Trip Report: Copenhagen and Sweden 2018

Several years ago, Yuko and I watched the final episode of the first season of the Netflix documentary Chef’s Table. We became transfixed by the personality of Chef Magnus Nilsson and the idea of his creation, Fäviken. Located halfway up Sweden, in the woods, far from cities, visiting the restaurant has become a pilgrimage that only true food lovers are interested in taking. By the end of episode, we half-joked that we should go.

Eventually, Yuko got serious about it. She planned for the day the restaurant would release reservations for the summer season. The best way to experience the restaurant is to stay the night at the adjoining inn, avoiding the need for taxi service to another hotel, permitting additional activities before and after dinner, and getting an included seat at the reportedly fabulous breakfast the next morning. She booked our spots and we planned a trip around what we expected to be among the best dinners of our lives.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The secondary goal was to visit some friends who live in Copenhagen, Denmark and experience what that city had to offer. As an avid cyclist, I’ve wanted to check out this city which is so famous for its successful transportation policies.

SP34: We got off of our red-eye and needed a long nap, so we went straight to our hotel. One thing I’ve learned about most design-oriented hotels is that they look pretty but are often not terribly functional. Everything was pretty, but the rooms were cramped and not very comfortable. Some of the design choices just made the room not that useful. The included breakfast was good, though. The gym was so depressing we didn’t use it. SP34 at least delivered on its promise in our reservation of having actual beds to sleep in. While the location was excellent, I’d probably try to stay elsewhere next time we’re in town.

Manfreds: Our friends made reservations here, which is a casual restaurant by the same people behind Michelin star award-winning Relæ, who are also former NOMA alums. This organic, biodynamic, plant-focused menu was great. This casual and rustic spot was a good choice for a meeting between some locals and some out-of-towners. Get the biodynamic wine pairing: you likely wouldn’t make the same choices, which were enlightening.

Mikkeller & Friends: One thing I appreciate about Mikkeller is their commitment to bringing good quality, interesting beer in a nice environment around the world. One downside to that commitment is that each of their locations feels more or less the same. This was no different: great beer, unremarkable venue. Though, there are unmanaged picnic tables across the street which was a nice place to enjoy a good brew in the last hours of a long Scandinavian summer day.

Architecture Tour in Ørestad: One of our friends is a practicing architect and he offered to bring us to this neighborhood which is under active development with some very interesting buildings in various states of construction. Just driving around is interesting, but getting out and exploring particular buildings is recommended. We walked the entire loop around 8 House, so named because of its integral, inclined, exterior figure-eight walkway connecting the building’s residential units. We snuck into the the Tietgen Residence Hall and daydreamed what it would be like to live there as a student. Finally, we saw the cool funicular-like elevator in the VM MOUNTAIN. Our friend isn’t available for private tours, but I recommend finding a publicly-available guided tour of this neighborhood.

Ismageriet: A great way to beat the heat on a sunny day in Copenhagen (yes, that was actually the weather while we were there!) is delicious ice cream. The outpost in Ørestad had dozens of flavors on offer and felt like stepping into a bygone classic era.

La Banchina: Another way Copenhageners cool down is a swim in a canal. Doing it with a good restaurant nearby is doing it in style. We had a refreshing drink here at a picnic table shielded from the sun.

Sögreni: This is a pretty famous bike manufacturer that happened to be next door to our hotel. I chatted with the staff member tending to the front-of-house for a while. It’s worth a visit if you’re into bikes and worth a purchase if you’re staying in Copenhagen.

Taphouse: We had some time to kill before a dinner one night, so we stopped into this place that has 61 taps of local and international beer. It was fine; we sat outside which was nice.

The Coffee Collective: Delicious coffee being served artfully and with intent and passion. We visited their outpost in Torvehallerne, which has a bunch of really delicious-looking food stalls under one roof. We sat outside on a picnic table and had some delightful pour-overs. I’d come back here and to Torvehallerne in a heartbeat.

