Noma: A Review of the Seafood Season Menu

Background:
We visited Noma last summer for the Vegetable Season (Read about the background of Noma and our experience here), and we had such a magical damn good time that we decided to fly to Copenhagen for 96 hours to go back for the Seafood Season. This is our first repeat of one of the top restaurants in the world, and part of us didn’t want to go back simply because we had what is the closest we’ve come to a perfect meal that we didn’t want to tarnish that experience. But thanks to the NBA All Star game coming to Charlotte, we made some nice AirBNB money renting out our condo to a fancy LA producer. And what better way to celebrate living with my parents for a week then to treat ourselves to a trip to Noma?

Pro Tip: People are always asking us how we score these reservations. A great way is to get on the restaurant’s mailing list. I’ve been on the Noma mailing list for 2 years and they email at least once a season saying that they are opening up a few additional days for shared tables or regular sittings.

This visit we did a shared table, which Noma offers from time to time in their private dining room. This meant that we would be sharing a table with 16 strangers. We’ve done this a few times, most notably at Noma Under the Bridge, and recently at the Hello Sailor/Buxton Hall collaboration dinner. We’ve enjoyed this in the past, as we’ve been able to make friends and share our dining experiences with other people who care as much about food as we do. This time 17 of the 18 at the table were amazing humans, but one guy got a little too drunk and became obnoxious and, to be honest, dampened the experience slightly. It’s a roll of the dice if you’re sitting at a table like this, and both Yvonne and I agree that if possible at Noma it’s better to have your own table. Noma is a fast-paced, frenetic show encompassing all of your senses. Just eating and observing the food takes up so much energy that trying to make conservation with strangers distracts you from your main objective, which is enjoying the experience. Of course, if the shared table is all you can get – don’t pass it up. And if you’re an extrovert, you might feel differently from us.

When we walked onto the grounds, we were all herded into one of the greenhouses until everyone at the shared table arrived. We were given some cider and allowed to hang out in the greenhouse or just outside. We went on a beautiful Copenhagen spring day, and there is nothing more fun than hanging out at Noma just taking in the magic. And magical it is. It’s hard to describe it, but as soon as you walk through the rope gate you feel like you’re in a special place.

Welcome to our greenhouse

Once everyone had arrived, we were escorted down the long path by the green houses, past the bee hives and the test kitchen where Rene Redzepi and team were working on the upcoming vegetable season, until we reached the front door to the main dining area. We were then paraded around the prep kitchen through the sea of servers and chefs to the private dining room.

Oh hi it’s us

The parade into the dining area

Eat This:
Noma has three distinct culinary seasons: Seafood, Vegetable, and Game. This being our second trip to Noma, it was interesting to see the similarities in the progression of dishes between the Vegetable and Seafood season. Both seasons built up a main larger course - the celeriac shawarma of the Vegetable Season and the Arctic King Crab of the Seafood Season. What was cool about the Seafood Season was that dishes were grouped into progressions based on the type of animal being served. First it was raw seafood, then shrimp, then fish, and finally finishing with crab before the dessert courses.

There is so much intricacy and thought put into everything at Noma, from the progression of dishes to the fact that a different type of wood is used in each of the dining areas (the shared table area is made entirely of Douglas Fir), that it’s pretty much impossible to take it all in. It’s a place worthy of study, and a place the more times you go you pick up on concepts and notice things you’ve never noticed before. This is the case for the food itself, and in particular with the Seafood Season. The Vegetable Season gave a “wow factor” with almost every dish. Comparatively, the Seafood Season was a much more subtle, slow-burning wow. There was so much going on with each dish beyond just the initial flavor and main ingredients that it’s going to take us a long time to fully comprehend what we ate. There are very few restaurants in the world that keep you thinking about the experience for so long after the meal, and as a patron of Noma you want that feeling to linger as long as possible.

Fresh Norwegian Scallop

As you walk in, you can see the chefs opening the scallops to keep them as fresh as possible. They were delivered to our table and we were instructed to use the top part of the shell as a fork to scrap off the scallop and eat it with its roe.

seafood Platter

Carpet Clam, Venus Clam, and Mahogany Clam

One of my favorite bites of the night was this Carpet Clam, which was served with a delicious paste underneath. The Mahogany Clam is a rare clam that lives to be over 100 year sold. The clams we ate were around 100 years old, and we were told we could count the rings on the shell to see the exact age. We got to about 10 before we gave up.

One of the coolest parts of the dish is we were given quince to squeeze over the clams like you would typically squeeze a lemon. A great unique Noma touch.

MarInated sweet shrimp

How cute are these little shrimps? Kristen Wile from Unpretentious Palate described them aptly as spooning the herbs/flowers. This bite reminded me so much of the shrimp tacos from Noma Under the Bridge we had a few years prior.

Grey Shrimp Cooked with sea Lettuce

This was described as a lettuce ravioli, and it was one of the best bites of the night. A danish shrimp ravioli.

Lumpfish roe & cured egg yolk

Lumpfish roe had just peaked in freshness, so this dish replaced the sea urchin dish served earlier in the seafood season. The roe was served with the egg yolk, Mirabelle blossoms, and rose oil. The rose oil added a great aftertaste to the savory and decadent lumpfish roe. This roe tasted like you were having the finest sturgeon caviar. We’re sad we missed the sea urchin, but we were very happy with this dish.

Ramps

Ramps had just been delivered to Noma, and the fermentation lab has been using hundreds of kilos for something exciting – probably for the vegetable season. We got to experience some as a side dish to the lumpfish roe, and they added a nice earthy balance to the richness of the roe.

cured Turbot

The turbot was served with a corn miso from the fermentation lab. The miso added a hint of sweetness to the dish that gave the fish a pineapple flavor, which I think is what Noma was going for with the tiny pine needles in the presentation. This was one of the coolest and most subtle dishes for me, but a lot of people at the table thought it lacked flavor.

medium rare Blue Shell Mussel

When we were given this dish we were instructed to eat the mussel and then drink a mushroom broth which was hidden underneath the seaweed. I am a sucker for these multi-sensory experiences, and I loved tasting the soup while smelling the seaweed. It felt like you were at the beach.

