As one of Copenhagen’s top restaurants, restaurant Geranium draws guests from around the world for a truly exceptional epicurean experience created under the artful eye of visionary, Michelin-starred chef, Rasmus Kofoed. Diners’ senses will be delighted by the parade of elegant courses crafted with passion and precision. Here detailed, artful dishes celebrate Scandinavia’s best seasonal ingredients. All are presented with culinary panache.
A culinary marvel, restaurant Geranium is one of the best in the world. Anyone who enjoys incredible, inventive, visually and gastronomically perfect combinations of contrasting yet harmonious ingredients will be mesmerised. The only 3-star Michelin restaurant in Denmark, Geranium provides a transcendent experience one will never forget.
Exquisite, elegant, and a gastronomic feast for all senses, restaurant Geranium is what a seamless fine dining experience is all about. Designed to please the eye and the palate, the restaurant’s culinary philosophy is rooted in nature, bringing ingredients alive through progressive techniques and a dedication to innovation, detail, and precision.
The extraordinary tasting menu – a progression of stunningly artful plates – is a true reflection of nature and the changing seasons. Although diners are sitting in a very stylish, quietly modern dining room, it feels like the meal is an edible exploration through the wonderment of the environment and landscape.
Dining here is a delight from start to finish – the food, the staff, the attention, the décor, the atmosphere, the artistry, and the presentation. Simply outstanding.
Geranium is run and co-owned by Rasmus Kofoed (Executive Chef & Co-owner) and Søren Ledet (Restaurant Manager & Wine Director & Co-owner), who originally opened the restaurant in 2007 in Copenhagen’s Kongens Have (the city’s oldest park).
In 2008, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star, but a year later restaurant Geranium temporarily closed due to an investor’s bankruptcy. With a new investor, the restaurant moved in 2010 to its current location, next to Fælledparken; allowing diners incredible views of the stunning park and Copenhagen’s skyline, as well as of the coastline.
In 2012, Geranium returned to the Michelin guide with one Michelin star; the second star followed in 2013.
When Geranium was awarded a third Michelin star in 2016, the restaurant made history as it became Denmark’s first 3-star restaurant ever. It has kept its coveted 3-Michelin stars status ever since then. Geranium took the No. 5 spot at the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards in 2019.
DECOR & DESIGN
Commandingly situated at the top of a building overlooking Fælledparken in the centre of Copenhagen, restaurant Geranium boasts a panoramic setting. From its stunning vantage point, diners can follow the seasons’ journey through the changing landscape. With floor-to-ceiling windows that frame the wonderful views, they can admire the verdant parkland, catch glimpses of the city’s green copper roofs, and the water and windmills of Øresund.
The location underscores Geranium’s vision of gastronomic clarity and diversity, where it effortlessly blends urban life and nature into one harmonic whole.
The restaurant’s understated modern decor features all the qualities of world-renowned Danish design with its timeless sobriety, clean lines and light-coloured floorboards. A soothing, subtle palette of wood, whites, and greys adds to the serene ambience. The black elements provide the right amount of contrast, while the opal glass lamps create a stylish light effect. This sleek and elegant place is complemented by timeless furniture, including stunning PK8 chairs by Poul Kjærholm.
A part of the restaurant has been converted into a big open theatre kitchen, giving diners a chance to see Rasmus Kofoed and his outstanding kitchen team orchestrate each meal. Despite a kitchen crew of more than ten chefs, there is a calm and peaceful fluidity in the space, which is transferred onto the dishes.
Apart from the dining room, there is the Fireplace Table that overlooks the restaurant, the park, and the city. Next to the fireplace, the table seats up to four guests and can only be reserved by special request.
The Inspiration Kitchen is a beautiful dining room with an open kitchen and wine cellar. Serving the same menu as the restaurant and seating up to 16 guests, it is ideal for exclusive private dining, anniversaries, meetings, and other private events.
The restaurant also features a lounge area where diners can enjoy a pre-dinner drink, as well as after-meal coffees.
THE CHEF
Though Michelin-starred Chef Rasmus Kofoed describes himself as a culinary “craftsman”, it is his obsession with precision and the ingenious pairing of flavours that make him one of the world’s best chefs.
Chef Kofoed, having trained at the iconic Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen and at the 2-star Michelin restaurants Scholteshof in Belgium and Komandanten in Copenhagen is so far the most awarded chef of Bocuse d’Or – the most prestigious gastronomic competition in the world. He is the only triple-award-winner of Bocuse d’Or: bronze in 2005, silver in 2007, and gold in 2011. These trophies are displayed in a small cabinet in the corner of the Geranium dining room. He is also the first chef in Denmark to have earned three Michelin stars, which the French fine dining guide granted to restaurant Geranium in 2016.
GASTRONOMY AT RESTAURANT GERANIUM
Highly talented, with an elegant cooking style and a meticulous approach, Chef Kofoed seems to have an innate gift for creating food effortlessly that is innovative, pure, balanced, and technically stunning without being pretentious.
Inspired by a childhood spent in the rural pastures of Zealand Island in Denmark, followed by years of dedication in fine-tuning his craft, he takes diners on a culinary discovery of his native homeland. His deep connection to the land and the sea, his respect for nature, and his understanding of ingredients allow him to honour and elevate seasonal Danish ingredients into a beautiful tapestry of flavours, textures, and an alluring aesthetic.
