Tonight’s meal was another one we were really looking forward to, while we had not managed to get a booking in Noma, a real challenge, we had experienced the whimsy of Alloutte and the core Nordic approach of Barr, so tonight’s exploration is at the intriguingly named Amass.
Amass is one of those restaurants which have developed in Copenhagen out of the influence of Noma, just as Barr had taken Noma’s building, so Amass has been created by one of Noma’s former chefs – Matt Orlando. Orlando was Head Chef at Noma from 2010 to 2013, having worked there previously as Sous Chef from 2005 to 2007 in between he worked in Thomas Keller’s three-starred Michelin restaurant, Per Se. Matt left Noma in 2013 to found Amass.
Water Bus
But first our journey to the restaurant. Amass is situated in one of the warehouse districts of Copenhagen on the island called Refshaleøen across the channel from the main areas we have visited.
From the hotel it was the M4 metro all the way from one end of the line to the other this was the first time we’d been further than Østerport on this line and it is clear from the Orientkaj Station that this part of the land is on newly reclaimed industrial land.
At Orientkaj Station we have to change to a boat bus to the Rafshaleøen stop. The boat bus is a very gentle experience, Drew really enjoyed the shots it allowed him to take. The speed of movement is slow, but it got us there.
Dinner at Amass – 10 courses plus
When we arrived in Rafshaleøen were intrigued to find Amass was in a warehouse, see the photos at the top of this post. The industrial theme on the outside led to an industrial inside too.
The place was really open and the tables were a great distance from each other.
Amass was established as a restaurant with a clear philosophy to prove that gastronomy and hospitality can go hand in hand with sustainability, not something always at the front of Michelin starred places. By 2016 Amass was organically certified in 2016, ensuring that 90% to 100% of the food and beverages served at Amass are organic and free of pesticides. More than that, the Amass ethos is to reduce waste in all its forms taking the by-products of kitchen produce and representing it by creating unique and exciting flavours. So, combing a drastically reduced the restaurant’s carbon footprint and achieving. This theme informed the whole meal.
The menu offers one tasting menu, so the only option was between the tasting menu with either drink or juice pairing and the Full Package which also include an aperitif and coffee. We opted for this option with juice.
The aperitif was delicious, a pulp of raspberry, sage and apple topped up with sparking water. The raspberry and sage were both grown in the restaurant garden and the apple in an orchard a few miles out of the city. This theme of ‘localism’ continued to be proudly explained through the food and drinks of the meal.
Next came a Danish Shiso leaf around an intense mushroom and herb tempeh. Tempeh seems to be one of those fashionable foods at present, for those who don’t know it, it is made by cooking and fermenting lentils and soybeans, in this case they were, we were assured, locally grown lentils and soybeans. The Shiso and Tempeh are both inspired by Japan, but this was enhanced by the Korean flavour of Gochujang with its chilli heat. Gochujang is grown as a healthy fungus through the fermentation process, so has links to kimchi and sauerkraut, but is spicier than both. The whole taster piece had an amazing texture, enhanced by the excellent crockery, which is specially made for this place.
Our next drink, to go with the ‘bread’ course is a light flavoured drink made from tomato skins and rosemary soaked overnight in a bell pepper vinegar, tangy rather than sharp, it provided a good contrast to the richness of the ‘bread’.
I used the word ‘bread’ as this is not what I would normally call bread, as there is no wheat involved – which is great for those who have a gluten intolerance. In fact, it is grilled potato bread cooked on the charcoal grill and finished in the oven with Shiso butter (often known as Shea butter in the UK) and softened corn pulp – a very different texture from wheat bread plump and hearty, the butter has an infusion of shiso leaves and ginger and brings out a minty basily flavour which is an enjoyable combination.
Next came the chef’s homage to tomatoes. A dish with four different types of tomatoes (fresh and freeze dried), basil and dried green strawberry with tomato water, infused with scallop roe curd, the tingling on the lips makes this a must taste dish, simple ingredients, but loved and cared for into superb food. The tomato element of the drink worked perfectly with it.
The next course was accompanied by a drink made from green tea and summer herbs (I could taste tarragon and lemon balm, but know there were others), this had been matured for 24 hours before serving. A fascinating colour and a delightful refreshing taste.