Cod bladder simmered with quince

This was the beginning of the cod sequence, which started with this cod bladder with quince. I’ve never had cod bladder before, but I really enjoyed it. It had the texture of a cross between pork belly and well cooked octopus.

cod Tongue Schnitzel

The cod tongue still on the bone had been deep fried and then covered with wasabi leaves. I think at this point it’s good to take a step back to understand how unique this dish is. Did you even know that Cods had tongues? Did you know they could be fried and served on it’s bone to taste like schnitzel? It’s easy at Noma become jaded by the uniqueness and amazingness of each dish, as that’s what you’re expecting, but hot damn, each dish is so good it’s just hard to wrap your head around it.

Salt Cod Pie

Here they made a cod pie out of milk skin, very similar to the caramelized milk and cheese dish we had during the Vegetable Season. This is served with oyster leaves on top. Why are they called oyster leaves? Because they actually have the flavor of oysters! So cool.

beach Crab Gel and Pinecones

Here we have a crab gel with pinecones. As you’ll see in the first dessert dish, the pinecone has become one of the best things we’ve eaten. The presentation of this dish was done in a hollowed out crab shelled that had been covered in wax. Naturally, this takes a long time to make, and the overall effect was well worth it.

Boiled brown Crab on Flatbread

This crab cracker was prepared using a technique that Noma had picked up in Tulum, Mexico. The cracker had been deep fried twice to allow for it to puff up and be able to be stuffed with the crab. This dish itself is so time consuming to make it – the crackers are hand cut to look like crabs and then hand stuffed.

hot smoked, then barbecued arctic King Crab

We’ve made it to the main dish, which is barbecued arctic king crab from Finnmark, which is basically the North Pole. Each crab was served with a QR code showing you when and where the crab was caught, its size, and who caught it. Ours was considered XXXLarge, weighing in at over 10 pounds! The crabs are kept alive on sight at Noma until they are ready to be served. The dish is served with a side of horseradish juice, and you could tell it was good because the table got quiet for five straight minutes as people were eating and enjoying their crabs.

Crab Salad

Right after the large crab meat was served we were presented with a warm crab salad. This was my favorite savory dish of the night. The salad was hot and delicious, and was just seasoned and dressed to perfection.

salted & dried berries from Summer

This dish was literally everything to us. It was both of our favorites, and I think maybe the most perfect dish I’ve ever had. We were served sheep’s milk cheese with last year’s preserves, including pine cones.

We had one of these pinecones on the Vegetable menu, and we had been dying the try them again. The fact that each of us had 4 or 5 of them made us so happy. The broth was perfect. The ratio of cheese to fruit to liquid was perfect. It was all just perfect. As Yvonne said, if she were allowed she would have unlimited quantities of this she would have eaten so much as to make herself sick. Weirdo.

Cardamom scented sea Star

Noma told us they tried hard to serve actual sea stars, but apparently they taste terrible. So they settled for the second best thing, which was a cardamom toffee sea star made to look and feel like an actual sea star. A great tasting, and fun play on the seafood theme. Overall, we felt that these desserts were stronger than the ones we had during the Vegetable Season.

Chocolate Cod Skin

You knew we had to end with seafood, and we ended with fried cod skin covered in chocolate from Mexico. It was served with a “dagger” to help cut up the skin. The chocolate was not too sweet, but provided a nice balance to the crunchy skin. A great last bite.

Drink:
At the shared table, we had to do either the wine or juice pairing. We both chose the juice pairing, because Jesus, who can drink ten glasses of wine during a meal and walk two miles home? I had the juice pairing during the Vegetable Season, and all of the juices had completed changed just as the menu had changed. We started off with green gooseberry, which is Yvonne’s favorite fruit of all time and was my favorite juice of the day. Yvonne really enjoyed the saffron and pumpkin kombucha, which was spicy, sweet, umami, savory, and bitter all at once. We both agreed that getting the juice pairing is like getting a whole other meal to itself. With the wine pairing you get wine, but it’s not like the wine is made at Noma. The juices are all house-made and curated just for the current menu and each one I’ve had at both meals have been incredible. Don’t be afraid - go non-alcoholic and you won’t regret it. You can get wine anywhere.

Apple and Herbs Juice

Tomato and Fig Leaf

Atmosphere:
This time, even more than the last, Noma felt so alive, bustling with service, the fermentation lab going full force, and the test kitchen preparing for the Vegetable Season. Noma is a science experiment with counterculture vibe and the best food in the world. No table cloths, you eat with your hands, guests are wearing polos, a million people are moving around, all the doors are open, and people are yelling “Yes, Chef” like it’s the chorus to a Justin Bieber song. It’s a sensory overload, yet everything fits together and makes sense. No moment is boring. It’s the dining show to rule them all.

The clock in the main kitchen that says “FASTER”

Rene Redzepi hangig out with us for a few minutes

A view of the main dining room with the power plant in the background.

The private dining room looking out to graffiti from Christiania.

Under the Sea Hospitality:
Now that we have a new logo, we’ve been creating Michigan Pug plaques for restaurants that have received a coveted Michigan Pug. Our first one was at Bardo in Charlotte, and I decided since we were going back to Noma that I would have one made and carry it over myself. I did not want to make a scene about it, so when we got to the gate I gave it to the greeter and explained that we had enjoyed our meal so much the past summer that we had a small token of our appreciation for them. The guy then took it and presumably told Rene Redzepi about it, who instructed them to put it up immediately in the private dining room. This was so amazing to us and something Noma didn’t have to do, but it make our time there that much more special. I’m sure they’ve moved it now, but just seeing the other diners and wait staff look at it throughout the meal made us so happy. A touch of class.

The overall service was top notch, except for a few snags. We did ask one of the waiters if we could keep the QR code as well as if we could take a picture of one of the drinks, and we never received an answer back, which is rather abnormal. It must have been the guy’s first day. Other than that, everything else went smoothly and without any incident.

The one thing we weren’t allowed to do on this trip was have a drink in the Hygge room. We figured this was because it was lunch and we were at the shared table, but it was still sad as that was one of our favorite experiences from our first visit.

Oh wow

Sorry we just ate your brothers bro

Frankie’s Notes:
The only thing that Noma is missing is a room full of pug puppies to hold and play with after the meal; if you’re sitting at a Noma shared table by yourself in your late 30s and are obnoxious the whole time, you’re probably going to be single forever; I didn’t record the entrance again, and I immediately regretted it again - next time; If anyone goes to Noma after reading this, let us know where the plaque is now! Yvonne has announced she’s moving to Copenhagen to open up Scallionpancake’s first satellite office dedicated to hygge and sweater weather.

