also thought they had better service) but for food, Geranium is just amazing.
Absolutely stunning. What is the food on picture 15?
Edit: oops, just found it.
Absolutely stunning presentation. Unfortunately I vastly preferred the old menu with the likes of the marbled hake with caviar and razor clam. Still incredible just not my favorite