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Relæ – Copenhagen

The World’s 50 Best Restaurant #39 – Relæ Copenhagen

Relæ has a very cozy and relaxed atmosphere, and the kitchen is right there for all to see. With two tasting menus to choose from, OF COURSE I picked the more extensive Relæ Experience with pairing. I had one of the better counter seats, right in front of the prep chefs, one who was a newbie, so they were making him redo a few things over the course of the evening. Total fun with food evening.

Right from the start, everything was great. And what is impressive was the slicing of the apples in the Apple & Anise Hyssop, and the thin sliced turnips in the Pike Perch w/ Bergamotte. Excellent knife work on these, and refreshingly light and delicious. The Enoki Mushroom dish, has to be one of the ugliest dishes I have been served in a long time. It looked like baby food / grey gruel… but was a fantastic earthy flavor, actually one of my favorites for the evening.

Duck is served and the preparation was perfect, the autumn greens sweet and simple, and not til I was nearly finished that I discover the duck liver paté hiding under the greens. A great dish, but sadly, after this is where things sort of fell apart. It appears they had some extra Duck Confit so they added a bonus wrap with the Duck in a ragu, and it was just plain uninteresting. It felt more like a missed opportunity for some great ducky surprise. And after that the Rød Løber (a cheese) & Watercress Tart just felt a bit flat for the ending before deserts. The tart was good, but maybe it should have been served before the duck.

Relæ Copenhagen, a great kitchen in the middle of the room

I am not a desert fan, but these were good! Not too sweet and not too heavy. The Aronia Berries with Purple Wheat were a liquid nitrogen freeze, followed by Sweet Popcorn on a Cheesy Cake… a tasty ending to a really good meal, but sadly could have easily been a twee bit better. Though I must say, the “Beverage Pairing” was extremely well thought out, and really loved the Grilled Celery & Marigold Juice.