Tivoli Gardens: We’re not really amusement park people, but this one is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world and is quite pretty and lively inside. It was worth the price of admission to walk around for a while.

Hey Captain: Our friend recommended this canal boat tour operator to us because it bucks the mold of the other operations. Hey Captain has smaller boats and offers complimentary wine and beer onboard. Our guide was great and the tour was very pleasant. Recommended.

Vaekst: This is the restaurant attached to SP34, but has gained high marks for its vegetable-oriented menu. The food and service was good and the convenience factor high, but I regret not trying to snag a table at a more interesting restaurant in a city full of Michelin star award winners.

Running around Christiania: This was a really nice run mostly on a well-maintained gravel road through Christiania. Along the way were some old buildings and a different way of life.

All in all, we loved our short stay in Copenhagen. The people were nice, the good and beer were great, and the cycling culture is a breath of fresh air compared to New York. Coupled with the sane, human-oriented policies Danes have decided to support — universal healthcare, good childcare and schooling among them — we could even see ourselves living here.

Åre, Sweden

Getting from Copenhagen to Fäviken turned out to be a little awkward due to the scheduling of flights to nearby airports. We decided to fly from CPH to Trondheim, Norway and drive 133 kilometers across the border to the ski-town of Åre, Sweden, where we’d stay for a couple of nights until checking into the inn before dinner.

Holiday Club Åre: I booked this hotel for a couple of reasons: 1) From the pictures, the gym had a ton of free weights and monkey bars, which I’ve never seen at a hotel before. 2) The pool complex had a multi-story water slide, a lazy river, and multiple whirlpools! 3) The breakfast menu looked good. 4) They had just completed construction of a new wing of rooms (which required a small premium over the older rooms). We visited during the time between ski season and the summer season, so the hotel was almost completely empty, despite being massive and clearly built for peak ski season. It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. I was the only one using the waterslide while visiting the pool, as a group of kids and a group of senior citizens looked on.

Wersens: After getting settled, we left the hotel to explore town and get some dinner. Our first choice, Parkvillan (see below) wasn’t open for the new season, but Wersens was open and seemed to be hosting the entire town for dinner. The food was decent and the local beer selection not terrible.

Hike to Åreskutan: We woke up to beautiful weather for our planned hike. We had just missed the end of the ski season and the downhill mountain biking season had just started. The largest ski lift was taking a break for a few weeks between winter and summer, but a smaller lift was operating for cyclists; it was even free the day we wanted to use it, the first day of the mountain biking season.

The hike was lovely, though my hiking companion was not happy about the verticality. [ed: What do you expect when walking up a mountain?] There were sizable snow patches that needed traversing; though they remained non-technical, we each slipped and slid on our butts down one such field. We ended up only hiking up to the end of the larger, closed ski lift and cancelling our summit plans due to the falling temperatures and remaining snow on the ground. Still, the sights were lovely. Recommended.

Krus: But, it was most fortunate to have turned around when we did: we were able to get back into town just in time for a late lunch at Magnus' pop-up casual restaurant. Everything we had was delicious, and Yuko claims their roast chicken is the best she ever had, which, as a chicken lover, is one of the highest praises she could award. We happened to strike up a conversation with the other couple eating so late, who turned out to be from Iowa and dining with us the next night at Fäviken! My only regret is not coming back for pastries the next morning (as breakfast was included at the Holiday Club). Highly recommended.

Parkvillan: We went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. Yuko started watching Blades of Glory, but I wanted to explore a bit more and visit this brewpub in town that gets high marks for both their beer and their food. I’m glad I did: their offerings lived up to the reviews and then some. I sat at the bar and struck up a conversation with the owner (after he offered to translate the menu to English for me) plus a couple of other locals, one of whom invited me back to hang out with his group of friends. It seemed like the whole town eventually came through that night. While the burger is the most well reviewed, the cod special they had that night was artfully prepared and presented. The beer was even better. Highly recommended; I can’t wait to get back.

