Chaîne des Rôtisseurs

2019 11 - Christmas dinner at Restaurationen

Chaîne Denmark had its Christmas dinner at Restaurationen (“The Restaurant”) on Saturday the 23rd of November. Restaurationen was founded and is still driven by, the married couple Lisbeth and Bo Jacobsen in 1991. At that time, it was the most pioneering restaurant of the decade in the gourmet genre – and was the first place in Denmark to introduce the concept of a “wine menu”. It has held a Michelin star in several years in the period 1995-2004.

Bo was trained by another famous Danish chef, Roy Hurtigkarl at the restaurant Gastronomique back in the 80’s. He is a well-known TV-chef and in 2008 he received the “Champaign award” (A prize presented by the champagne houses Deutz, de Venoge, Pommery and Pol Roger) as the greatest chef of the year. He was also elected Chef of Chefs in 2009 (where the Danish chefs elect the best chef of the year). Lisbeth is a pastry chef, and she was this year elected Chef of Chefs as the first female chef. She won the prize due to her high level of craftmanship and her eternal pursuit of the best.

Lisbeth and Bo have made several cookbooks together, and Bo is known for his uncompromising attitude towards food, and as he dislikes bad craftsmanship, we knew that we were in for an exceptional experience:

Amusés Bouches
Prosecco Brut Traditional, Az. Agr. Trevisol, Veneto

Crepes fourrées with rosemary, langoustine, mushrooms and salsify roots glazed with hollandaise
2017 Chablis 1. cru Vosgros, Etienne Boileau, Burgundy

Fried wild duck, dolmades with braised thigh and savoy cabbage, wine-pepper cream sauce and braised Jerusalem artichokes with bacon, pearl onions and dumplings
2015 Cote de Nuits-Villages, Vielles Vignes, Dominique Laurent, Burgundy

Bavoise d'orange, citrus salad, white chocolate and Florentines
2012 Sauternes, Ch. Gravas, Bordeuax

Homemade petits fours, chocolates and cookies
Coffee / tea

Before the dessert, Bailli Délégué Jørgen Krenk took the floor, and said that although it is not a tradition at our Chaîne events to make a speech, for this time only, he gave the floor to Chancelier Thorbjørn Moy. Thorbjørn explained why Bo & Lisbeth had been elected Chef of Chefs. It was because they had mastered the original craftmanship without any “fancy” tools as sous vide, thermomix or pacojet. At the end of the speech both Lisbeth and Bo were awarded with the Danish Chaîne Medal of Merit for their lifetime achievement for the Danish gastronomy. Only 2 others have been awarded this medal, and one was Erwin Lauterbach, for whom Bo had worked in the beginning of his career. After the dessert we had the traditional line up of the kitchen and service staff and Thorbjørn Moy gave his appreciation for the food. As he had already mentioned in his speech, he was happy that they did not use any fancy equipment – just pure craftmanship – and the pancake for the starters was a fantastic example of their work. Also, the duck breast was incredible, since the ducks were cooked whole and the duck breast was then carved off the duck. The dessert created by Lisbeth was also a fantastic work – the Florentine on top was an especially an incredible example of her work. Thorbjørn also praised the service staff and, as he said, when you can keep your service staff happy, you get satisfied guests – and that might be the reason, together with their craftmanship, that they have been able to stay in business for more than 28 years. Bailli Délégué Jørgen Krenk therefore had the pleasure of awarding the staff the Danish service pin for 1st class service at a Chaîne event, to the applause from the entire party.

We were then served coffee and tea – some chose to take a digestif, but the wine was still served very generously. The coffee/tea was accompanied with a whole plate of petit fours – of course all handmade and each of them was extremely delicious.

Once again, our sponsor Ken Storkøkken had an exciting present for us all when we left.