Background:
In recognition of Jordnær landing at #38 on the World’s 50 Best List for 2022 I decided i’d dust off my fingers and write a proper review of what was probably our top meal of 2021. With the birth of our first masculine child, Samuel, and some complications he has had in his early life, we have taken a pretty long break from the blog. We’ll try and write as much as we can, because we started this blog to document and memorialize the great meals we have had, but can’t promise when we’ll be back. Just know that we’re still out there eating in the ether, even if its not documented on the internet.
When visiting Noma a few years ago we dined with Kirstens Jepson (check out her instagram @kirstenjepson), a local Danish artists who specializes in food photography. We asked her what other local restaurants we need to check out, and she told us that we needed to go to Jordnær in the outskirts of Copenhagen in a town called Gentofte.
Jordnær (roughly translating to down to earth in English) is not flashy. It’s in a 3 star hotel in a quiet suburb that looks more from the outside like a you’re going to an Applebees than a 2 Michelin starred restaurant. If it wasn’t for the Jordnær tree on the glass door to the left of the hotel lobby we probably would have wandered around Gentofte trying to figure out where we were going and wondering what mess we got outselves into. Luckily Tina, who we would find out later is Chef Eric Kragh Vildgaard’s “better half,” found us looking bewildered and assured us we were in the right place.
The next three hours were filed with excellent food, wonderful service, and the most caviar I believe is legally allowed to be served in one setting.
Eat this:
King Crab, Sake, Coriander
The first bite was a beautiful tart that reminded me of Botticelli’s Primavera. Hope sprung eternal, and this dish encapsulated what would be ahead in the night - a seafood heavy, fresh ingredient driven experience.
Tart of lobster, yuzu, & Trout Roe
One of the most beautiful dishes, maybe ever. The dish it is served on makes it look like the tart is literally floating, which reflected the light, airy flavors of the dish.
Hamachi Sunazuri, Caviar, & Aged Soy
This was our first of many, many caviar dishes. The caviar flowed like cocaine flowed at a 1999 Prince concert. Leading to the question - can you have too much caviar in a meal? Jordnær challenged this notion, but at the end I think its safe to say we were left wanting more.
Japanese waffle, Fjord Shrimp, & Caviar
Probably the signature dish of the restaurant: the crispy waffle is filled with shrimp and then topped with, you guessed it, caviar. It is an ode to a Michelin star? I don’t know, but it tasted and looked magnificent.
Takoyaki - Elegence Ostra Classic Caviar
Now the truffles start! Hide your kids, hide your wife, because this is not the last time we’ll see considerable amounts of truffle either. Also we’re seeing a theme here - a very Asian influence with Danish ingredients.
Mushroom Tea, Walnut, White Truffle
I mean come on now - mushroom tea with shaved white truffles. This dish tasted like you were foraging with your truffle pigs in the forrest.
Scallop, Pear, & green gooseberries
This dish reminded me of a dish at Eleven Madison Park, which was a a squid tartare. The look and the feel of the dish were similar, with the stark white of the dish giving off a vibe of refreshment and subtle flavors.
Langoustine Bouillon with Tomato Water
Yvonne loves her a tomato soup - especially while pregnant. What was her weirdest pregnancy craving? It was, and a quote, “a flat white fish” which I procured from her at Vana.
Plants from Chris Elbos Garden, smoked mussels, Dashi
Do I remember anything about this dish? Nope - so probably wasn’t the best dish we had that night.
Smoked Cheese, Nettles, Kalix Pike Roe
Anything smoked is right up my alley. This was what I would call as sophisticated fondue - subtle flavors and of course more roe.
Limfjords Oyster, Wasabi, DILL
A wasabi + dill combo is a great combo you would never expect and was a great mixture of a classic Nordic flavor with a classic Asian flavor. A great symbolism for the meal as a whole.
Caviar, Miso, Black Currant Branch
The caviar is back with a vengeance. Maybe the perfect caviar dish?? The creaminess of the caviar mixed perfectly with the tea broth.
Hamachi, Sesame, Ponzu
When Chef came out and spoke to our table we asked him what was the secret to his restaurant. He said it was the ingredients - that he would go out of his way around the world to bring in the best raw food, because without that you are starting from behind the eight ball. I think this hamachi highlights this - getting the best fish is imperative to make this dish the best.
Bread & Butter
If I remember this correctly, this bread was a half Japanese milk bread and half Danish brioche. Obviously Yvonne is the bread course connoisseur and was willing to share a small sliver of the bread with me, of which i was forever grateful for. It was a heavy, buttery, delicious tasting bread.
King Crab, Blue Mussels, Vadouvan
Our first “main dish” was king crab. Again showcasing the fresh king crab with a nice slight curry broth.