Rating: 5 out of 5 with 3 Michigan Pugs
Yvonne flat-out at the end of the meal came out and said she enjoyed the Vegetable Season better than the Seafood. Upon reflection for me, our first experience was so magical and blew our expectations away so much that it was going to be almost impossible to come away feeling like the Seafood Season lived up to our lofty expectations. Both menus were so different, purposefully so, that it’s like comparing apples to oranges. Like the Vegetable Season, there was not a miss on the menu when it came to taste, and the experience felt as magical as before. All of that being said, I have to agree with Yvonne that I felt the Vegetable Season was a slight step above the Seafood Season. However, I also feel that the combination of the shared table and the fact that it was our second trip played a factor in this feeling.

 

108: Noma's Little Brother Holds Its Own

Background:
108 opened around the corner from the old Noma on July 27, 2016. Co-owned by Noma's Rene Redzepi and with Redzepi's trained head chef Kristian Baumann at the helm, 108 quickly rose to stardom as a way to get a less expensive piece of the Noma experience. 108 received its first Michelin Star shortly after opening and this summer was named #98 on the World's 100 Best Restaurants. 

We first came to 108 in the summer of 2017 because we wanted the Noma-lite experience. We love everything Noma, to the point where we probably should wear "I <3 Noma" t-shirts on the regular, so we couldn't have been more excited to land a reservation at 108. We had been the previous night to Noma Under the Bridge, which we L-O-V-E-ed, and we sat right next to a couple who flat out said 108 was better, so our expectations were sky high. 

Our experience the first time was a disappointment. The food was a mix of fine and inedible, with one dish being served literally with a cup full of raw flowers which was probably one of the worst things I've ever eaten. There were a few good dishes mixed in, but overall we were disappointed. As our waiter at Amass put it, "The dishes look good for Instagram, but that's about it."

We decided to give 108 another shot on our recent trip to Copenhagen, especially after we visited the new Noma, and we're so glad we did. The menu had been updated and all of the dishes were not only beautiful, but they tasted great as well. 108, you gave us a bad first impression, but here's to second chances. 

Eat This:
108 has an a la carte and a tasting menu, we elected both times to go a la carte, mainly because we had done so many tasting menus on both trips that we were tasted out. We're only going to focus on the items we tried this time, as the old ones were not that good.

Sourdough

Every place in Copenhagen has great sourdough bread. Every.single.one. 108 was no exception, and we could have eaten only this bread and walked out happy.

Greens & Herbs from Krogerup

with roasted seaweed

The summeriest of summer salads. All of the ingredients were picks from 108's farm that day. The middle contained an almond oil sorbet, which was mind-bowing. A huge upgrade from the crap flower bucket we had the previous year.

Raw Lamb

with last year's pickles

One constant at 108 is the stunning presentation. The dishes are gorgeous, every one of them. The flowers around the edge of this dish change not only daily, but minute to minute, with different tables getting different colored flowers. I'm a self-proclaimed lamb-oholic, so I loved this dish. The raw lamb and pickles made for a savory, gamey, and sour flavor that was delicious.

Brown Beech Mushrooms

with a smoked egg yolk sauce

This was a carryover from the previous year that was still on the menu, and the only dish we actually enjoyed the year before. The mushrooms were fried lightly and perfectly. Mixed with the yolk sauce, it felt like you were eating a fried steak.

Grilled Quail

with beetroot and warm spices

This was the one semi-miss of the night. The quail was good, and the sauce was good, but the dish didn't have a lot of flavor, and there wasn't enough meat on the bone to satisfy.  

Desserts:

Hot Dough Not

filled with caramel and seaweed ice cream

These babies were good. I could have eaten 100 of them, but three was probably a good choice so that I didn't gain 100 pounds. The icy seaweed ice cream offset the hot doughnut beautifully.

Sorbet of Wild Black Currants

with hazelnut milk

Another holdover from last year's menu. This was a play on the traditional Danish berries and cream dish, similar to the one we had at Noma. Sweet and refreshing.

Drink:
When we walked in, there was a glass of champagne waiting for us, welcoming us back to the restaurant. That's a nice touch that most restaurants don't do, and we really enjoyed that. 108 has a variety of wines, but we're lame drinkers, so we just got non-alcoholic juices. My favorites were a raspberry soda and a mandarin orange soda.

Last year's menu: don't look too closely--it wasn't good

Rhubarb soda

Atmosphere:
108 is a beautiful space located steps away from the harbor. It's airy and light, and everything is set up to create the perfect Instagram shot. The kitchen is open in the back, and everything screams Millennial Eye Candy. Needless to say, we loved the vibe.

Three Digit Hospitality:
The first time around, we thought the service was just okay, but this time the service was excellent. We asked our server what someone was eating to our left, and she went on a 10 minute excursion to figure out exactly what it was. The chefs came out to explain the dishes, a thread carried over from the Noma mothership.

Frankie's Notes:
Always give something a second try, because everyone is entitled to an off night; What's up with all of these places being named after numbers? I thought restaurants were a safe place where we didn't have to do math; I wish every restaurant was next to a harbor that was clean enough to swim in; Flowers are good to give to ladies, but use modestly in fine-dining dishes; If everyone could eat sourdough every day, I think the world would be free of crime and skinny people.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Sanchez: Rosario Sanchez Brings Mexican Food to Copenhagen

Background:
Sanchez is the first sit-down restaurant for former Noma pastry chef Rosario Sanchez, who left Noma in 2015 to open up Hija de Sanchez, a taco stand in Copenhagen which now has two locations. Her goal is to introduce Copenhagen, and the rest of Europe, to the flavors of Mexican cooking. She imports corn directly from Mexico and handmakes all of the tortillas daily. If you go to their taco stands on a regular basis, as we did (some might say we went too often), you might see a yellow corn tortilla one day, and a blue corn tortilla the next, all depending upon the supply of the corn they can get on a particular day. Sanchez is also committed to using local Danish ingredients to complement the Mexican flavors, as spiciness is a flavor profile that Danes are often unaccustomed to. 

The restaurant opened in December 2017 to rave reviews and won "The Best New Restaurant" by Berlingske, the largest Danish newspaper. Rene Redzepi, head chef at Noma, recommends it as the best non-Michelin star restaurant in Copenhagen.

