Scan Magazine | Restaurant of the Month | Denmark
Restaurant of the Month, Denmark
A restaurant with a secret ingredient Located right on the water, close to the city of Aarhus in Denmark, there is a charming restaurant. What makes Restaurant Himmel og Hav so special is that its owners, Bjørn and Britt Olsen, add what might be the most important ingredient to their cooking: personality. By Stephanie Brink Harck | Photos: Restaurant Himmel Og Hav
Olsen and his wife fell in love with the restaurant the first time they saw it. They were out for a walk with their firstborn son in the pram when a small summer
paradise suddenly appeared in front of them, just the other side of a hill. “It had the most amazing location. The fact that you can sit in a green area with no neighbouring buildings while looking out across the water was enough for us to fall in love with the place,” says Bjørn Olsen. The Olsens’ affection for the restaurant is reflected in the way they have decorated the building. The colourful flowers, the candlelight and the rustic wooden tables give the restaurant an intimate feeling, despite it having room for up to 80 guests. “Our guests often ask if we live here, because it almost feels like entering someone’s home. We don’t live here, but I have to admit that sometimes, because we work so much, it almost feels like we do,” Olsen smiles.
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Guests come to the restaurant because of the atmosphere and, of course, the food. “We want to give our guests an experience when they come here. In the summer time, for example, we serve pizza outside on our terrace,” Olsen explains. “But we don’t serve normal pizza. Instead of tomatoes, we might use pesto and our very own cold-smoked coalfish.” Every week, the menu changes to keep the food on offer interesting and new. But even though the dishes may change, the restaurant always makes sure to give the food its own special touch to make sure that there is no doubt that the mouth-watering food is courtesy of Restaurant Himmel og Hav. The kitchen always uses local produce, for example, with a focus on high quality and lots and lots of fish. Olsen laughs: “Sometimes people come into the restaurant saying that they don’t like mussels. Then they taste mine, and suddenly they want seconds.”
For more information, please visit: www.restauranthimmeloghav.dk