Around town in Copenhagen

You’ll have to excuse the low volume of posts recently.  Things have been quite hectic around here between lecturing marketing classes online, producing Countlan magazine and a couple other small projects.

Now it’s time for a Copenhagen update.  First off, the sun has finally come out in Copenhagen and the city has come to life. It’s quite amazing to observe how people really use a city when the weather is good.  There is life on the street and it seems the new pastime for Copenhageners is to chase the sun and take in their daily dose of vitamin D.  As I walk to and from yoga, I see people sitting on benches, sprawled out on the grass in the park, and basking in the sun on bridges.  I understand why and  I have also tried to get into the vitamin D hunting spirit and make sure I get out for a walk after work.

I love how the detail oriented Danes share some of this creativity on the street in small, hardly noticeable ways.  When I walk around, I find there is always something small and surprising to notice if you look close enough.  You see little works of art woven into the streetscape.  I’ve tried to include a few shots of my favourite artistic embellishments in Copenhagen that I’ve passed by.

Secondly, I”ve been doing a lot of cooking.  I have a few cookbooks that are keeping me busy testing new recipes for fun and for the magazine.  I am particularly in love with Yotam Ottolenghi’s book called Jerusalem.  I think I’ve made half the book over the past two months.  I have posted more pictures on my Instagram feed if you are interested in checking them out and following along.  I cook weekly from the book and will not stop until each and every recipe has been made/eaten. All delicious despite the sometimes long list of ingredients.

Then of course there has been a plethora of new restaurants, date nights and guests staying with us.  By the way, if you were wondering where the Date Night series went, it did not disappear but the lighting is so dim and mood-lit that I can’t capture a shot worth posting.  This does not prohibit me from writing a verbal account but I would prefer to show and share at the same time.

To catch you up, most recently I’ve dined at Geist (New Nordic, slow service/long meal, but they served cotton candy for dessert, and the dishes were very innovative), Fiskebaren (Meat packing district, fish with a few non fish options, leisurely), Lele (Vietnamese street food, can’t go wrong), Cafe Nice (Just like Provence, great goat cheese salad, cash only), Mad Klubben Vesterbro (not worth it, hectic restaurant but very cool decor) and BROR (My table of 4 decided this place was a 6.5/10 at most- despite the fact that both chefs are ex-Noma).  I also checked out a Chang Mai themed Silver Spoon Dining event a couple weeks ago that was held on the top floor of an office building.  It was a really cool- underground dining experience and I look forward to checking more out in the future.

Finally, I have discovered there are some lovely spots in the city to take in a bit of nature and piece and quiet (or at least feel like you are not in a city and are somewhere north).  Kastellet, the home of the Little Mermaid, is a beautiful green walking/running circuit that looks out onto the water.  It can be very touristy but I by-pass the mermaid and stick to the higher grounds of the fortress.  Serene, green and quiet.

Up next, I will be travelling to Istanbul and Hamburg in the next four weeks, plus be adding to the restaurant list as more guests come out and visit.

I can’t wait to share Issue 04 of Countlan magazine with you in early July.  The magazine is small and nimble and is slowly growing a following.

Until the next post. I wish you a great week.

Outing: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

I’ve tried my best to cover as much of Copenhagen by foot as possible.  So far, I think I’ve done a decent job.  If you are scratching your head wondering why doesn’t she bike? Isn’t Copenhagen a biking city? Don’t 1/3 of all Copenhageners ride a bike to work?  The answer is yes but I prefer to take in the city on my two feet.  While biking is a faster, more efficient option of getting from point A to point B, you miss what’s going on.  The streetscape passes you by.  When you are biking, you are biking and have to pay attention to other bikers, cars and pedestrians.  This way, I take my time, pop in and out of places as it pleases me and really observe what is going on.

This weekend, I was craving an outing- something outside of the city but not too far.  I decided to pay the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art a visit to view their Pop Art exhibition which is on until June.

One (35 minute) train ride away and you find yourself in the small town of Humlebæk. The trip itself is quick and easy.  Once you step off the train, you feel like you are truly in the country- or in the forest (there are a lot of trees in the area).

We arrived just before lunch so eating was high on the priority list before we took in any Andy Warhol, Rauschenberg, or Roy Lichtenstein. The museum has a very nice cafe that serves sandwiches, coffee and tea, and pastries.  They also have a buffet but we were too early for that.

We settled on a vegetarian and salmon rugbrodsmadder (rye bread open face sandwich) for sustenance and grabbed a seat on the patio overlooking the museum’s sculpture garden, the Øresund strait and Sweden.   It was a bright and sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

Sandwich #1 Terrine of root vegetables, cabbage, cream of carrot- yes there are mini potato chips on top of my sandwich (for extra crunch?)