Eat This:
Sanchez offers an a la carte menu is addition to a five course tasting menu. We opted for the tasting, as this was our only visit to the restaurant on this trip. Many other tables were ordering a la carte, and all of the dishes looked delicious; however, with the tasting menu, you get a wide variety of items, none of which can be ordered off the a la carte menu.

Chips & Salsa

Every table is brought homemade chips and salsa. The salsas were delicious, spicy but not overly spicy. We ate these in about 10 seconds and then sheepishly looked around for more. Spoiler: there was never any more.

Oysters

A Mexican twist on oysters, which were marinated in habanero peppers and local favorite sea buckthorn. This was a refreshing first bite with a nice, spicy kick at the end.

Agua Chile

This was the outstanding dish of the night. The agua chile contained raw brill, fresh local fruit, and a spicy strawberry sauce that was out of this world. The dish was on the exact edge of being too spicy, something that if it had even a little more spice would have been inedible for most people. I love when a chef takes a risk and pulls it off, and that's exactly what this dish achieved. The spiciness and acidity of the ceviche mixed perfectly with the freshness and sweetness of the fruit. Incredible.

Enfrijolada

This enfrijolada was filled with requeson cheese and topped with watercress, kale, and arbol chile oil. I am not a bean person in any way, in fact, I normally steer clear whenever possible. When in Rome (or Copenhagen), though, you eat beans, and this did not disappoint. There is a freshness and lightness to all of the dishes which you just don't get at a typical Mexican restaurant. If you were to have an enfrijolada in an American "Mexican" restaurant, you'd need a two hour nap immediately following inhalation. Not so with this baby. Another winner.

Tamale

Chef Sanchez said it was important to her to have a lot of vegetarian options on the menu. When she brought this out (!!!), she explained that the inside of a tamale is normally made with pork, but she decided to use mushrooms instead. We were instructed to add the tomato salsa and cheese to the tamale, and we happily obliged. Everything melted into the tamale like a warm, cheesy hug.

Taco

Our last course was a taco of beef on a crisp lettuce shell. The beef was cooked perfectly and provided a nice contrast to the crunch of the lettuce leaf.

Dessert:
Of course, we couldn't pass up dessert, especially since Chef Sanchez was the former head pastry chef at Noma. Sanchez is known her paletas, which are basically Mexican popsicles. The flavors rotate weekly, and spied on her Instagram that she was working on a licorice paleta. We love licorice (we are very Danish like that), so we couldn't have been more excited. Apparently, the chocolate maker where she sourced the chocolate for part of the paleta had gone on vacation, so this particular flavor was not on the menu; however, they had a few test ones in the back, which they were nice enough to give to us! We were seriously #blessed. 

Scarface Paleta

A licorice and cream paleta dipped in cacao cookie coating and cacao nibs. This was everything to us. Denmark is the land of licorice, and this paleta symbolizes the Nordic takeover of the food world--a Mexican treat with local, delicious Danish ingredients. This was, perhaps, the best dessert of our whole trip to Copenhagen.

Stawberries and Cream Paleta

Of course we couldn't just get one paleta. We also got the one listed on the menu, which contained strawberries, elderflower cream, candied elderflower, and habanero syrup. This was good, but not as good as the scarface: SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND. Ahem.

Churro Sandwich

This open-face churro sandwich is made with a mezcal-vanilla frozen parfait, bitter cream, and orange zest. Sometimes you just want a really good, simple dessert, and that's exactly what this was. I could have had ten of these, but, of course, we had paletas to eat.

Drink:
Sanchez has a variety of mezcal, agues frescas, and speciality cocktails. We each had a few cocktails, and Yvonne tried a mezcal flight. 

Mezcal flight

We are big fans of mezcal, and Sanchez has some of the best. It was cool to see the different preparation techniques that give off different flavor profiles. See also: a good way to get drunk quickly.

Pikachu Cocktail - Sea Buckthorn, lemon, vodka, thyme

Hibiscus Tea - from the tap

Atmosphere:
Sanchez has a relaxed, hip vibe. There are little remnants of Mexico everywhere, with skulls strategically placed throughout the restaurant to reminder you what type of food you were eating. The bar dominates the interior, with the mezcal bottles drawing your attention. All the servers are wearing t-shirts and make you feel at home right away. 

Mexi-Danish Hospitality:
The servers were attentive and excellent. We actually recognized one of our servers who used to work at Geranium, which made us feel special really deep inside. Chef Sanchez herself was working almost all positions, from hostess to server. She brought out at least one dish to each table, which we thought was really nice and something you don't see a lot from a celebrity chef. Also, hooking us up with the off-menu scarface paleta really made our night.

Frankie's Notes:
A paleta a day keeps the doctor away; Mexican food is too spicy for pugs, so they'll stick with traditional Danish Smørrebrød thankyouverymuch; when Rene Redzepi tells you to go to a place, you go; Chef Sanchez should come to Charlotte and open up a real Mexican food restaurant here, because we need a good one; Pork butt is my favorite type of butt.

RATING: 5 out of 5

 

Noma: A Review of the Vegetable Season Menu

Update: We went back to Noma for the Seafood season. You can read about that here.

Background:
Back in 2015, when Scallionpancake was in its infancy, before we really knew anything about fine dining or the world food scene, we took a trip to Copenhagen because we knew the number one restaurant in the world was there. About a month before that trip, being the idiot that I am, I tried to make a reservation at Noma. Of course, it had been fully booked probably five times over, months before we had even contemplated a trip to Denmark. We had some good meals on that trip, but the whole time it felt like we had the weight of Noma's ghost overshadowing our stay. 

Last year, we returned to Copenhagen, this time smarter in our knowledge that you can't just stroll into Noma on a whim, but unfortunate in our timing, as Noma was closed for a complete overhaul of the entire restaurant; however, luckily for us, the Noma team was doing a pop-up under a bridge in Copenhagen that I had smartly booked the moment it became available. You can read about that experience here. It was an amazing meal, our favorite of the whole year, yet it still felt that even though we had a taste of the magic, we hadn't experienced the real thing.