Lilla Saluhallen Prästgatan: We checked out of the Holiday Club and had a couple of hours to kill before checking into the inn at Fäviken. It turns out there isn’t a whole lot going on in the villages in the area; no town centers, no particularly interesting attractions. We decided to drive to the nearest city, Östersund, and walk around. We surveyed all of the restaurants along our walking route and decided this one looked the most interesting. We weren’t disappointed. While the shop is mainly a butcher and charcuterie shop, they had one meat and one seafood lunch dish on offer; we got one of each and both were delicious. Sitting at the window stools and watching all of Östersund go by was enjoyable.

Fäviken: This was one of the most special, enjoyable experiences of my life. From the time we met our host at the inn, Simon, to the time we checked out the next morning from Hatim, we were taken care of in the most warm ways imaginable. Even before having dinner, we enjoyed the reindeer jerky and local beer, the guided garden tour with a surprise snack, and I enjoyed the dry sauna.

Dinner was nothing more than phenomenal. The food was beyond comparison. Every element of the service was obviously intentional and well thought-out. The rituals involved were fascinating; for example I hope to never forget the sound the two firm claps from a staff member about to announce the next course!

After-dinner activities included sampling homemade liqueurs, an 1875 madeira, local whiskeys, and the Swedish version of chewing tobacco. The night ended past 1am around a fire in a teepee alongside several of the other guests that night.

That didn’t stop me from getting up early to enjoy the estate’s grounds with a decent run before breakfast, albeit with a decent hangover.

The multi-course breakfast the next morning was delightful as well. I still pine for the table butter.

I thought this was a bucket list, once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope to be wrong because I really hope to get back here again.

I can’t write better than this Guardian review, and I encourage you to watch the various Chef’s Table and Mind of a Chef episodes that detail the restaurant.

From Fäviken to Trondheim to Copenhagen

After leaving Fäviken, we had a day to kill before getting on a flight back to Copenhagen, and then an early departure for New York the next day. We spent the day driving and visiting some touristy destinations along the way.

Whereas we took the direct route from the Trondheim Airport on E14 on the way in, we took the slightly longer, more northerly scenic route along R72/322 on the advice of the owner of Parkvillan, which I would also highly recommend. The road was fun and undulating, with a variety of interesting topographic features.

Undersåkers Charkuteriefabrik: We first stopped at Magnus' nearby meat shop to pick up some of the hand soap used in the Fäviken bathrooms. I’m sad we waited so long; the shop smelled of delicious charcuterie and I really wanted one of everything.

Tännforsens Waterfall: This is the largest waterfall in Sweden and is very impressive. After paying a small fee for parking, the waterfall is only a couple of minutes walk down a well-maintained path. Highly recommended if in the area.

Pick-Up Cafe: After driving through some really interesting territory for a couple of hours, and with my copilot fast asleep, I got bored and hungry, so I stopped us at this Americana-themed restaurant — complete with an attached museum — in the middle of a really neat looking valley. The food was edible and a rest stop was well received.

Steinvikholm Castle: The Trondheim Airport is actually quite a bit of distance away from the city of Trondheim itself. We got near the Trondheim Airport with a bucket of time to spare, and instead of driving past the airport to the city, we visited this nearby landmark. The castle was interesting; though the interior was closed by the hour when we arrived, we still walked the perimeter, and tried to imagine what it was like to live there in the 1530s. The roads around the castle were fun to explore, too, with winding roads nestled in between small farms.

Clarion Hotel at Copenhagen Airport: We had a late flight into Copenhagen and an early flight back to New York, so we just stayed at the airport hotel. This was sort of a waste, as it would have been nice to have another night in Copenhagen proper, but couldn’t be helped due to the schedule of flights from Trondheim. The hotel is a standard business hotel but was nice enough; the brunch the next morning was pretty good.