This was served with Mackerel seared on a charcoal grill with foraged seasonal mushrooms including oyster, shitake and chanterelle with a mackerel emulsion and tiny pieces of gherkin. The crisp skin is simply amazing. I know all these flavours, but they way they are combined and celebrated here means my palette is challenged in new ways, and all of the new ways are good ones.
So on to our next course and this was served with a drink made from pear skins, coffee and brown sugar base strained with lambic vinegar. I thought the colour of the last drink was amazing, but this one had even more layers of colour, red heading towards purple (but remember I’m colour-blind, so I may not get that quite right). Its taste was an acidic sharpness which, as planned, I suspect matched really well with the food.
That food was a poached lobster with plums and a beetroot leaf on top glazed with lobster sauce - astoundingly the beetroot has the texture of a sushi wrap, which is more commonly banana leaves! A texture and taste sensation, this dish again made me stop while I was eating it, to wonder how such combinations could have been invented in the first place – clearly the chef is either a crazed artist, or a genius, or both!! Still, I didn’t stop to long as the flavours were too good to miss.
Next, served to support the lobster was a sweeter dish. This was corn kernels, with corn pole boiled for 48 hours and juice extracted with a brown sugar fermentation with slices of wild sep mushroom. Like a sweet corn soup, that name gives no credit to the depth of the flavours in this bowl.
Our next course was accompanied by a blackberry with summer berries red and black currents and strawberries infusion. This had been infused for a long time on site in a berry vinegar and produced a deep, sharp drink, ideal for my palette.
The drink worked well with the meatiness of the fish with which it was served. The lightly fried hake in butter sauce had glazed cucumber on top, an herby sauce and soft garden herbcrust. This was like the Mediterranean meeting a country garden, with the fish (which I know as Merluza from many visits to Spain) benefitting from the rich herbiness around it.
The second stage of this dish (or next dish depending on your personal perspective) was a bowl of noodles with fish broth and xo sauce. True to the principles of the restaurant the broth was made from every bit of fish bone and the head and tail and boiled down with the noodles, cabbage and other cured leaves. It has a peppery tang that I really enjoyed.
Following the delicious fish course, the next drink arrived and was an Elderflower and pineappleweed juice. The pineappleweed had a sharp camomile taste, I think I might have preferred more elderflower and less pineappleweed, but that’s just my taste preference, camomile makes me think of childhood chickenpox when I was spread with camomile lotion regularly to avoid scratching, so the smell isn’t conducive to me feeling well, rather a reminder of being ill!
With this drink came a large, Danish grown, cucumber pretending to be melon! It has been soused in vinegar, to soften it, so it has a melon texture without the food travel miles associated with melon. So it is, after this treatment sweet and is served with a creamy foam and topped with Bees Pollen. Melon and honey is now cucumber and pollen, not only tasting nice, but making the diner feel virtuous about their food miles too.
Our final juice as a sparkling rhubarb, raspberry and pear skin, the core ingredients had been topped up with sparking water and the drink has a sweetness that is not unpleasant but is reminiscent of the rhubarb sweets (I think they used to be rhubarb and apple) that I had as a child.
This was served with an apple skin ice cream. This was made with dried apple pulp infused with sugar to draw out the flavour with puffed wheat and granola on top and a caramel to bind it together – clever and tasty. Not too sweet for me (so Drew didn’t get both) it was an enjoyable crescendo to the entire meal.
The meal wasn’t quite finished as we had ordered coffee as part of our full menu and we both had Espresso, a dark rich coffee flavour. The coffee was served with Pumpkin seed chocolate with miso caramel on a bed of pumpkin seeds in place of Petite Fours – Drew might have liked them a little sweeter and more chocolaty, but he didn’t say know when asked if he wanted mine as well.
Looking back over the meal the whole thing was an amazing experience, tastes I’d never seen together and a great emphasis on the origin and full use of the ingredients. I felt like I was in at the beginning of a food revolution which is beginning to address climate change while make no compromise on flavour.
Back to the Hotel
Our return journey was longer, but more prosaic than our water bus arrival. After 8pm the water bus reduces its travel, but a bus leaves from the front of the restaurant (the opposite side from which we arrived) every ten minutes. It was less than 100 meters from the entrance of the restaurant to the bus stop and, as you can see from the map below, the bus travelled across bridges along many of the islands in this area taking us through Christianshavn and on to stop at the entrance to the Central Train Station 17 stops later. We could then walk through the station concourse on to our hotel.
We got to the hotel at 10:30pm ready for our last night in this lovely city.
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