The language of the cuisine at Geranium is clearly Nordic, both in its choice of ingredients and in its presentation, but above all, the cooking bears the creative signature of Rasmus Kofoed. He incorporates many berries, flowers, herbs, and leaves in his cooking. He very expertly balances their cool and bitter flavours with ingredients that provide warmth and comfort, thus delivering dishes that achieve real harmony and are a pleasure to eat.
From start to finish, one cannot deny the unmistakable skill, precision, and authenticity highlighted in every one of Chef Kofoed’s dishes.
Restaurant Geranium has one culinary offering: the sensational tasting menu. It is a festival of flavours with a parade of meticulously crafted dishes that are both delicious and masterfully constructed.
A culinary expression of nature’s changing beauty through the seasons, diners will be mesmerised by elegant compositions full of sublime nuances and authentic flavours.
The incredible tasting menu, consisting of approximately 20+ courses, changes seasonally – or, whenever a new ingredient inspires celebrated Chef Kofoed. The technically accomplished yet artistic dishes come together as an imaginative and progressive tasting menu.
Each immaculate dish is served with an artistic presentation, which truly exemplifies the relationship between art and cuisine. Everything is so beautifully presented, the dishes look like still-life paintings that have been created by the restaurant’s artists.
Some of the most outstanding starters may include:
- Crispy Jerusalem artichoke “leaves”, accompanied by a creamy walnut oil and rye vinegar dip/emulsion.
- Savoury lobster with walnut mayonnaise, milk, rye vinegar and juice from fermented carrots, finished off with sea buckthorn oil
- Delightful charred potato cooked and smoked under the ground, in an aroma from bark & sheep’s butter
- Raw mackerel coated with an intense-tasting dill jelly, paired with a dill-cucumber granita and horseradish crème
- An edible razor clamshell with a filling of chopped raw razor clam and sour cream seasoned with tarragon, parsley and a touch of lime zest
These beautifully presented starters prime the palate for the rest of the meal. Some of the highlights in terms of main dishes may include:
Pickled yellow beets topped with thin discs of vinegar jelly and powdered burnt liquid of strained yoghurt, all sprinkled with aromatic seeds, pickled green, unripe elderberries, and onion seeds, and served with a juice of strained yoghurt liquid mixed with a concentrated beach plant oil
- Crisp tartlet with filling of scallops and cured and dried trout flakes
- Salted hake (dry marinated with parsley ash and then lightly smoked) and a thin disc of clear tomato jelly, served with creamy buttermilk, parsley stalk and Finnish caviar sauce and finished with a spoonful of crunchy fish scales
- Lightly charred vegetables, various edible flowers, soft quail’s egg yolk, caviar and smoked pork fat, complemented by a mildly acidic Vesterhavs cheese sauce
- Pan-fried morels with mustard seeds, mustard cress, juice made from roasted duck feet, roasted pork jus, sunflower seeds and truffle
- Chicken, red pointed cabbage, pine sprouts & meadow hay beer
- Grilled and salted pork (cooked on the bone), paired with pork and black currant leaf sauce, pickled pine puree, and sweet confit garlic
- Salted and gently smoked haddock with parsley stems and Finnish caviar in clarified buttermilk, with crispy fish scales
Ending the superb meal on a high note, desserts may include:
- Crisp beetroot sphere with a smooth sheep’s yoghurt mousse filling dusted with rhubarb powder, and garnished with borage flowers and marigold leaves
- Blackberries with floral juices, garnished with flowers and accompanied by creamy beeswax ice cream, which was finished with a sprinkling of pollen dust
- Visually stunning dessert of woodruff and white chocolate mousse, covered with a thin layer of chervil jelly, topped with iced wood sorrel pastilles and a beautifully made crisp “twig” from plum
- Liquorice skull with a liquorice mousse filling
With coffee, there are some petit fours, which may include caramel with fennel seeds and gooseberry tea, crisp beetroot and lingonberry purée, soft cake with pumpkin seed marzipan, uncooked cookie dough and chocolate with oats and sea buckthorn powder, and green egg with pine and marshmallow with hip rose.
The fact that most of the time, the chef responsible for each dish will come to serve it at the diners’ table and explain the ingredients is a wonderful, personal touch.
Diners will be offered a guided tour of the establishment, including the wine cellar, curing room, private dining room, and prep kitchen.
WINES & SERVICE
The wine offered is masterfully curated by Wine Director and General Manager Søren Ledet.
The wine pairings are fantastic but do not ignore the wine list. It is impressive and sure to delight even the most discriminating wine connoisseur. The wine list is 90 pages long and has some serious depth. Besides wines from famous wineries, Geranium’s wine list even covers fine picks of small-scale fashionable wines from all around the world. Also, there is a large selection of organic and biodynamic wines, with a page devoted to orange wines. The wine cellar also boasts the largest Champagne selection in Scandinavia. For those who prefer non-alcoholic options, there are elaborate juices, often made tableside.
Over the years, Ledet’s 2,500-bottle wine list has won numerous accolades, including The Wine Spectator’s prestigious Grand Award.
In 2018, Ledet’s dedication to exceptional service won Geranium The Art of Hospitality Award. The service is impeccable, efficient, and courteous, with just the right touch of informality, making for a well-orchestrated but relaxed experience in the dining room.
WHY GO
Epitomising Michelin-starred culinary art at its finest makes it hard to find words to describe how incredible and inspiring a meal at restaurant Geranium is.. It is worth going to Copenhagen just to eat here at one of the best restaurants in the world.
