It's about a forty minute or so ride on the train to Klampenborg on the S-tog and about a ten minute walk to the restaurant from the station. My navigation - as per usual - was poor and we ended up having to walk through a field to get to the restaurant. Emily's high heels damn Collin profusely.
Here I am looking smug in front of the Øresund - the straight that separates Denmark from Sweden.
Other than the whole walking-through-a-muddy-field aspect, the walk was great. The owners run both this restaurant and the far more casual Den Gule Cottage just down the road.
To make it perfectly clear, this restaurant is destination / special occasion dining. Not for the feint of wallet. That said, it was awesome. Easily right up there with a handful of excellent places that I've been privileged enough to enjoy. Spectacular service, spectacular food, and a beautiful setting. Well worth the price of admission.
And to digress, that's how I view these kinds of restaurants. You are paying a premium "admission" because the evening is an event, not just a meal. It's like paying through the nose to go to a top sporting event, show, etc. It's more than just sustenance, and that's totally okay. I mean if kids Beliebers - and yes, I absolutely capitalized that - can pay nearly 3000 dkk to meet and greet the one and only, surely I can enjoy my own little bit of non-Belieber related luxury.
I won't go through the entire meal, but here are some highlights.
As in every one of my favorite restaurants, we were well taken care of. We started with some small bites - amuse bouches if you want to be that way. A lightly cured panko encrusted salmon, a fantastic seared scallop, and an amazing sweet bread. There are so many tiny essential elements and so much care that make up all of these dishes, it's really amazing.
To jump ahead to more I-love-places-where-I'm-well-treated, after our dessert course they brought out more one bite desserts. Simple things that a restaurant can do to make you feel wanted / welcome / well treated.
And champagne - actual champagne! Again, you know that you're at a very nice restaurant when the wait staff tops off your glass for you as you finish your course. Fantastic. It's the little things really.
We ended up doing a five course tasting with three wine pairing - you choose from eight choices here and we allowed our waiter to choose the three wine courses. The highlight for me was either the roe or the pork, but I'm thinking roe. The quail was also amazing. So many flavors and so many textures. As much as I hate doing it, I had to snap this pic of the roe.
It was just perfect. If there's one thing to which I need to apply further focus in my own cooking, it's the contrast in texture. Just such a wonderful mix of crunch and smooth. Additional note, I think that the common Nordic cure / smoke / pickle flavors are just so in my wheelhouse that I can barely contain myself when I eat at a restaurant such as this.
Here, Emily has snapped a pic of her brill. Also delicious.
Here is us taking it all in, finishing our leek dish, and enjoying the wonderful bread and salted butter / pumpkin seed butter - pictured in the foreground.
And can I express how happy I was about this meal?
I hate having my picture taken at restaurants, yet that looks like a real smile? What is happening?
As far as the wine went, it was all very nice. The highlight for me was a pinot noir that I have since forgotten everything about. Except that it was delicious.
So many wonderful details and such an attentive, caring, descriptive staff. And as expected, a gorgeous water closet! Yes, this is what has happened to me.
I think that Emily was properly birthday-ed. She looks like she thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
We walked back to the train station and - with several dozen drunk teenage girls - headed back to København just in time to catch the Nate Robinson show. It was a win for everyone involved.
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