SET BEHIND a quaint courtyard in the centre of Copenhagen, Restaurant Brace achieves an intimacy sometimes lost in restaurants of a similar stature. It’s a typical Nordic winter evening when we approach the restaurant wrapped up to our eyes in coats and scarfs. Once our various layers are hung up in the wardrobe we’re guided briefly round the restaurant, being introduced to the kitchen en route to our seats.
The space is beautiful, with a sea of dried flowers – a nod to their commitment to sustainability – hanging from the ceiling. Most tables are arranged so that every diner has a view of the slightly raised kitchen, wherein well-choreographed movements of Head Chef Nicola Fanetti and his team are put on full display.
The Team at Restaurant Brace
The Italian roots of Fanetti and most of his team, combined with the commitment to seasonality, foraging, and hyper-local Nordic ingredients makes for a beautiful celebration of two global forces in gastronomy. An evening at Brace ends up being nothing short of a masterclass in Italian-Nordic cuisine. Scandinavian seafood paired with Sicilian wine – what’s not to love?
Our entry into this new, wonderful, and occasionally weird world of Nordic-Italian cooking came in the form of four ‘snacks’ – each to be approached with fingers, spoons, or chef’s tweezers, and enjoyed in a single bite. Beginning with glistening white orbs of stracciatella embellished with capers and semi-dried tomato. This ode to Italian produce was then followed by cured pike perch curled over a slice of kohlrabi.
A feathery light fried raviolo followed, encasing horseradish emulsion and crowned with gorgeous Norwegian shrimp; and lastly, the most satisfyingly crisp, umami, sweet and salty, tempura brussels sprouts. You know you’re in good hands when this much-maligned winter vegetable begins competing with fresh seafood and Italian cheese.
After the snacks, the tweezers are taken away, hot towels for our hands are provided, and the ‘Brace experience’ sets fully into motion. We begin with some gorgeous Danish lobster confit sat in a smoky dashi foam and adorned with pickled beetroot, followed by a seasonal composition of grilled sunchoke, ribbons of celeriac, and a gorgeous onion puree.
The non-alcoholic drinks pairing for these two dishes were particularly good: an almost neon orange glass of sea buckthorn kombucha and the most intensely aromatic kiwi and turmeric juice which was equal parts bitter and sweet.
What happens when the Danish obsession with pastries meets an old Italian classic? The answer, we discovered, is the most glorious focaccia we had ever eaten. Made with a 48-hour sourdough, the focaccia is shaped like a giant cardamom bun, with a crispy maple glazed crust and accompanied by a generous helping of blackcurrant butter. Served piping hot, the focaccia released shoots of steam into the air as we liberally tore it apart and lathered each piece with the tart pink butter.
After the focaccia came the first pasta course, and for me, the most special dish of the evening. A weird and wonderful combination unlike anything I’ve had before, we were treated to pasta with ginger, herring roe, and pine nut cream. Large pieces of fusillioni swam in a velvety pine nut cream as each spoonful discovered small pockets of ginger pesto, the saltiness of the roe, and crushed nigella seeds.
The second pasta course was cappelletti filled with seasonal and sweet delica pumpkin, sat in a silky whey sauce and topped with shavings of winter truffle. Both pasta dishes were paired expertly with two white wines: a Timorasso full of minerality and Riccardo Danielli’s Quando Torni.
After the pasta the main course consisted of a tender breast of guinea fowl, topped with crispy chestnuts, and served alongside an intensely rich liver pate and bloodred beetroot sauce. For the sober diners, this was paired beautifully with a sumac kombucha.
Once our palates were cleansed after too many courses to count on one hand, the final dish was a celebration of Danish ingredients through the medium of an Italian classic –panna cotta. Stunningly presented, a ring of parsnip panna cotta surrounded a lingonberry jelly, a crumb made from parsnip stalks, and a quenelle of parsley sorbet.
This dish alone was a true testament to Brace’s Nordic-Italian approach to food and showcased why they have been adorned with a green Michelin star. Local Danish ingredients showcased in inventive ways, whilst also celebrating the fundamentals of Italian cooking.
There is a quiet confidence of Restaurant Brace that you can’t help but notice. Although this confidence may be reflected in the price, it’s not often you get dine in a restaurant which serves food at the highest level from two quite distinct culinary powerhouses. Fanetti and his team know what they’re doing, so if you want to discover the niche of Italian-Nordic cuisine then there’s only one place for it.
by Tristan Hedges
Teglgårdstræde 8A, 1452 København K, Copenhagen, Denmark