Please visit me there - press the logo !

I´m taking part of a group of chefs called NaCl (nordic academy of culinary leisure). It´s a place to try out the newest ideas, the weird, but promising taste combinations or a funky eating concept. Last sunday we cooked a 6 course dinner at The Paul in Tivoli, - one course each. It all started with a fish dish called “kuglefisk”. Poached langoustines and white fish, confit of potatoes and a weird gel that cracks into fluid intense flavor when biting it. Then a soup of grains and oysters with umami flavors from dashi. First impression : boring and brown, but as you eat it´s surprising, playing and powerful in your mouth. Then the host, with what he called Japanized, a dish with poached lobster, fresh exotic fruits and a foamy broth of chicken and miso paste. Then me me me, with a eating concept. It was my first time doing something on a plate in this community. I wanted to serve a slice of bread, that appeared as meat when eating it. Therefore it was served with a sauce on calves tails and red wine, that was poured onto before eating. The guest then had to squeeze, what I call “monkey brain” onto the bread. The monkey brain was made of a broken parsley gel, cane sugar sirup, yoghurt and sherry vinegar.  Then came the sweets. First a super fresh version of the Tivoli apple and last a winter landscape with malt, white chocolate, sheep s yoghurt, dried candied herbs and snow. To see the photos and more visit NaCl´s facebook at www.facebook.com/showcooking or website, www.na-cl.dk.

It´s been long, but worth it ! Andys Bar, Gothersgade 33b in Copenhagen K, will set the premisses for the next popup restaurant event. We are so keen on doing this that we can´t wait. It´s a fantastic location and it holds a leading role in the past years trendy bodega culture. But there so much more than the hype around this place. It´s been there forever, as a meeting place for culture and I´ve ben told that it used to be a fine dinning restaurant (strøgcafeen) in the forties, before 2nd. world war.  Anyways, what we want is a party. We want to create noise and play with the contrast that lies within us and Andys. It´s going to be fun and tasteful, so come join the party. For reservations please write : popup@imakombo.dk. Thanks.

In October we were doing a lot of salads. Not the ordinary Caesar kind, but a hole winter collection of raw food salads designed to be eaten in Copenhagen’s first raw food bar, 42°raw. At first we thought it was going to be easy, but it was not. A few brain storming sessions later, we ended up with a bunch of seasonal ingredients, but no ideas on how to make them interesting and tasty for the meat eating people. After a rethinking we settled on modern classic taste combinations (such as Jerusalem artichokes/walnuts - tomato/avocado) and turned our focus on the soft creamy textures and succulent umami flavors that we all know from the kitchens that have stoves! Using modern techniques such as vacuum, dehydration and emulsifiers we ended up with a good very edible result. The salads are now being sold as I write and I´ve been told that the guests are enjoying them.

It has been a great journey that has taught us a lot and we are looking forward to creating the next bunch of salads in spring. I’ll try and post some detailed photos and descriptions later this month.

Until then, visit 42Raw, Pilestrædet 32 for a salad.

(Greens from field, marinated beets, salted seaweed, aromatic roses and miso/capers emulsion).

Excerpts from the press release and a few raw food facts :

Raw Food with a Copenhagen Twist SUSTAINABILITY HAS A NEW TASTE. The Danes offer a new, stylish twist on the successful raw food wave, currently sweeping cities around the globe. 42°RAW is a concept for the post-COP15 world, bringing sustainability, European cuisine and style to a whole new level.

The Danes are - still - raw The Danes are not all about vikings, windmills and provoking cartoons. As the raw food fever hits the European continent, a team of brazen young Danes have set forth to create a new and ambitious concept in modern, stylish, sustainable cooking. The inspiration for the café grew out of a personal experience in how raw food can transform your wellness and health, but with great influence from the increasing demand for - and focus in Denmark on - sustainable innovations in business and culture.

A designer’s collection - of salad 42°RAW is the premiere of raw food in Denmark, and from the beginning the aim has been to up the ante for amazing culinary experiences in raw food. Danish superchefs Lasse Askov and Bo Lindegaard have designed the menu, while consultant Caroline Fibæk has made sure everything is true to the raw food philosophy, not forgetting the importance of great taste and amazing ’healthy’ sweets.