When we decided to spend a month in Europe this summer, I started to devise a plan of how I was going to get a reservation at Noma. I did some background research which basically said: you have less than two minutes to make your reservation, or it's going to be gobbled up faster than a piece of meat being dropped to a pack of hungry wolves. So there I was, on March 5th, a full four months before our trip, frantically refreshing my screen at 9am EST (3pm Danish time), waiting for the Tock reservation system to turn on. Yvonne was on her computer doing the same, and we were on the phone coordinating like Navy Seals praying we could get something, anything, in July. I had a strategy, which was go for a mid-week reservation as those would be less desirable than a weekend reservation. As soon as the website switched to "go," I clicked on Tuesday, July 10th, and magically, a two-person dinner reservation for 5:00 pm was still available. I swooped in on that faster than you can say Smørrebrød, and two minutes and $700 later we had our golden ticket. Scallionpancake was going to Noma! (In case you were wondering, Yvonne was too slow and couldn't get any reservations, even clicking on a week day, so it just shows you how lucky we were to get one).

When you arrive in Copenhagen, it's impossible to miss Noma's influence on the city. There's a long list of former Noma chefs who have opened restaurants, including Relae, Amass, Studio, Geranium, Radio, Sanchez, and many more. The alumni page of Noma reads like a who's who of Copenhagen food royalty, not to mention some of the rest of the world. There is a palpable sense that no matter what restaurant or bar you go to around town, somehow its origin or influence leads back to Noma. In Italy all roads lead to Rome, but in Copenhagen all roads lead you to Noma.

Noma's influence goes even further than the Danish capital. Noma started the local food revolution and foraging food revolution, and its culinary impact is felt globally. René Redzepi, Noma's founder and head chef, is considered the most influential chef in the world. Redzepi is also revolutionary in how he uses social media, often posting behind the scenes videos and pictures that really connect with his followers. The restaurant has received numerous awards, most notably being ranked #1 in the world four times: in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. If I had to put my money on it, I'd bet that in 2019 it regains the number one status yet again.

In late 2016, Redzepi decided to shut down and move the restaurant to a new location in Copenhagen. He felt like the restaurant had become a bit stagnant, and the team needed to innovate even further (read this Bloomberg article for a great chronicling of why Redzepi did what he did). This is a big risk for a chef with an expensive payroll and perennial top five status. The construction and building lasted the entire year of 2017, with Noma doing a pop up in Tulum, Mexico and Under the Bridge in Copenhagen during this time. The new Noma (or Noma 2.0) opened in February and has received nothing but rave reviews from almost every critic around the world including The LA Times, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, GQ, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal.

Cue the music: looks like we made itttttt

Eat This:
Noma has one menu that changes seasonally. There are three seasons at the new Noma: Seafood (Feb - May), Vegetables (June - Sep), and Game & Forest (Oct - Dec). We dined in July, which meant we were there for the Vegetable Season. What was unique was that there was no meat served during the menu at all (except for a grasshopper mole), which seemed to inspire the chefs to come up with an exceptionally creative menu, even beyond their usual standards. 

As soon as you sit down, the dishes begin to come out at a frenetic pace. In all, we had 21 dishes in little over two hours, which is the fastest pace we've ever experienced at a restaurant of this caliber. It made for an exciting, adrenaline-filled meal that kept us engaged and interested for the entire time. 

Potato magma

Boom. As soon as you sit down, a potted plant with a straw is put on your plate. We were instructed to drink the new potato soup and smell the herbs simultaneously. This dish was a full sensory experience, and such an exciting start.

Nasturtium Tart &

sea Buckthorn & blackcurrent Butterfly

Does it get any prettier than this? On the left was a one-bite tart encased in a thin potato shell. On the right, a beautiful dried fruit creation that was like a gourmet Fruit by the Foot--really!

seasonal pickles

At Noma, they forage pretty much every ingredient, so everything on this plate is foraged, with the exception of the white asparagus which is from a special farm they partner with. Our favorite part of this dish was the pickled pine cone. It was essentially candied, which made it so soft, sweet, and tangy.

fresh seaweed

You know when you have fish that tastes fishy? Normally with seaweed you have the same, but this seaweed was so fresh it had none of the bad sea taste. This one-bite seaweed tart was meant to be eaten after taking one bite of the asparagus.

Barbequed Onion

This was our little special dish that only a few tables got, I think because we were going a little faster than the other tables. A barbecued onion which was opened up and cooked with elderflower. You only ate the inside, and it was so good I picked it up with my hands and ate it like a cave man.

Cucumber skin & Parsley

This was Noma's play on a grape leaf. The leaf was made entirely of cucumber skin which had been formed into the texture of a greek grape leaf and filled with parsley and flowers. What creative genius, and this wasn't even in the top five most creative dishes of the night.

quail eggs & Hip Berry chorizo

The berry chorizo tasted like meat chorizo, with a slight hint of sweetness. This was a life-changing little bite.

preserved morels from spring

They told us they got 70K morels in the spring that have been fermenting in the lab. I only got two of them, but would have happily eaten the other 69.99K

marigold flowers with a whisky egg-nog

After the meal, while lounging in the hygge room, we made friends with an amazing couple from Australia--Alisha & Matt. Even more amazing? Matt is a chef at Attica in Australia (#20 restaurant in the world for 2018! Don't worry, we're already looking into reservations). Matt explained to us how incredible it is to get these marigolds to fry in one piece, since the flowers are so fragile. Not pictured here is the whiskey egg-nog sauce that you dipped this in. This was like eating a donut with a rich egg custard. It tasted so decadent and rich, and it was perhaps my favorite dish of the night.

just cooked peas with whipped cream

If all peas were served with whipped cream, I think I'd eat peas for every meal of every day. Half of the peas were raw and half were lightly scorched. Only small peas were used. The big peas are currently being fermented in the lab for experimentation with a pea miso!

berries and fava beans

This was described as a ripe fruit ceviche which contained raspberries, red and green strawberries, flowers, fava beans, and radishes. It was bathing in a white currant broth. Light, refreshing, and slightly spicy.

Umami Flatbread

This dish was special because it looked so simple, yet had maybe the most complex flavor of the night. The mustard greens and a chili spice that the team had brought back from their trip to Tulum both added a nice kick to the cracker, radishes, and fruit. Umami to the max.

carmalized milk & Cheese

The chef described this dish as a ravioli, except the "pasta" was made with caramelized milk skin. The inside was filled with brie cheese and the whole ravioli was topped with black truffle. When describing the food at Noma it's hard to not sound repetitive, but damn, this was amazing.

wax broth with pollen

We were speaking to one of the apprentices post-meal, and she was saying they were contemplating taking this dish off the menu, because some on the team thought it was more pretty than tasty. Both of us disagreed, and thought that the bee pollen flavor and texture was excellent, so much so that Yvonne picked up the bowl and drank it like she was drinking a Yoohoo. The bowl was even made out of beeswax. This one is a keeper, Noma! Love, Scallionpancake.

pumpkin seed curd and grilled roses

Like the Umami Flatbread, this dish was influenced by Noma's pop-up in Tulum, Mexico. The mole underneath was made of grasshoppers and walnuts, and the pumpkin seed curd was flan-like, made from tofu, and plated table side. The rose petals were salty and crunchy--all of the textures in this one! I literally told the waiter I was going to lick the plate, and he said I could, but I contained myself.

