Koan

Koan is truly a product of the COVID-19 era. The Danish-Korean pop-up opened after the first round of city-wide lockdowns, only to close again suddenly during the second. Thankfully, it’s found a new home at the former site of Relæ in Nørrebro, a restaurant where head chef Kristian Baumann cut his teeth. The new site has an open kitchen, where you can watch the team delicately plate the tasting menu. While the presentation is refined, the food is ultimately deeply personal, like reading old love letters between South Korea and Denmark, as the head chef seeks to learn more about his home country from his adoptive one while blending cuisines. The tell-tale signs of New Nordic are present, but amongst them are surprising twists like a donut course in place of the typical sourdough bread; scallops from Norway with rice wine and honey truffles; and fjord shrimp dumplings with spicy red Korean peppers.