This is one of my favorite traditions. I do cherish keeping traditions alive. But have lately really thought about not letting traditions take over. Sometimes you simply need to skip one or two, because, yeah well life just happened to come in the way… Thus this is much more a reminder to myself: how much this year actually had to offer. Time might fly and the years go by fast but this little bubble where, I sit down and reminisce about the year that just passed is a great way of reminding myself how precious life actually is.
Let’s go. How did I spend 2023 - what were the best places I visited and what memories will I take with me into the new year. Basically a bragging list …
Favorite restaurant:
BOBE //
The danger of these lists is that I can only remember vividly what actually happened for the past few months. But do have a hard time thinking back further and since I do not post about my life on instagram as often anymore I really miss the diary effect where I could go back and have a look and insta would help me remember where I was and what I enjoyed. But hey that’s another discussions.
To be fair, the early Sunday evening I spent on BOBE with my better half was for sure an evening worth remembering. Bo Beck has opened a new place and I have always wanted to visit one of his restaurants. He is a true conceptual wizard. From the moment we were welcomed by his wonderful staff, which was young, vibrant, down to earth paired with a warm and intimate atmosphere, really did set a certain mood. We sat close to the fireplace and had a peek into the kitchen and enjoyed wonderful dishes where the green selection - with a dish with Brussels sprout leaves, delicately plucked and place in a line with dates and blue cheese, really swept me of my feet. The Broccoli leaves with black kale and wild garlic capers also made me very, very happy. The grilled trout with habanero and yoghurt was spicy and so perfectly grilled and reminded me of Japan. Our salted butter caramel with frozen horseradish dessert was so much fun. A great example of how a dish can surprise you taste pallet without forcing anything. The dessert with baked rice with yuzu and almond ice cream was such a nice nod to Christmas and again made me feel ashamed about the rice we normally eat. Because rice and rice are too completely different things. If you go or more, when you go. Please start your evening with a drink. I do not do this very often because I normally get disappointed. Well not here. My man surprised me with this gem of a meal and it was the absolute best Christmas surprised I could wish for ! We talked about how much has happened this year and that we are in a good place right now and this is reason enough for celebration. Again a reminder for me that I am very lucky to have such a wonderful person to share my life with.
CLEO //
Also a pretty resent meal. With my two Line Friends - we spent such a great night here celebrating our annular Christmas dinner. With great music, very attentive staff, wonderful flavors with textures and oriental flavours in a super hip atmosphere. Pricewise very reasonable maybe because Madklubben is one of the investors? And I am eager to test them again because both Polly and Frank has disappointed me on my next visits but for now this is on my go to list. I especially think the fennel salad and the grilled trout was sublime and the dessert with Marsalla Sabayonne and passion fruit caramel - fudge something was to die for !
JATAK //
What a meal - Asian fusion - so precise and yet so extremely playful. With GREAT service. Again, very much feel like coming back. The food was sublime and made me very proud that I had nailed my husbands birthday present. Perfect evening - where we started off with a glass of wine on a roof terrace at Ottilia Hotel in Carlsbergbyen, sat in the sun at Liquo, and then completed the evening with such a great meal really filled my foodie heart with joy. Textures and taste explosions, and fun and interesting flavours. It was a great surprise that my husbands best friends had agreed to meet us for beers afterwards - perfect birthday for the perfect birthday boy!
Giorgio Trattoria //
A flower explosion. Such a conceptual gem - I love it when going out is fun and these people for sure intended to make an instagramable setting but it was such a beautifully curated one and especially since this used to be a very dark and pretty rustic pizzeria I loved the transformation. The food was nice, nothing spectacular but the food level in Munich is really high and the entire package was for sure one I will remember and you will find me back simply because the atmosphere was great ! Just look, need to check their places in Berlin and Hamburg out as well.
Favorite place for a coffee?
ORSA //
The level of attention to detail here is high! They have the absolute best sound system in town and a very good taste in music. They happen to serve a perfect cappuccino as well. I very much enjoy their yoghurt and granola and it’s a great place to people watch. I have been here several times and they do not disappoint. Their banana bread is also very very nice.
SNEEZING FRUITS //
A little secret place hidden away which we explored on the perfect last day of our summer holiday. While we were walking the streets of Copenhagen we got caught in the rain on a playground but decided to ignore the Scandinavian weather and walk through it. The sun appeared and so did Copenhagens smallest coffee shop. Run by Alice and with baked goods from København Bageri which is a collaboration between Benji and Alice. It’s hidden away in a courtyard, and I felt like the luckiest person in the universe sitting there in the sun with my family enjoying a wonderful iced latte and a cardamom bun. Days like this make me love this city even more.