Places that we weren’t able to visit

While I like to do a lot of research before a trip around our interests, I kind of failed to do it in advance of this trip for some reason. Next time, I’d like to hit up some of these places.

…in Copenhagen

Various food:

  • Noma: The epicenter of the revolution of “New Nordic” cuisine. Hard to get tables and expensive, it would have been mind blowing to visit both Noma and Fäviken on the same trip.
  • Istid: Freeze-dried ice cream! I like weird ice cream!
  • GRØD: Oatmeal! I love oatmeal!
  • Punk Royale: Actually a Swedish restaurant, they have an atypical ethos. Recommended by a fellow Fäviken diner.
  • Any other Michelin star award winners.

Various coffee places:

Various other Mikkeller outposts:

Other beer places:

Various well-reviewed cocktail bars:

…in Åre

Svartklubb: Svartklubb is the nighttime version of Krus, a pop-up by Magnus Nilsson serving cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the same physical space. It was only open while we were in town the night we were at Fäviken, so we didn’t have an opportunity to visit.

Ottsjö Brygghus Café & Pub: A small, mostly-organic, mostly-local brewpub in the mountains in remote Jämtland? Whose husband/wife owners and operators mention their dogs on their webpage? That sounds like my kind of place! Sadly, they too weren’t open while we were in the area. Make reservations.

Copperhill Mountain Lodge: This was my first choice of accommodation in the area, but this design-oriented hotel is closed for the month of May in between seasons. I would have liked to stay here or visit their restaurant and their spa. That said, this place is quite far away from the town of Åre, where Krus/Svartklubb, Parkvillan, and Åreskutan are, so it might not be the right choice.

Trip Report: Richmond, Virgina

Yuko and I travelled to Richmond, Virginia, aka RVA, to meet up with some friends. Richmond is in the middle of a coffee, beer, donut, and ice cream explosion, so we wanted to get a taste of everything. The city has reportedly changed dramatically in the last few years, being a recipient of a strong dose of hipsterism. Richmond was a perfect target of this cultural shift, since the city has a vibrant college scene and underutilized industrial spaces.

Besides my friend moving there from the Charlottesville area (another gorgeous city in Virginia, albeit an order of magnitude smaller), Richmond got on my radar for two other, specific reasons:

  1. The city hosted the Union Cycliste Internationale Road Championships in 2015, which were used for qualification for the Summer Olympics in 2016. The city was effectively shuttered in support of the races. While I don’t love professional cycling, I regret not going down for this experience.
  2. Stone Brewing opened their second brewhouse in the city. Stone has gotten huge in craft brewing partially because of what they’ve done in supporting the craft brewing community, and that’s cool.

As is typical of me and my wife, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs (and, likely, our arteries) and we both agreed that we won’t be able to do a trip like this anytime soon, if ever again. We expect and hope that our next trip will consist of running up mountains and sampling the finest local salad shops.

Saturday

Mrs Yoder’s Kitchen Donuts at the South of the James Farmers Market: Since these donuts are only sold at this one place on Sundays and only until they run out or noon, which ever comes first, we got out of our hotel room and headed straight to pre-breakfast. These donuts are not to be missed: each donut is served hot out of the hopper, with a perfect texture, and just the right amount of sugar coating. The line moves quickly. The rest of the farmers market looked great, but we didn’t have a chance to sample anything else before it started to close down.

Lunch or Supper: “Some of the best examples of New Southern Cuisine in the city,” says my friend. We went for brunch and had a tasty brew outside while waiting for our table. The “Mexican Sunrise Breakfast Bowl” was basically a decomposed breakfast burrito and was delightful.

Carytown: This is a neat neighborhood with lots of unique shops and restaurants. We visited:

  • One-Eyed Jacques: A card/puzzle/game shop with a very nice selection.