Sandwich #2 Smoked salmon from Daniel Letz, celery, pickles

The patio of the Louisiana cafe

The sculpture garden and view of the water while we ate.

Apparently the Louisiana Museum has undergone 7 extensions and renovations- here is a look at two of their buildings from the park in the centre of the building.

A bit of Pop Art- what a great exhibit.  I love seeing the works of Warhol, Lichtenstein, Hamilton, Eames, Panton and Sottsass.  Some of the pieces I recognized and have seen before at other modern art museums around Europe and others were new to me.

Particularly the work of Verner Panton- this was a cool piece. You entered an enclosed space that was outfitted with warm coloured lights and mirrors to give it the feel that the room was going on forever.

The museum itself is a stunning building (set of buildings).  The architects used a lot of wood, and glass so you feel like nature is around you at all times.  This is a picture of one of the long corridors that connect the buildings/exhibits.

The art is not only inside the building. There is a sculpture park on the grounds of the Louisiana and when it is nice outside, like it was this past weekend, the grass is filled with people sunning themselves.  There were quite a number of kids attempting to roll down this hill without success.  Each attempt resulting in a vertical position.  It was fun to watch.

Across the water, you are looking at Sweden- I was amazed by how clear and blue the water is.

Before we called it a day, we headed down to the museum shop for a peak.  You can find plenty of Danish and Scandinavian design pieces as well as posters and a substantial collection of coffee table art and design books.

As we walked back to catch our train back to Copenhagen, we stopped by Brødsnedkeren, a great bakery that serves homemade waffle cones and ice cream.  We each got a cone for the train ride back.

Starting the last week of April, my flat will be packed with visitors until the end of July.  I am sure I will be making a trip back to the Louisiana soon enough and look forward to my next visit.

Grød (porridge) Taste-Test

What a weekend!  I’ve been battling with a smoking issue in my flat where smoke from a downstairs convenience store seems to be filtering into my unit through an unidentified hole.  We had a carpenter come twice to seal our baseboards and I think the problem has now been solved.  To celebrate, my husband and I spent the afternoon hanging pictures on the wall.  We were sitting on the fence over finishing our decor due to the possibility of having to move.  We also took our first outing outside of Copenhagen- a visit to the Louisiana museum of art- (another post will follow with pictures later this week).

I am finally getting around to posting pictures from my Grod taste test.  The week before last, Lasse Andersen’s Grød, the all-day, sweet-savoury-porridge-only Nørrebro hotspot opened a second location in Torvehallerne market.  Grød is a special dining concept unique to Copenhagen.  It was started in 2011 as a porridge only establishment and has since developed a loyal following of porridge-heads in CPH (I am now one of them!).

Porridge in Copenhagen is not your standard flavourless mushy oat gruel.   Of course you can find  oatmeal in Copenhagen but here, porridge is typically dolled up and has been elevated to a respectable dish of admiration.  In fact, porridge is taken so seriously there was a city wide  Grød competition in February where 23 of Copenhagen’s chefs battled it out for the title of  best porridge in the city.

As I alluded to earlier, oats are not the star attraction in porridge as you  might find in North America.  Here, many other grains are thrown into the mix such as barley, rye, and spelt.   Porridge toppings are equally as important as the base grain. It is not surprising to add a dollop of Icelandic (or Danish) skyr, or some cream, whipped flavoured butter, chopped nuts, sliced fruit, liquorice powder and I am sure chocolate is also an option on some menus.  Porridge is a creative pursuit, which makes ordering it and tasting it around the city an adventure and a delight.

When I visited the new location in Torvehallerne market, I ordered a spelt based grød (porridge), with bananas, chopped nuts and liquorice sugar powder as a topping.

It was a little bowlful of heaven.  The texture was just right.  This one take-away cup contained a creamy spelt porridge, crunchy nuts, sweet banana and melty liquorice sugar powder (not overpowering at all).  I was a bit hesitant to select that particular concoction because my love affair with liquorice has not developed to the Danish level of appreciation.  Together with the other ingredients it just worked.

I look forward to returning to the Torevehallerne location to sample more of Grød’s grød. They also have savoury options that resemble more of a risotto than a breakfast porridge.

If you find yourself en route to Copenhagen, a stop at either of Grød’s locations is a must.

No one does porridge like the Danes.

A look at the new Grod

Here is a look at the new Grod that opened at Torvehallerne market this afternoon.  Grod is a porridge concept- where they make sweet and savoury types of porridge morning, noon and night.  It is their second location in Copenhagen and I visited this afternoon as the finishing touches were being put on the shop….