Turbot, Langoustine, Tuber Melanosporum
This dish has been on the menu I believe the longest and is considered by many to be the signature. Who doesn’t love a black truffle encrusted fish dish? That was a rhetorical question.
Goatmilk, Beetroot, & Black Currants
We’re not in a transition to the desserts with a few “cheese” courses. The first being this goat milk and beetroot combo. It’s nice to have the earthiness of the beetroot to mix with the goatmilk and currents to clense the palate.
Sheep Milk, Sorrel, Rapeseed
Sorrel is the quintessential ingredient for me when I think of new Nordic cuisine. Maybe it’s because that’s one of the first desserts we had in Denmark when we first came, or just the earthy/slightly sour flavor that sorrel has. Also sheep milk is about as traditional Danish dessert as you get. We loved this combo.
Leatherwood Honey, Chamomile, & Lavender
The Tasmanian honey in this dish can only be harvested during a 5 week window throughout the year. I guess that’s the only time of the year you can safely avoid the Tasmanian Devils.
But seriously have you seen a more beautiful dessert? The taste of the honey was something extraordinary.
Friss-Holm White Chocolate, Caviar
This molded taco reminded us of a molded pancake we had first time we went to Noma, except Noma didn’t put a huge mount of caviar on top. You know we had to end with the lump of caviar. It’s the only way the meal could have ended at Jordnær.
Petit Fours
The final bites were a series of small bites to officially end our night. My favorite was the English cream pie which tasted to me like a Boston Creme pie. Maybe the Bostonians stole it from the English. We’ll never know.
Drink:
Jordnær offers a few wine pairings and a non alcoholic pairing. Since Yvonne was preggo and I’m a loser we both opted for the non-alcoholic pairing. It was a series of interesting drinks from around the world, including an alcohol free “distillation” from Australia called Ovant, some teas, kombuchas, and my personal favorite, a non-alcoholic yuzu beer from Mikkeller right there in Copenhagen. They also had an herbal tea service at the end of the meal where they would cut off living things from pots and put it in your tea, very similiar to our infamous tea at Kitchen Table in London. You could tell they took a lot of time in curating the non-alcoholic pairing to balance the food we were eating.
Ovant non-alcoholic gin
Mikkeller non-alcoholic yuzu beer
ATMOSPHERE:
The vibe here feels like one of those movies where you are wondering around the desert for a few days and then you stumble upon, out of nowhere, an oasis with a bar and good looking people hanging out like its Paris in the 1920s. One minute you’re walking along a suburban road seemingly in a nothing town on the outskirts of Copenhagen and then you’re in a 2 Michelin starred restaurant. We asked Tina why they chose Gentofte as a location, and she basically said it was was cheap and the only thing they could afford.
There is something pretty romantic about seemingly discovering a thing in a place that said thing probably shouldn’t be - like a secret that only a few people know about. It almost makes the experience feel like a dream. Were we actually in a nice restaurant there? Did we have a million grams of caviar? Was Yvonne pregnant? All questions that left us reflecting post meal that made the meal that much more memorable.
Eric & Tina
View of the dinning room
Signed, sealed, and delivered
Tea service
Gentofte Hospitality:
Jordnær is about as mom and pop as a Michelin starred/Top 50 restaurant can get. You’ve got Tina, the wife, leading front of house and Chef Eric, the husband, leading the back of house. Both of them could not be nicer. They both spent lots of time at each table, talking to us, bringing out dishes, and answering our dumb American questions. Also they have like 5 or 6 kids that they somehow manage (asking for a friend how to manage one). They are truly a remarkable couple. What was the most important to me was their LOVE was emanating from Jordnær - the love of good food, the love of great company, and their love for each other. It truly made for an exceptional experience.
FRANKIE’S NOTES:
Since our last blog post we had to say goodbye to our puggle Ollie, and we said goodbye to Frankie a few years ago. So we are currently pug-less; but fear not! Jeff is currently on the way from Puglicious Cuddled Pugs in Greenville, SC and should arrive to our home very soon. The good news is Frankie still calls us on the avocado phone from beyond the rainbow bridge to give us his notes on his dining experiences.
Showing up to a fancy restaurant by public transportation/bike/foot is way cooler than showing up in a fancy limo/car; If you have a sleeve tattoo and don’t run a Michelin starred restaurant are you even living, bro?; to answer the question - NO, you cannot have too much caviar in one meal; Not to come out and say it, but Copenhagen has the best pug weather and mom and dad should move their permanently.
Ranking: 5 out of 5 with 3 Michigan Pugs
On this trip to Europe we went to Noma, Alchemist, and Mirazur, but to us Jordnær was clearly the best of them all. From the first bite to the last sip everything was executed to perfection. We were so happy to see them land on the the World’s 50 Best List and we hope you all have the opportunity to visit them on your next trip to Copenhagen.