  • Carrytown Bicycle Co.: This shop would be in the top five for my “bike shops I’d love to live near” list. Their brand selection is well curated, as are their accessories.

  • Mongrels: The kind of shop with a million kitschy items; they get respect from me for being very clearly politically motivated.

  • World of Mirth: Let your inner-child-with-credit-card loose in this toy store, which is part retro and part contemporary. I never knew my wife would buy and enjoy a Playdoh-like molding clay.

Stone Brewing: Definitely the most well-funded tap room of the ones we went to, Stone has a large selection on tap, about half of which is their usual stuff and the rest is more interesting. They also have some great RVA-specific merch.

Triple Crossing Brewing (their Fulton location): Good beer? Check. Pizza? Check. Locally-made ice cream sandwiches? Arcade games? Outdoor patio with games? Check, check, and check. I wish I had a dog to bring here, to blend in.

Walk across the pedestrian bridge at Browns Island: We picked up my friends' dogs and took them for a walk across the James River on this pedestrian-only bridge. The views of the river and its wildlife were nice. I’d definitely recommend going, but maybe not in the late-day sun and heat in July.

Brenner Pass: I got credit from my Richmond-residing friend for finding out about this then two week-old restaurant, which I only found out about by stalking The Veil Brewing (I like to do travel research!), who did a collaboration brew for the restaurant. (In my experience, a restaurant having a relationship with a good brewery is extra points for both the restaurant and the brewery). Dinner was pretty good, but there were clearly still some things to iron out. The alpine-inspired (think: Swiss mountains, fondue) cocktail and food menus were certainly very interesting, but it was hard to understand the beer list because they replaced half of it without reprinting the menu. I’d definitely try it again when it matures.

Sunday

Millie’s: We needed a brunch place close to the speech (see below), and this fit the bill. “Messes”, a melange of locally-sourced ingredients, are apparently a Richmond thing. The current events-inspired songs in the per-table (non-functional) jukeboxes should be reviewed. Recommended, but not life-changing.

Proper Pie Co.: We had some time to kill and what better way than doing so with delicious pie. The strawberry rhubarb left me wanting another couple of pieces and additional return trips.

Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech at the St. John’s Church: In the summer on Sundays, this church stages a reenactment of a 1775 meeting of Virginia representatives, where Patrick Henry gave his famous “Liberty or Death” speech. I thought there would be a guy dressed in period costume who merely recited the speech, but instead the reenactment made the audience feel like they were representatives hearing the speech for the first time. I loved this, since I love Revolutionary War history, but I’m not sure my companions were as enthralled. (The opening act of a patriotic song sing-a-long à la pipe organ, while well-intended, could be eliminated without loss).

The Veil Brewing: Technical, well-executed beer with lots of double hopped options? I’ll take it! The taproom is well appointed with a clean, industrial look.

Ardent Craft Ales: Good beer. Notable for being one of the few of the breweries to provide flights as an option. Feels a lot more homey than some of the other industrial spaces.

Gelati Celesti Ice Cream: OMG great ice cream. Their flavor selection is large and interesting and has great execution. I wanted to have all of them, but I ended up with the “Blanchard’s Dark as Dark”, which contains grinds from locally-roasted espresso beans, and the “Just Ask”, which has peanut butter and Oreo bits. You should see the size of the waffle cones!. I regret not going back to get an ice cream sandwich and an ice cream pie. Damn, now I’m craving an ice cream sandwich as I’m typing this.

Hardywood Brewing: Innovative brews with local ingredients, with lots of experiments. I had the Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler tripel which really tastes like a peach pie, but better because it’s beer. I also picked up the Virginia Blackberry white ale, since Virginia is well known for my favorite berry.

Graffiato: After a well-earned nap back at the hotel, Yuko and I went across the street to this Italian-inspired restaurant by a former Top Chef contestant. As my friend said, one should not travel from New York to Richmond to have pizza, but we were pleasantly surprised. We also enjoyed the appetizers and sides, as well as the well-managed beer list. (I didn’t try their 100% rum-free pineapple juice, though).