Shawarma of celeriac and truffle

The main dish was a play on a traditional steak, except the "meat" was made from celery and truffle. What a freaking mindf*@k. A few courses before this, a chef brought out the shawarma on a stick (see below) like you would see at any stand in Europe. This course had everything, yet looked so simple. I think that's the magic of Noma--most of the dishes are so thought out that they appear easy and simple, the way Lebon James makes basketball look, or Jay Z makes music sound. This is the height of culinary mastery and excellence.

Sour Dough

Just when we were almost done with the shawarma, a chef runs out and puts more of the truffle sauce on your plate and hands you this lovely sourdough and says it would be rude to not share the leftover sauce with you to soak your bread in. That would be rude, indeed! The sourdough is made by Richard Hart, former head baker of Tartine who is opening up his own bakery in Copenhagen in October.

berries & Cream

Our first dessert course. The fruit by the foot is back, this time plated with berries in a cool cream sauce. One of the Danish waiters told us this was a play on a very traditional Danish dish. The color, the textures, the taste were all excellent, but you knew that already, right?

mold pancake

This dish was special, even for Noma standards. The pancake was a tortilla that had mold growing on it, much like a brie cheese, and it was filled with ice cream and a balsamic fig sauce. The mold pancake protected your mouth from the cold of the ice cream, and the fig balsamic added a nice acidity to the dish.

Rose scented terracotta

We started where we ended, with a potted plant, except this time you ate the whole thing. The pot was a chocolate coated elderflower cake scented with roses. We were instructed to slice open the pot to reveal the cake. Maybe the coolest and most beautiful dessert we've ever had.

R0se Scented Terracotta

Open sesame!

After the meal you are brought to a "Hygge" room, where you can sit and drink snaps or whiskey for as long as you want. Sometimes, they allow diners to enjoy their cake in this room as well. Noma sat us next to the aforementioned lovely Australian couple, Matt Boyle (@boylemd) and Alisha Henderson (@sweetbakes_), who we immediately took up conservation with. We spent nearly two hours lounging and talking about food, traveling, and, of course, our mutual love of Somebody Feed Phil. Matt is a chef at Attica (see above) and Alisha has her own cake baking company! They were such lovely and warm people. When we went to Noma Under the Bridge last year, we had a similar experience with another couple (Hi, Marie-Eve & Frederick!), and all I can say is, Noma goes out of their way to make its guests feel connected and have a special meal. 

Yvonne in her hygge blanket feeling all the feels

Drink:
Noma offers a wine pairing ($210), a juice pairing ($155), or wines by the glass. I opted for the juice pairing, which was simply magnificent. I've had juice pairings in the past, most notably at Central in Lima, Peru. What I didn't like about Central's pairing was that some of the juices, although all unique, were just not that good. Here at Noma, all of the juices were amazing. The juices ranged from a bright red saffron and chili to a chilled mushroom tea. My favorite was the rose and berry kombucha, which tasted like a thick berry smoothie. Yvonne opted for for wines by the glass. Her favorite that she tried was an orange-colored wine from the country of Georgia, which the waiter described as being made in a very traditional way, like they made wines thousands of years ago. The bright orange color was something we had never seen from a wine before, and the taste was rich with minerality.

Atmosphere:
Noma is a magical fairytale food paradise from start to finish. When you arrive at the gate, you are greeted by staff, who stagger each party's entrance down a long, flower-filled path, so that when you open the main wooden door to the restaurant, you are greeted by the entire staff--including Mr. Redzepi himself. You are then quickly whisked to your seat. This touch was truly special and unlike any other restaurant we have tried. 

OMG hi

The vibe is very electric. The Vanity Fair article put it best when it said "You want order, you work Eleven Madison." It feels like you're in the middle of a bee hive, where each worker knows exactly what they are doing, but from afar looks like a chaotic symphony. You see chefs running down the hallways. You hear "Yes, Chef" yelled loudly from the open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant. Five waiters walk by your table every ten seconds. When you need to use the restroom, a server swoops you away seamlessly into the flow, like it was part of the plan all along. 

The main entrance to the dining complex

Mr. Redzepi speaking to our new Australian friends!

A view of the main dining room and kitchen from our table.

Their property is home to a greenhouse, fishtanks, an ant farm, a fermentation lab, and, of course, their famous test kitchen. Yvonne claims she saw "reindeer penis" written on the ingredient list for the team to try out for the game season, but this rumor cannot be confirmed or denied. Long bookshelves run almost the entire length of the compound, where anyone on the team can add anything to the collection. There are also random awards, creatures, bottles, and minatures ecletically sprinkled throughout. 

Large bookshelves run almost the length of the whole restaurant

Outside view of the hygge room

The famous test kitchen.

The entire compound from the gates to the main dining hall in the background.

Noma-foraged Hospitality:
From the moment you open the door and are greeted by the entire staff, to the last moment when you are escorted to the gate,  you are treated like the most important people on the planet. This is pretty typical for a restaurant of this quality, but what was different was the amount of team interaction with the guests. Every time you walked by a chef they would say hi and smile. Everyone seemed approachable and friendly, which is not always the case at a place of this caliber. The laid back attire of the staff, open layout of the restaurant, and general feeling of sheer joy among everyone who comes to Noma, made for a very relaxed and welcoming dining experience.

A chef shows us a presentation of the celeriac shawarma.

Frankie's Notes:
Noma might have over 20 nationalities on their staff, but no pugs??!! #notcool; The only other things that have lived up to Noma's hype were Machu Picchu and Oktoberfest; Mr. Redzepi is a god among men, and we want to live in the hygge room forever as his loyal subjects; Yvonne wants to know where she can purchase that hygge room blanket so she can relive her pear snaps joy every evening in Charlotte; We hope there really is a reindeer penis in Noma's future, but shhh, don't tell that we peeked at the list!

