Kadeau — Restaurant in Copenhagen Municipality

@lydieats 💕The best meal I had in cph. I rly think two stars do it better. Kadeau easily outshone both Geranium and Noma for me. Not only did it taste better (by a whole lot), but also felt like the purest expression of “new Nordic.” A restaurant that could only exist here and as a tourist, that alone makes it worth the trip 🙂‍↕️ Highly recommend.

It starts strong, dehydrated tomatoes stuffed with Danish summer: rhubarb, spruce, and thyme. The more you chew, the more 🍅 comes through. Simple yet so complex. Then a garden salad from Bornholm, their home base. Every possible flavor came through—green, tart, sweet—refreshing and so appetizing.

The next stretch leaned heavy on seafood, and I was impressed by how they balanced the strong brine (almost too much when consumed alone). A beautiful rye tart topped with cream cheese and mackerel. The mahogany clam, supposedly 20–30 years old, was super fishy on its own but revealed a subtle sweetness with the salted hazelnuts. Loved the poached oyster. The fig leaf oil, pickly ramps, tart buttermilk, and the sweetest peas, just brilliant.

And then, the scallops 😮‍💨 Raw, rich, each piece covered with a different fruit leather: tomato, bay, orange, and strawberry. Every bite brought a different dimension. Easily one of the most intelligent and beautifully executed dishes of the night.

The signature hot & cold smoked salmon! It’s soft, flaky, salty, and deeply fragrant - h as the texture of both raw and cooked salmon. Lavender butter and pickled berries added layers of brightness to elevate it all 🙂‍↕️ From there, indulgence: brown crab meat, sweet and gently briny layered between a waffle cracker and bits of cauliflower. Then, caviar over fresh walnuts and seaweed salad, enriched with pumpkin seed oil. Fun, nutty, and delicate—almost playful in how it shifted the spotlight away from the caviar itself.

My fav dish was the squid paired with sweet Danish potato, brown butter, and rosehip oil. The texture was unreal and the flavors nutty, buttery, floral. Easily a standout 💯 The lobster was another highlight, perfectly poached in buttermilk with a sauce from its head. Creamy, buttery, with a touch of sourness that lifted everything. Pork layered with celeriac and spruce followed, tasting almost like caramelized bacon and onion. A touch salty, but very interesting.

Desserts leaned earthy and bold 👀 A preserved cherry leaf stuffed with marzipan and jam, then a dense triangle of rhubarb, beetroot, and plum over bee pollen milk—complex, jammy, and quite intense. The finale was a walnut tart where every layer from crust, filling to cream sang of walnuts and honey. Can’t say these were my type of desserts but loved the rich Danish roots expressed in every dish.

💕 growing season 3500 DKK

코펜하겐에서 가장 인상 깊었던 식사 🥹 일주일사이에 방문했던 노마나 제라늄이랑 비교했을때 여기가 훨씬 맛있었고 뉴 노르딕이라는 퀴진을 가장 잘 보여주었다. 이 나라, 이 도시에서만 경험할 수 있는 식당이라, 여행자로서...

For a change in my 3 stars challenge in France, and all stars in Paris (follow me for all the reviews and updates)

Baltic’s Bornholm seduction

So what’s exceptional here? It’s a 2 stars Michelin, it must be. What’s exceptional is the seductive power of the new Nordic cuisine and specifically of Bornholm. I’m not going to present the New Nordic cuisine, but the interesting thing is that Bornholm is an island in the Baltic Sea right in between Sweden and Danemark (actually closer to the first one). It does put it in the middle of the Nordic countries. The perfect location from which comes the founders. So what’s so seductive about this cuisine, and specifically Kadeau ? First the actual kitchen itself. When you enter the restaurant, once your coat taken, you’ll pass by the open kitchen while being conducted to your seats. It’s beautiful. Big wood work surface. Obviously very Nordic in style. Not the old school danish, but the modern one. They managed to give this authentic feeling by focusing on simple, nearly rough shape, aimed at usefulness, made with local elements and with just a tiny touch of local old school craft. It s seductive because it’s saying: I m just this simple, down to earth guy, focused local values and virtues and I have nothing to hide, i m proud of it. It’s the same with the cuisine itself. It’s highly seductive because you have a focus on developing the intensity of the taste of local ingredients. Actually, it made me realize the impact this type of cuisine had in France (especially for some quite recent 2 stars…). What are some of the tools to develop the intensity and to seduce? The way they conserve stuff will naturally develop it, like marinating, smoking, salting. But also, local butter or, for example, drying fruits will bring flavor and sugary notes (I’m not mentioning the honey since it was used for dessert). It’s seductive because it’s mainly local ingredients, or at least ingredients that makes sense in the Scandinavian culinary culture. It does give an authentic feel. And that’s enticing. But there’s another part of the seduction: The hospitality. The service is very welcoming, made by those who cook in the kitchen, right next to you. Interestingly enough, the hospitality spirit is also to hired from every corner of the planet. It’s great because it makes their cuisine even closer, even more accessible by having another non danish guiding you through. Bottom line, you have an intense, focused on the local ingredients, cuisine.

Definitely great for couples. Actually we only saw couples. Aside from a big table that is set on another side.

It’s a very...

A True Foodie’s Adventure at Kadeau

From the first bite, Kadeau’s tasting menu was an exploration of bold flavors and unexpected textures. Paired with a rare cloudy Riesling from Germany, the start was already a thrill.

The Norwegian shellfish was subtle, almost elusive in texture, followed by a daring firewood ant jelly crisp—high-protein, lemony and not for the faint-hearted. A true test of courage.

Norwegian steamed crab with caviar and almond felt like a moment of calm. A mineral-forward French white provided the perfect balance. The stone-grilled oyster with rich cream, parsley, and pine nuts was deeply flavorful, while the Norwegian sweet shrimp with walnut meat and bamboo slices melted in the mouth.

By the fourth glass—a Rosé—the waffle-thin biscuit with house-made ham, beetroot, and sun-dried tomato jelly was a highlight. Its umami depth was unforgettable. Then came an earthy turn: almond and cherry tree leaves, embodying Kadeau’s foraging ethos.

A smoked salmon dish with roasted onion and olive oil played with texture—creamy yet unexpectedly light. Then, the red wine pairing (an elegant Italian) arrived with venison loin, smoked mushrooms and tiny green pepper husks—subtle, refined, and deeply satisfying.

As the evening drew to a close, the wild mushroom broth with pickled cucumbers and baby onions evoked comfort. The duck course—breast, heart, and honey-glazed leg—was plated like an anatomical exhibit and tasted so divine.

Dessert was a gamble, but a rewarding one. The raspberry cream with hot cherry juice was pure Nordic winter magic—zero sweetness, pure depth. The final savory house-made ice cream in a mussel shell was perplexing yet intriguing. While not an immediate favorite, it was undeniably thoughtful.

Even as someone who usually avoids sweet wines, I was pleasantly surprised—though the post-dessert wine’s intensity had me longing for a black coffee reset.

Verdict? Kadeau is a wild, sensory-driven journey that challenges and rewards in equal measure. Worth the last-minute flight....