Monday

The Lab by Alchemy: We stopped by for an espresso with what seemed to be the employees of a bike messenger company, (Or were they just hipsters?). Good espresso, but otherwise unremarkable.

The Black Sheep: This place is known for their ginormous sandwiches, each named after an American battleship. A full sandwich is literally a whole baguette stuffed with a variety of ingredients, but they graciously offer the ability to order a half, which itself can be shared with two or three people. Now, if you know me, you know that I love sandwiches. I see what they are doing with the size thing, but these were just hard to eat; they devolve into having a salad with a fork and a huge piece of baguette on the side. Plus, the service was slow and black flies were aplenty.

Sugar Shack Donuts: Innovative flavors, sometimes with non-donut stuff on the top (a la Voodoo). Delicious. No place to sit except some lawn chairs outside in the sun; this place primarily fills boxes for people who drive here.

Tredegar Iron Works: We made a mistake and only went to the museum portion of this former cannon manufacturer. The notable thing about the museum is that they take great effort to portray the war from three different aspects: from the Union side, from the Confederate side, and from the slave side.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: We had the rest of the afternoon to kill before our friends got off from work, so we went to the VMFA and the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit. Visiting the permanent collection of this surprisingly huge museum is free (donations encouraged, of course!), but the special exhibit costs money. I’m not a huge fashion person (which is obvious for people who know me; I wear a uniform), so that aspect of the exhibit and YSL’s historical importance was lost on me, but the exhibit itself was well done. As for the permanent collection: I felt like we were at the Met and were similarly overwhelmed, which was an odd feeling to have at a museum in Richmond, Virginia, of all places.

Three Notch’d Brewing: We walked to this Charlottesville-based brewery, which also nicely provided the option of a flight. Their darker stuff and IPAs were great. Since we’re past the point of no return in our relationship, I summoned my hard-earned, college-honed foosball skills and schooled my wife on their table in the back.

Mean Bird: A popular food truck recently opened a brick-and-mortar location, so we had to visit it. My friend thinks we visited on an off day, as the fried chicken didn’t live up to his previous experiences. Still, I’d have the vegan “fried chicken” any day of the week.

Strangeways Brewing: We took our two giant bags of chicken, “chicken”, and sides to this brewery, which was totally amenable to this (we called ahead). The beer was great and they have lots of board games idly standing by.

GWARbar: One of my life regrets will be having never gone to a performance of Richmond-based GWAR while their original frontman was still alive. Who doesn’t love fake blood being sprayed on you by immaculately costumed barbaric interplanetary warriors while they shred on their guitars? (They also give love advice, sing Christmas carols, and make.. um… fun of Justin Bieber). Plus, they have an annual barbeque/music festival! (But not this year because they are writing a new record!) And they have an eponymous bar where we had GWAR Blood (appropriately, a red ale brewed by Strangeways). But, otherwise, it’s just a bar with some interesting decor; as somewhat of a GWAR fan, I’m glad I went.

Quirk Hotel’s Q Rooftop Bar: Staying at the hotel gave us priority access to the rooftop as a perk, which meant we could cut the line, which can grow amazingly long on weekend nights. I liked this rooftop bar because they maintained a strict capacity cap, which resulted in it not feeling crowded and us not needing to shout at each other. Good mixed drinks, mediocre but acceptable beer selection. It was nice enough that we enjoyed each other’s company until after last call on our last night in town, a nice end to our trip.

Things We Didn’t Do

These are some places that were recommended by my friend, but that we didn’t get to.

History

Ice Cream

  • King of Pops: We had every opportunity to try these popsicles, as there are many carts around popular areas.
  • Charm School: I most regretted missing this; we tried to on Monday, when they are closed.

Drinks

Food