Something for the eye and the soul But 42°RAW is not only a testament to sustainable and organic food, eco-friendly packaging and responsible cooking. It is also an expression of how vegan and vegetarian food is now going stylish and mainstream. The café is primarily take away, the small dining area is stylishly decorated with a seating stair, inspired by Prada in New York, and furnished with the special edition of Alvar Aalto’s iconic Stool 60 by Artek and Monocle Magazine. The centerpiece in the café is the company’s vision, painted in golden colors: 42°RAW is committed to changing the way modern people eat & think about food.

42°RAW FACTS Pilestræde 32 in Central Copenhagen, Denmark’s first rawfood café, No eggs, gluten, sugar and dairy products, Eco-friendly packaging, 24 seats + seating stair inspired by Prada

Read more about the raw food (danish)

It´s been busy as… One of the past two months many events was obviously something related to the climate conference. I was asked to create an dinner for a bunch of young global leaders. I never figured who theese leaders where, but they were all good fun and seemed very happy about their food… The dinner was of course very green, very organic and held a social aspect in the way it was consummed, so that the leaders could keep up their networking.

We wish to express our quiet and sincere gratitude – for your Contribution, Friendship and Willing Spirit when coming together with the W.E.F. Young Global Leaders in Copenhagen. It made all the difference to us. A great success on so many levels that hopefully will continue into new amazing and surprising connections and results to serve and protect our planet for generations to come. (Words taken from Skibsted Ideation newsletter).

It´s been crazy, fantastic, fun. We have had two great months with heaps of activity and cooking concepts. It all ended at Stay/A-huset with a popup-restaurant-dinner-experience-event that lasted for a week, before we shut it down again.  Thanks to all our guests, friends and of course lots and lots and lots of thank you´s to our sponsors, Stay and Eva Danmark.  You can see a collage of what went on below and join the guest list for future events at popup@imakombo.dk.

We are planning more of this concept in february 2010. - SEE you then.

This month, my friend (+future partner at I´m a komBo - opening 010110) and I will host a so called pop-up restaurant, at the newly finished/restored A-house/Stay at Islands Brygge. The idear is to invite people for an eating experience, away from it´s normal setting at a cool location that only exist for a short period of time. This is our first go at this concept, and we are super excited. It´s been quite a long time since I´ved cooked in the restaurant kind of way. I miss the cooking but certainly not the restaurant and by doing it in this way, I get rid of the restaurant. Thereby it should be perfect !

The plan is to do this about 6 times during next year in different locations throughout CPH and maybe once abroad. At A_house, there will be lots of food and fun, wines with it all, coffee, x-mas tree and chocolates = dk kr. 600,- (for the lot)  - you can get your reservation at popup@imakombo.dk.

Så er spiseseddelen klar for i år. det blir´ snorlige og nemt - check sovs´erne ud !

A few weekends ago, I hosted a performance at Brantebjerg Gallery in Northern Zealand. I was testing and showing the ruff outlines of a new idea and concept, which I have been working on lately. It was about getting rid of the basic structure of a meal and making the attendants realize that food is a lot more than just food. Initially I wanted to get the audience to feel that they were part of a normal eating session. The table was set and ready at five o’clock and the guest was invited in a group of six people at the time. The meal was designed in a circular system that contained eight courses in total, that would continue to be served until all the guests had had their experience. The dishes was served at a 2 minute rate on the same plate and were all designed to be eated after another. After the first guests had had their 8 different tastes, some would realize that they were part of a circle and some not. That would create the situation that I wanted. Suddenly the table was filed up with guests that were eating the same, but experiencing different tastes and finding themselves in different courses. If you compare this to a normal meal, some would be eating starters while some dessert and so on.

I will definitely use this method again and are super exited to learn more and go deeper in to this concept.

The above described, was all captured on camera by my good friend and cinematographer Nanna Bundesen – (the upload is done by the start of jan!!!) The pics you see above is from vol#2, that I did at a Nacl event in november. We have had some problems with the documentation of the Brantebjerg sesion, so I´ve decided to upload some alternative photos to give you an ideer. The video will be ready soon. Promis…