Scan Magazine | Restaurant of the Month | Denmark
Restaurant of the Month, Denmark
Danish delicacies served in a historic setting In the old fishing town of Esbjerg, surrounded by fishermen in woollen sweaters and the North Sea, Café Danmark serves you classic Danish dishes – a skill the restaurant has perfected for more than 100 years. It simply does not get more Danish than this. By Mette Hindkjær Madsen | Photos: Thomas Skjold
“You won’t find anything more traditional than Danish ‘smørrebrød’. All Danes have their favourite kind,” says Jan Færch, the restaurateur of Café Danmark. ‘Smørrebrød’ is an open sandwich with a rye or white bread base, butter, and one of a wide range of topping combinations such as eggs with shrimp or Danish meatballs with red cabbage – a distinctly Danish dish that has people travelling far to catch a bite, and one of Café Danmark’s trademarks. “We get our fish fresh from the harbour and pride ourselves on the high quality of our produce. Everyone loves a fresh plaice fillet or chicken asparagus tartelettes, and being homemade from scratch only makes it even better,” says Færch. This year, Café Danmark celebrates its 100-year anniversary – quite an accomplishment in the fast-paced hospitality business. And that is just for the estab74 | Issue 107 | December 2017
lishment’s current location. In fact, the restaurant was first opened 113 years ago. But as the harbour front in Esbjerg developed, the restaurant followed to the exclusive location it still resides in today: at the centre of Esbjerg’s legacy, its harbour.
heritage of the Danish restaurant. It has only had a total of four owners since it opened in 1904. “Fru Jepsen is the most legendary owner. She ran this place for 46 years – from the age of 40 to 86,” says Færch. If he is going to beat her record, he will have to work at it until he is 88 years old. Only time will tell if he becomes the new record holder. Smørrebrød with roast beef.
Keeping the history of this local gem alive is important to Færch. “Barely anything has been altered in the restaurant’s appearance for almost 100 years. We created a wall painting similar to the old wallpaper when we couldn’t get hold of the same type anymore. People say walking in here is like stepping 50 or 70 years back in time, as if you’re in an episode of Matador [a popular Danish television show depicting life in a Danish small town in the 1930s and ‘40s].” For the past two years, Færch and his wife Susanne have taken it upon themselves to boost the significant historical
Web: www.cafe-danmark.dk