Restaurant Opening

 Having friends in high places sometimes pays off. A good friend of the lab invited us to the opening of The Standard, Claus Meyers new restaurants and Jazz Club. The Standard is located just across the harbor from the Nordic Food Lab and consists of 3 restaurants and a Jazz Club. 

The ground floor:
Almanak – modern Danish restaurant offering breakfast, lunch and dinner and full bar service. (Saturdays and Sundays only lunch and dinner)
Verandah – contemporary gastronomic Indian restaurant offering dinner and full bar service including light snacks in the lounge area and brunch and dinner on Sundays.

The upper floor:
Studio – ex-noma chef Torsten Vildgaard’s gastronomic New Nordic restaurant offering dinners Tuesday through Saturday
The Standard – a dynamic and vibrant jazz club with full bar service (no food) and 2 shows nightly – with earlier show times on Sundays.

Almanak.

Studio.

Oysters and Champagne. Don't mind if I do.

 We had a lovely time sipping champagne, sampling some of the menu items, and exploring the space.

The following night we attended the family and friends soft opening. We had the option of 5 or 7 courses for half off! How could we resist and offer like that. Six of us from the lab had a lovely evening sitting at the bar, dining of delicious Nordic ingredients with a slightly french gastronomic twist. It was quite fun sitting at the bar, interacting with the chefs and watching them in action. It really enhanced the dining experience. (Honestly I cannot recall all of the ingredients in these dishes but I will do my best to describe them)

 Snacks:

 

Jerueseleum Artichoke "bark" with a smoked cheese and yarrow dip. 

 Leeks with thyme oil and wild herbs.

The third snack (which accidentally went un-photographed) was a savory choux with a thick creme fraiche and fish roe.

A barely cooked scalop with thyme oil, juniper berries, thyme dust, and a crackling pine branch.

The server lit the branch on fire and told us to smell the forest. 

 

Next we were each handed an envelope and inside we found this- a thin crisp flat bread, which was served along side regular bread and sour butter.

 A scallop hidden under wild herbs, with potato puree, søl foam, and something else I cannot remember.

Next came the fois gras for the meat eater and a delicious beet dish for me. But before the dish was served, Torsten, the head chef asked which of us was getting the beets and I said it was me. He then picked out a truffle for a large bowl, passed it to me to smell and then shaved off a huge slice for me to enjoy. mmm. 

The beet plate consisted of 5 small beet medallions topped with a black berry, more shaved truffle, beet reduction and more wild herbs. (Unfortunately this went un-photographed as well)

 Next for me was Turbot in a mushroom forest. The plate was set in from of me and then Torsten handed a small pot of broth to my dining companion Jonas and instructed him to pour it over my dish. There were probably 10 different kind of mushroom on this plate, and one of them was the most delicious mushroom I have ever eaten, and possibly one of the most delicious things of the evening. 

I am sad to say but both of the desserts and the coffee escaped the camera as well. Our first dessert was a dollop of chocolate and truffle mouse topped with blueberry sorbet, fresh blueberries, thyme oil, salt, and "soil." The second dessert, a plate of petit fours arrived with the coffee. On the plate was a pistachio, cranberry, almond nougat, fried chicken skin dipped in chocolate, a caramel, and a blueberry liquorice truffle. 

What a meal! 

On a side note- something interesting I observed while eating was that as soon as our plate were put in front us, everyone from the food lab immediately lowered our head to the plate and took a good whiff. I looked around to see if others were doing the same and sure enough they were not. I think after working so intimately with food, we have come to understand it in a different way and therefore interact with it differently too.

to-and-fro

Here is a little look at my ride from the city center back home to Christinshavn (the clam shell-like island between Copenhagen and Amager). 

Heading south.

Heading towards the bridge connecting the islands.

A view of noma from the bridge.

A beautiful view crossing the bridge.

From the bridge you turn left onto my street.

Crossing a small waterway into my neighborhood.

Apartments and office, print shops and galleries.

I spy Nordatlantens Brygge (home to noma). Hint: it has an orange roof.

Don't mind the construction site.

ahhh home at last.

Saving the Season

As the seasons change we must do what we can to preserve the fruits of the summer months so they last long into the dark winter days. The past few weeks we have been up to our ears in plums, elderberries and rosehips!

Apparently the best plum Ben had ever eaten was wrapped in tissue paper and ages for a couple months. Sure enough one morning I awoke to an enormous box of teeny tiny Danish plums, which we had to wrap in paper and tie with string. 

3 hours later... 

Plums!

 Early June is Elderflower season while early September is Elderberry season. Currently we are working on multiple elder projects so, we are on a continuous mission to collect kilos and kilos of elderberries.

Lots of foraging means lots of harvesting!

Hops, Rosehips, and Yellow Plums.

 Rosehips have a slightly acidic taste that is reminiscent of a tomato. I have been processing the rosehips into a pure (much like tomato paste) and using it to make ketchup. This recipe is probably one of the most delicious things I have made in a while! I am totally addicted (as is everyone at the lab). The tomato-y flavor of the rosehips has got us all brain storming about other applications for this delicious paste. Into the freezer it goes for a later date.

 In addition to saving the summer seasons bounty, we are also indulging on the first of the fall fruits! 

After a perfect early fall day foraging with Kelton and Sarah, we cooked up a delicious apple feast!

Apple Tart, Apple Sauce with Whipped Cream and Bee Larvae Granola, Foraged Apple, and Crispy Apple Skin with Sea Salt, Vinegar,  Mint and Oregano.

See What We Have Been Eating

We now have a blog dedicated to our staff meals- 

Nordic Food Lab Family Meal

Eating Insects

Diana Kennedy stole the show. She marched on in on Tuesday after MAD and showed us a thing or two about cooking grasshopper. 

Some one's getting a stern talking to! Don't mess with this 90 year old!

Roasted grasshoppers with a spicy chili dipping sauce.

Dig in!

 We also prepared the famed "chimp stick" for an advisory board meeting last week.

The "chimp stick" was inspired by a video of a chimp using a stick to extract ants from a tree trunk and then sliding it across its tongue- an extremely efficient way to collect and consume ants.

 The chimp stick consists of a piece of juniper wood rolled in honey and then artfully decorated with ants, freeze-dried raspberries, seeds, and leaves.

 The diner is suppose to pick up the stick and draw is through his or her mouth just as the chimp does. Each attached ingredient provides a unique textural and flavor component to the dish.