I wish I could have shared about my lunch at Chef Rasmus Kofoed’s Geranium two weeks ago, but first I had to get home from Copenhagen (since I was having too much fun while there to spare any time for blogging), then I first had to tell you about my birthday dinner at Noma, and then spend a week preparing for our annual Thank God It’s Spring daffodil party. So only now do I have the spare brain to tell you about our afternoon at what’s currently #42 on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Here are a couple things you should know before I move on to what you’re really here to see—pics of food porn. (And I will, for the most part, let those pics stand for themselves. Additional words would not do them justice.)

First, Chef Kofoed is a three-time winner of the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition, having walked away with the bronze, silver, and gold. Which had us impressed before we ever took a bite of his creations. (The closest I’d ever gotten to that famed event previously was when Next restaurant offered its Bocuse d’Or-themed menu.)

Second, the restaurant is in an unusual location. Rather than being in the center of Copenhagen, it’s on the eighth floor of Denmark’s national soccer stadium. Not at all a place where I’d have expected this level of cooking. But, oh—the view! Here’s the scenery out the window from our table.

But enough of the restaurant’s reputation and view—what counts is the food we were served. And so …

Because we ordered the full Universe Tasting Menu, we began with eight appetizers. And as I opted for non-alcoholic pairings with the meal, those were accompanied by a red currant juice.

Crispy grains from Kornly

Milk, fermented juice from carrot, crab, and sea buckthorn oil

This consisted of two parts. A plate consisting of two extremely thin-shelled globes in the center of the table …

… and a separate bowl in front of each of us. I popped the fragile globe in my mouth and crushed it with my tongue, then spooned the soup.

Very much the essence of carrot.

Pear, pear vinegar, and lemon verbena

Jerusalem artichoke leaf, rye vinegar, and walnut

With which we scooped the accompanying dip …

Dried apple, apple juice, and dried flowers

An edible envelope of Spring. Once of the most beautiful and tasty of the dishes.

“Charred potato”

And served with that “charred potato” …

Lightly smoked sheep milk butter

For the seventh of eight appetizers, we were led to the kitchen, where before us on a long, narrow table were two servings of …

Cep mushroom with quail egg

But that wasn’t the only thing on the table. For also before us were the three Bocuse d’Or trophies I mentioned above.

I must admit—I got a little chill being so close to those trophies. They’re the culinary equivalent of Olympic medals, so hotly contested that the U.S. placed last year for the first time ever. So it was an amazing feat for Chef Kofoed to have won not one, but three. And amazing, too, to be dining while watching a bustling kitchen through them.

After chatting with the chefs for awhile, we were escorted back to our table for the last of our eight appetizers—

“Seaweed & Razor Clam”

Why did they decide to put quote marks around the name of this dish? Because those aren’t the shells of razor clams you’re seeing. They fabricated, edible, and if I’m remembering correctly, decorated with squid ink. So they can be devoured in their entirety …

… though not without scooping them in the accompanying dip, of course.

The appetizers done, it was time to begin our savory courses … and for me to switch to a juice pairing of green apple.

Jellied ham, tomato water, aromatic herbs, sorrel flowers

“Dillstone”

One of my favorites! This was set in the center of the table, while at the same time, we were each served an accompanying …

Scallop, horseradish, and granita from pickled cucumber

At this point, I switched to a juice of sea buckthorn …

Salted hake, buttermilk, caviar, and herb stems

All I can say is … hoo-boy! (Which is why I am not a food critic, just a food enthusiast.)

Bread with emmer and spelt

And the butter that went with that bread …

Along with the bread came a juice of Ingrid Marie apple and chamomile.

Biodynamic onions with chamomile and melted Hay cheese

I have no idea what would make an onion “biodynamic,” but the mix of flavors for this dish was amazing.

Grilled oysters from Limfjorden, fermented cabbage and thyme

With the oysters came a juice of cucumber, celery and algae. But that was for a single course only, after which I switched to one of gooseberries and toasted sunflower seeds.

Brill, smoked lard, mustard seeds, and pickled green berries

With the brill came a juice of rhubarb, black currant and juniper.

Lamb in Juniper aroma, carrot, and pickled pine
(before being carved and plated)

Tableside preparation of the lamb in juniper aroma

Lamb in Juniper aroma, carrot, and pickled pine … plated!

And then it was time to move on to the dessert courses …

Pear, dried black berries, lemon herbs, and frozen yoghurt

The first of the sweet dishes came with a juice of pear, beeswax and lemonbalm.

Then—a surprise dish that didn’t appear on the menu, sent as a gift from the chef.

Cream made from woodruff herb topped with frozen wood sorrel

My wife’s favorite of the desserts!

Bees wax, pollen, and cloudberries

“The Taste of the Naked Tree”: Dark beer, prunes, and cream with beech wood

Which was accompanied by the final juice pairing … prune.

And because four desserts obviously weren’t enough, they were followed by multiple mignardises.

“Lingonberry bush” with beetroot

Onion caramel with plum

Cake from pumpkin seed oil

Green egg with pine

That’s a chocolate egg, dusted with pine.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Geranium sent us home with—

Black currant and liquorice bonbons

After our lengthy lunch, which was satisfying to mind and palate and stomach, we hit the streets of Copenhagen to walk off the meal … which included a hunt for pastries recommended by Noma’s Rene Redzepi.

But that’s a story for another time …