With three-Michelin-star Noma and Geranium, Danish cuisine is hailed as the best in the world. How did it get there?
- Noma and its star chef Rene Redzepi, and Geranium headed by Rasmus Kofoed, are constantly pushing boundaries, putting innovation and creativity first
- Paradoxically, Denmark’s recent culinary successes could be partly because the country has no gastronomic traditions to speak of
It’s home to the top two restaurants in the world and a cornucopia of Michelin stars: Denmark’s haute cuisine, non-existent 20 years ago, is making Copenhagen a top destination for gourmands.
Noma and its star chef Rene Redzepi, and Geranium, headed by Rasmus Kofoed, clinched the top two spots in the 50 Best Restaurants awards recently published by British magazine Restaurant.
With cold winters and sandy fields battered by winds from the North Sea and Baltic, Denmark is worlds away from the sun-drenched orchards of France, Italy and Spain, whose bountiful crops have served up gastronomic feasts for centuries.
Paradoxically, Denmark’s culinary successes have been partly attributed to the country having no gastronomic traditions to speak of, leaving the field wide open to innovation and creativity.