Rating: 5 out of 5 with 3 Michigan Pugs
Noma comes with a lot of hype: the prestige of a long-ranked number one restaurant in the world, an almost impossible reservation to score, and rave reviews from the top critics in the world--we were terrified it would not live up to our expectations. From the moment we walked on the grounds we knew it was going to not only meet our expectations, but overwhelmingly exceed them. Not one bite of the meal was off. There were no misses on the menu. It was, dare I say, a perfect meal. We contemplated adding another Michigan Pug just for Noma, because it is clearly in a class of its own among even the best restaurants in the world. We planned our entire trip to Europe around Noma, and we would do it again in a heartbeat. 

 

Geranium

Background:
Scallionpancake has been extremely fortunate to go to five of the top restaurants in the world this year. Geranium makes the list at number #19 under the creative talents of Head Chef Rasmus Kofoed. Kofoed opened up Geranium in 2007 after working at a fancy hotel in Copenhagen, and it quickly climbed the ranks of all of the "best" lists; it's the only restaurant in Copenhagen to have three Michelin stars (yes—it's hard to believe, but Noma only had two before it closed for renovations!). Fun fact about Kofoed, according to the Top 50 list, "Kofoed is the only chef to have ever won bronze, silver and gold at the prestigious Bocuse d’Or cooking competition in France." Impressive!

Round of applause for Kofoed

Eat This:
You only have one choice here, and that's the Universe tasting menu. This is a three hour experience, so buckle up ladies and gentlemen, and get ready for the ride.

Danish Lobster covered with milk, carrot juice, and sea buckthorn oil

And we're off! The signature first dish is lobster. This was almost like a gelatin, with the buttery lobster contrasting with the cool, earthy carrot. We also loved the presentation with multiple dishes on top of each other.

Jerusalem Artichoke Leaves, Hazelnut Oil, and Rye Vinegar

Dip the artichoke leaves in the hazelnut oil and rye vinegar mayonnaise.

Razor Clams with Minerals & Sour Cream

The signature dish of Geranium. The rumor is this took Rasmus over six years to perfect. In his book, One Day at Geranium Restaurant (which we absolutely purchased), Rasmus calls this the, "perfect abstract illusion of a razor clam shell." The shell is edible and painted with algae and charcoal to make it look like an actual razor clam shell. In the middle is a creamy razor clam tartar made with sour cream.

Tomato Water, Ham Fat, & Aromatic Herbs

We love eating flowers with our tomato soup. We also love ham, and we especially love fat. Mix them all together and you've got a Scallionpancake trifecta. The sourness of the tomatoes and the warm, saltiness of the ham mixed great with the aromatic herbs.

"Dill Stones" Mackerel, Horseradish, & Frozen Juice from Cucumber & Dill

This was one of our favorites. The mackerel dill stones were plated on real sea stones, to blend in as if taken directly from the sea. Of course we love dips, and why not dip your mackerel dill stones in a frozen juice of cucumber & dill with a spicy horseradish cream?

Salted Hake, Parsley Stems, & Finnish Caviar in Buttermilk

Our favorite dish of the day. Cold flattened and salted hake covered in a warm buttermilk filled with Finnish caviar. Is there anything better in the world than warm caviar on a great fish? I don't think so.

Crispy Grains, Bread with Old Grains, & Gluten Free Bread with Seeds

We always love the bread course. This bread was okay, but nothing we really need to talk about.

Scallop in Juniper Aroma, Filippa Reduction, and Browned Butter

Scallops are hard to get rght. It's easy to overcook them, and then they taste like a chewy bar of soap. Also, a scallop should be on the larger size --if they are too small, you can't get the proper texture throughout the meat. Geranium's scallops were amazing. They were presented first in a bed of sea grass, as if they magically appeared from the sea for our pleasure. The scallops were then plated in a bowl in front of us, and then the waitress poured the Filippa reduction on top. The scallops had a great rich taste, and you could cut them with a butter knife.

Lemon Sole, Onion Herbs, "Vesterhavsost," and Pickled Pine

Let's take a journey to a Danish village, where we walk along the sea and pick flowers. We stumble upon a local fisherman who, as we walk past, catches a sole on his wooden fishing pole. He cleans the fish in front of us and serves it to us lightly cooked over an open fire mixed with the flowers we had picked up along the way. You get it?

Tartlet with Fjord Shrimp, Sol, & Pickled Elderflower

Are you sensing a pattern here? Almost every dish had some sort of flower on it. The Danes love flowers on their food --it provides a pop of color and flavor to the dishes. Plus everyone knows the saying, "When you eat shrimp, you should stop and smell the roses."

Cabbage Sprouts, Chicken, & Hay Beer

A big theme in all the restaurants we ate at in Copenhagen was the lack of meat. This was the only non-seafood meat on the menu, and it was not the focal point of the dish. The Danes love thier greens and seafood! What we liked about this were the sprouts, which added a nice little crunch to the chicken.

A Bite of Beetroot, Blackcurrant, Yogurt, & Tagetes

Like a kiss at the end of the rainbow, more precious than a heart of gold. You know what I mean.

Ice Cream from Beeswax & Pollen with Intense Rhubarb

The winner of winners when it comes to dessert. This ice cream tasted as if a million bees flew to you, spelled out your name in the air, and then presented you with their finest beeswax in the form of ice cream. It was so creamy and had the subtle flavors of beeswax and honey.

Sweets:

Carrot Tree, Cake with Pumpkin Seed Oil, Caramel with Cloudberry and Chantrelle, Chocolate with Oaks and Sea Buckthorn, Marshmallow with Rose Hip, & Green Egg with Pine

Yvonne calls this the fireworks grand finale, where they bring out an onslaught of desserts all at once and then you get to go to town like it's your birthday (and we're going to party like it's your birthday). We were instructed to eat them in any order, except the green egg had to be eaten last, because it had a strong flavor. Our favorites were the marshmallows with rose hips and the cake with pumpkin seed oil.

Drink:
Geranium makes all of their drinks right in front of you. They are known for their gin and tonic, but we didn't try that (we were still in our non-drinking during lunch phase--lame). We ordered tea during the savory dishes, and coffee with dessert. For the tea, they roll out a cart with roots and herbs growing from pots. The waitress then asks what types of herbs you like, and then proceeds to pick them from the pots and make your tea. The coffee is presented in a similar way, with the waitress boiling the water and pressing the coffee right in front of you.

