yvonne johnson

No, G stayed home --just me and my chum. He has no inclination to go to Copenhagen. Can't move for BEETS.

A couple of blocks south of Vesterbro Metro which we didn't use. And around 1/2hr walk NW of central station. 

Spent most of last week in Copenhagen with an old friend. Overall, I thought the food was very good.

Radio

This was my favorite meal.

Scallop / Spring Cabbage / Mustard / Cress

Cod / Cucumber / Horseradish / Seaweed

Fennel / Høost / Capers / Parsley

Veal Flank / Onion / More Onion

Rhubarb / Beetroot / Malt / Milk

Five courses 400 dkk

Three courses 300 dkk

The baby scallops were sweet and beautifully seared; the cabbage and mustard lightened the dish. The cod dish was cold (on purpose) and delicate. I could’ve eaten a huge plate of the fennel on its own—it was done just right and so richly satisfying. The veal came in thin long strips, with a light sauce that I can’t recall, and just the right sized portion. The dessert was refreshing and not sweet at all with interesting chunks of baked beetroot along with poached rhubarb.

Nice walk too from city center through Frederiksberg residential area to get to it.

Manfred’s & Vin

In a trendy street in the Nørrebro district (that bears a strong resemblance to Park Slope), it does what’s considered, I guess, somewhat stereotypical modern Nordic cuisine. We went for the 7 small plates to share plus a dish of the simply steamed or boiled crayfish (a special) which were small but flavorsome. All 7 dishes were surprises created by the chef, and split came to $43 per person. There was lots of food.

The highlights for me were:

Smashed beetroot served alongside goat’s cheese with a separate green salad with nasturtium and their lightly pickled seeds (I especially took to the latter).

Oven baked onions with new garlic

Another green salad with cod roe

Potatoes (seemed fried) and root veg with poached egg

Less successful, we thought, was a light but at the same time mushy pork terrine with horseradish and cucumber on top.

On being moved inside at 9 PM prompt (regulations), we then had slow cooked beef in a parsley sauce. Beef was nicely cooked and tender, but didn’t rock my boat.

It was interesting and largely very good, but nothing had a wow factor. Great walk around Assistens Kirkegard before dinner; on a par with Père Lachaise, me thinks.

Sister restaurant that looked a little more formal is across the street and called Relae. (See Rail Paul mentions above.)

Nimb Brasserie

Went here on my final day by myself. It was all very quiet on a lovely sunny day and I had a table by open French doors overlooking the Tivoli Gardens. I’m pretty sure the menu on the website is accurate:

Fried foie gras with poached rhubarb, Madeira sauce and Madagascar pepper

Fried chicken breast with carrots, beets & chicken sauce with hearts

Glass of champagne Deutz Brut and glass of Barbera d’Ruvei, plus side of new pots, and a bottle Hildon water all came to 82 Euros ($106) inclu service. The meal was somewhat predictable, but the food was very well executed. The chicken breast (French cut) was especially juicy and falvoursome.

Restaurant l'Alsace

Just came across it in the Strogot shopping district. Has a pretty outside garden, but the food (for me, plaice with new potatoes) was lackluster. A rhubarb tart was fine.

Also lackluster was a steak in Nyhavn, but didn’t have high hopes in this touristy area. Salt looked very promising but my friend doesn’t care for sweetbreads and game (chiz).

Cafés

I recommend Café Oven Vande in Christianshavn. My sandwich, Parma ham, avocado, artichoke, arugula, and salsa romesco 
was delicious. Good starting off point before walking around Christiania—I didn’t think I’d be so taken with this long-standing hippie community but it was fascinating and beautiful. 

[Cafe In Malmo (day trip to Sweden—highly recommend Malmo and just ½ hr from Copenhagen by train)

Lilla Kafferosteriet (Baltzarsgatan 24A).

Scrumptious open sandwiches: roast beef on brown bread with remoulade on top as described by Sneak upthread (tinged yellow coz of the turmeric).]

Hotel

Guldsmeden Carlton in the Vesterbro area (people say up and coming district of Copenhagen) is quirky and the recently refurbished bedrooms are mainly Asian in design. Liked it a lot and handy for station.

I've really been enjoying the John McPhee pieces on the craft of writing. I'm nowhere near his echelon, but I spend of lot of my work day writing, and it's comforting to know read about the struggles other face. Without a doubt I'm going to take his suggestion to look at the dictionary rather than thesaurus next time I'm hunting for a specific word/turn of phrase.

 

I found that last piece a little disturbing.  There's a risk he'll give the impression that poring over a dictionary to improve specific words and phrases in a fourth draft is something expected of writers.

 

I should think it's a very rare practice indeed.

Not read the articles. But improving on words and phraseology in a 4th draft? I'd have thought that might lead to stilted writing. Maybe more people do this than I'd imagined and that explains why some sentences leap off the page as just wrong.

A dress made out of wallpaper. Your granny's wallpaper.

 

Is that the Met costume gala? It must have just killed Anna Wintour that in order to get Kanye she had to invite Kim.

Yeah, the Met gala. I imagine a pre-gala dinner with Kardashian & West and Wintour telling her to wear that awful floral thinking knowing how hideous the dress was. Wintour looks ok in a youthful floral, but it's a bit insipid, me thinks.