Next week I will post pictures of the taste test….

Okay…Maybe One More Fashion Post :)

Have I mentioned, that I have developed a small love affair with the Copenhagen fashion scene?  By small, I mean slightly obsessed. I will try to find the words to describe this layered look.  I thought I was enthralled with the Hong Kong was a fashion scene (I still love looking at the eclectic display of outfits in the city), however, since moving to Copenhagen, I am completely at one with the fashion. Meaning, I have discovered a city that wholeheartedly reflects my style, and a fashion aesthetic whose style I want to sport.

When I think of the fashion in Copenhagen, I think of pieces that incorporate a lot of mixed materials and embellishments  Fur with leather with wool, wool with ski jacket material, sequins, spikes, – oh yeah, and lots of fur. It is very popular to layer a fur vest over a leather jacket.

I guess because the weather is so changeable, layering is popular.  Lots of large wool or patterned scarves, over jackets, capes and shalls and vests over sweaters and jackets.  When the wind blows people bust out their leggings (myself included) to wear over leg warmers.  And no outfit is complete without a pair of trendy sneakers- these are a must.  You do not see many women teeter-tottering around in heels.

The silhouettes are tailored yet relaxed. Nothing is skin tight.  Often minimal, and a-line- particularly the outer-wear, dresses and sweaters.

As spring fashion is ushered onto store shelves, I am surprised by the bright colours for a people who are labeled as only wearing grey, black and white.

01 David Andersen

02 DAY Birger et Mikkelsen

03 Designers Remix Charlotte Eskildsen

04 Elise Gug

05 Moss Copenhagen

06 Malene Birger

07 Bruuns Bazaar

This was just meant to be a small overview of some of the brands that have captivated my attention, but in reality the list is much longer.  Copenhagen is a true boutique city.  There are small independent designers and multi-brand boutiques throughout the city.  Not to mention a ton of independent jewelry and accessory designers on top of that.

It is a pleasure to see so much creativity and a robust group of fashion brands that are beloved and supported on both a local level (Copenhagen Fashion Week is quite the scene) and on an international level.  This year’s fashion week reported an increase in foreign buyers interested in carrying Danish fashion brands.  Who knows, maybe you will start to see some of these brands in your city sooner or later.

When someone posts ‘chocolate festival’…. you go!

Two really fun things happened this weekend in Copenhagen:

01- Designer Forum: A bi-annual fashion event in Copenhagen where you can find items discounted 40-80%.  I went for the Friday night preview and it was awesome.  No pictures though- it was too crazy in there.  You needed both hands to navigate the narrow rows of rack after rack of deeply discounted Copenhagen fashion brands.  I did pick up a cool pair of Amaort rain boots, that I’m quite pleased with as well as a few more Tokyo Jane bracelets.

02- Chocolate Festival: Just like it sounds- a festival dedicated to chocolate.

The extra fun thing about both of these events is that I owe their discovery to Facebook and Instagram.   Facebook is not surprising as an outlet to learn about events, but Instagram? I was on a walk on a sunny Sunday morning and happened to check my Instagram feed, and low and behold, I see all this pictures of chocolate in Copenhagen.  What is going on here? Why are all these pictures of chocolate turning up and why am I not where the chocolate is.  I do a quick Google search and find out that this weekend, in addition to Designer Forum, Chocolate Festival is taking place as the Carlsberg brewery building.  I was about an hour walk away, so I hail a taxi and head on over to the festival.

One more tidbit of info- I don’t know if you know this but the Danish chocolate market, is HOT! It’s very competitive.  Before living in Copenhagen, I didn’t know that Danish chocolate was so popular or such a “thing.”  Come for a visit and see for yourself.

There are some beautiful chocolate makers in this city some of my favourites include: A Xoco, Friis Holm, Oialla, Simply Chocolate, Ro Chocolade, Summerbird and Xocolatl.

If you want to read more about the chocolate scene in Copenhagen, there is a very good blogger name Anne, and her blog, Anne Au Chocolat who posts exclusively about chocolate/baking/food in CPH.

Here are some pictures that I snapped at the festival.

(New/popular Friis Holm’s bars)

Ro Chokolade on Jaegersborggade.  I have been to this store and sampled some of his delicious hot chocolate.

Simply Chocolate has to be a company with my most favourite branding (and chocolate!)- so witty, right?

Danish Flødeboller- there were LOTS of these popular chocolate covered marshmallow treats- you can see these everywhere in Denmark.

This is where I spent most of my tokens- at Strangas Dessert Boutique (I posted about this place before)

A weekend full of fashion and chocolate was my idea of heaven!