Picking the herbs for our tea

A coffee lover's pour over dream

Atmosphere:
The atmosphere at Geranium can best be described as friendly, yet sterile. Everything about the restaurant was clean and perfect, almost too perfect You didn't feel like you could make sarcastic jokes with the wait staff--but you know we tried to anyway. The restaurant is located on the top floor of the national soccer stadium, which provides great views of all of Copenhagen. You can even see Sweden from across the water on a clear day. The whole staff was very international, our waitresses were from Australia and Martinique, and the chef who took us of a tour of the restaurant, was from Sweden. It felt very cosmopolitan, and you could tell that there was a lot of room for collaboration and creativity in the kitchen.

The kitchen overlooks the stadium-- pretty cool on match day!

Danish Hospitality:
The service here was just as exceptional as you would expect at a fancy-shmancy place like this. What was unique, was that after the savory dishes, one of the chefs gave every guest a tour of the entire restaurant, from the test kitchen to the fermenting room. We even got to see Head Chef Kofoed, who touched me on the shoulder. I havent washed my shoulder since.

The front desk, sponsored by Apple

Frankie's Notes:
Frankie also has not washed since we were in Copenhagen; It's nice to have the option to play a soccer game and then go have a three Michelin star meal, all in one block; If Frankie could have tea with anyone in history, he would pick Lassie, and then punch him in the face after; We like to be able to banter with our waiters and make them feel uncomfortable; We have started putting flowers on all of our canned tuna now that we are back in the U.S.

Rating:

5 out of 5 with 2 Michigan Pugs

 

NOMA Under the Bridge

Background:
The original Noma is one of the best restaurants in the world. The legendary Copenhagen staple has been under renovations for about a year. During this time, the NOMA team has opened up pop-up restaurants all over the world--most notably in Sydney and Mexico--while everyone eagerly anticipated the re-opening of the main restaurant. This was slated to happen in the summer of 2017, but did not due to building delays. Therefore, the team decided to open up a pop-up restaurant under a bridge in Copenhagen in the meantime and bam: NOMA Under the Bridge (UTB) was born. 

The pop-up was only supposed to last a few months, but because of the continued construction delays on the main restaurant, it ended up having an extended stay from June until the middle of November. This was great for us, as we visited Copenhagen in late September and were able to snatch up two coveted tickets for our first night in the city. 

Eat This:
UTB is a five course tasting menu. The main dishes seem to have stayed pretty consistent throughout the entire time, with the chefs who had rotated in and out from around the world adding their flare to the bookends of the meals—appetizers and desserts.

Grilled Focaccia with Horseradish

What was special at UTB was the unique mixture of flavors. What a great combination of flavors. The softness of the focaccia combined with the crunch of the crust and pop of the horseradish made this bread disappear faster than a $100 bill dropped on the streets of Times Square.

Mussel Soup

Underneath, that creamy soup was swimming with some delicious mussels--you just had to get in there and find them. A game of culinary hide and seek, if you will.

Tacos with Deep Fried Shrimp

Here you could see a clear inspiration from NOMA's trip to Mexico, as they combined the Mexican chiles with Nordic greenery and seafood. The shrimp were fried and meant to be eaten whole with the shell. Hot sauce and salsa were provided so you could season your tacos to your taste preference. We'd never eaten shrimp prepared this way, and the spicy, crunchy taste was out of this world. That texture combined with the coolness of the cabbage wraps and greenery made for one of the best dishes Scallionpancake has had all year—we can’t stop thinking about this one!

Cod

with capers

Squid ink cauliflower

Wowzers bagowers. If you had three glasses of wine and closed your eyes, you would think this cod was a piece of steak--it was so meaty and well seasoned with the capers and sauce. The cauliflower was covered in squid ink which gave a nice acidity. There were also small potatoes served with a red tomato sauce (un-pictured) that paired nicely with the cod as well. This part of the meal really felt like we were eating at a Danish home, only the meal was prepared by the best chefs in the world, obvi.

Dessert:

Concord grapes

with milk cheese

almond cake

with cacoa nibs and lime zest

The main dessert of the night was concord grapes with a milk cheese: simple and refreshing. However, the real star of the show was the final bite—an almond cake covered in a lime zest. Like the horseradish and focaccia before it, I had never once thought to combine lime and almond flavor together. What a revelation! The sweetness of the almond with the acid zest of the lime mixed in your mouth like a mermaid and merman swimming to Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin’s "That’s Amore." There was simply not a more beautiful sight to behold in the culinary world, in this food blogger’s humble opinion.

Drink:
UTB teamed up with wine importers Rosforth & Rosforth to curate a wine pairing for the menu. They also had a juice pairing for us gout stricken humans who couldn’t partake in the alcohol. In addition to the pairings, they served coffee or tea with dessert at the end. 

First glass in wine city

Atmosphere:
The atmosphere here was truly one of the most magical dining experiences we have ever experienced. There is only one long table which sits about 75 people, so you feel like you're in Hamlet's banquet hall sharing plates and stories with your new friends from around the world. There were a few plates which were done individually—the soup and the dessert, but the rest were family style, and you shared with your new, six-person family. At first we were nervous because Donald Trump is President and we don't like to speak too much when we are out of the country, but it actually was quite nice to be forced to talk with people around you and bond over the food. Food really does bring everyone together, and we made friends and had conversations with people from all over the world, which we would have never done at a typical restaurant.

Gnome Hospitality:
When you purchase your "tickets" beforehand, you have to prepay for the entire meal ($175/person), which included wine or juice pairings. This was really refreshing because you didn't have to worry about up-charges, or tips, or anything--you could have literally left your wallet at home. We were there to eat and be happy. We might have been under a bridge, but the hospitality was top rate. This was NOMA, after all. The waiters and waitresses were knowledgable and friendly, and were able to accommodate special requests very well (like my juice pairing). They made you feel at home under the bridge. Hygge at its finest.

Frankie's Notes:
It's not good to have your best meal of the trip on your first night, #letdownnation; New friends are fun, especially those who eat less than you and let you have their leftovers; The mayor of Freetown Christiania is a pug; If a mermaids don't exist, then how are babies born?; The reason why Frankie can't go on trips with his mom is because he wouldn't be able to keep up with her 13 miles a day of walking.

Rating:
5 out of 5 plus two Michigan Pugs