Best Bakery:
JULIUS BRANDTNER //
There might be tons of great bakeries in Copenhagen and many of them I have mentioned already. But Munich also has its perks. My expectations to this one were high and the cinnamon bun was so good, I went straight back in for another one and the fact they even serve a decent cup of coffee made me even happier. Munich is my little secret go to. Highly underestimated but they have a lot going on for them and I do love to explore new places when I go. This one lived up to its hype and I will for sure go back. I love following them on instagram - where they apologize for lines and sold out cinnamon buns and try to communicate to their customers what it takes to bake such great baked goods. And I was truly amazed on how versatile the customer crowd was.
Favourite Art Exhibition:
ARKEN // Refik Anatolia
This is one of the most amazing art pieces I have ever seen. Such a beautiful piece of art.
LOUISIANA // KJARTAN LAURITSEN
So much fun, so much humour - a really interesting contemporary approach to art. I find Islandic and Norwegian humour quite similar and this exhibition really underlined that thesis.
MUNCH // MUNCH + ADMIR BATLAK + ALICE NEEL
This museum surprised me. I had high expectations but I war also curious and I must admit - I really, really like it. Both inside and outside. Architecture wise it is such a brutal shape but when you come closer these metal plates with the wavy shape with holes are such a nice “soft” touch. When an art museum has been planned with the art in mind, it makes such a difference. The view of the fjord is beautiful and I was so pleasantly surprised by both Admir Batlak and Alice Neel and was so happy that the legacy of Munch is used to showcase wonderful and interesting art to a wider audience.
Best surprise:
SØPAVILLIONEN // or SØPØLSEN as I learned later on.
A group of friends planned my bachelorette party - and I was so surprised. Because I really had not imagined that they were planning this. When they surprised me I was so ashamed that I had not expected it - so it took me a little while to figure out what was going on. Well they know me very well - it was such a perfect day.
Breakfast in the sun at La Banchina, a lovely trip with nice music and a quiz on a Duffy boat around the Copenhagen Harbour, tapas and a swim at Holmen, we ended the evening with pizzas from Ottos in a Creative Studio at papirøen and for the few of us who could not go home we ended up at Søpavillionen. A place I had such a FOMO of not having danced in before. But after we came in I was like - the music, the crowd and the vibe it has not changed at all compared to what feels like a lifetime ago when I used to go out more frequently !
How did you spend your summer holiday?
We went for a two week summer house trip to Kegnæs. We are extremely lucky we can borrow our families house. Since the house my parents had in Spain was sold last year we decided to spend this summer in Denmark. With very few expectations, except a big wish to “wind things down” leave our phones in a kitchen drawer, not binge watch series but read, walk, go for a morning swim every morning and take things slow. It worked wonders for us and after feeling pretty exhausted we had a wonderful couple of weeks with few distractions. Going back to places you know well, makes so much sense, we never feel that we have to explore much when we go down there. We can just spend the days at the beach and eat all of our meals on the terrace and since the beach is just a a short walk away we spend most days there, reading, swimming, building sand castles and talking to German tourists. We even decided to take the train to Hamburg and see old friends we hadn’t seen in ages. We almost did not get to go, since they canceled our train. But as faith sometimes works an old friend was driving by and could take us with him. Entering Hamburg in the bright sunshade seeing the hustle and bustle made my heart melt. I do miss Hamburg a lot - or especially the wonderful people we care so much about that live there.
How did you spend your birthday?
I worked from home that day and was woken up with wonderful breakfast my man and our little one had prepared. And a lovely bouquet of pink Hortencia flowers. I love those so much and in the afternoon after I finished of work we picked our little one up together and went for pizza and soft ice at Flere Fugle. I enjoyed a Glas of wine, read an article in a newspaper and had tasty pizza with my family. Flere Fugle is a wonderful place with a great atmosphere which we really like to visit. Perfect birthday on a Tuesday.
Did you do something for yourself?
I booked a yoga workshop - talking about traditions. We have a family tradition - where we go to Kildegaarden Badehotel during the summer. We didn’t make it this year. But instead I booked a Sunday, yoga retreat. What a Sunday well spent. I even managed a dip in the ocean - it was by no means a swim much more a quick dip. No towel or swimsuit packed - a little improvising was needed but it was great. A cold dip and a good yoga stretched, paired with sweet people, and great food in a location that simply does something good for my head was very very nice ! The train ride takes about 1,5 from Copenhagen and just sitting there looking out of the window was time well invested.
HIGHLIGHT OF 2023?
Our Greek wedding ! Like highlight of the decade, probably even highlight of my life. The images speak for themselves. This was an event of a lifetime and wow what a wonderful couple of days.
What did 2023 teach me?
Slow down, focus on yourself before dealing with other peoples needs and stop making decisions based what you think you should. It took a few hours in therapy to figure this one out. But taking my own mental health serious and asking for help was an eye opener. My man and I talk a lot and we discuss and evaluate on our issues and conflicts. But opening up to a professional and sharing my thoughts has helped me grow on a personal level. It’s a journey but having a little professional guidance has been mind blowing and even though it’s hard work and the journey will probably last forever I am in a much better place now than a year ago.
