Scan Magazine | Culinary Feature | Copenhagen Street Food Reffen
Located in a beautiful old warehouse in Odense, Storms Pakhus offers a variety of food experiences, as well as events and creative stalls. Photo: Julian Group PR
Innovation and hygge – street food the Danish way Previously limited to the classic hotdog stand, street food has taken Denmark by storm, thanks to a wave of innovative, hip concepts. From gourmet pop-up stands, to music, art, innovation, and food from all over the world, Scan Magazine takes a look at three of the nation’s recently opened street-food markets. By Signe Hansen
In May 2014, seven food trucks in an empty warehouse marked the opening of Copenhagen Street Food on Papirøen (the Paper Island). Behind the market was the Julian Group, a team of dedicated food enthusiasts led by restaurateur Jesper Møller. “Copenhagen didn’t have a street-food market in the way most other cities had. We had a lot of beautiful restaurants and then there was the tradi40 | Issue 115 | August 2018
tional hotdog stand, but something in between was missing,” says Møller. “That’s why we decided to create a street-food market that was unpretentious, cheerful and cheap, both for the vendors and visitors. We wanted a market with a variety of international food, and we wanted it to be affordable for everyone to eat there and to run a stand. It was also a way of embracing the start-up scene in
Copenhagen and of giving entrepreneurs a chance to build up skills and experience before opening up on their own.” In 2017, after four successful years and 1.5 million visitors, Copenhagen Street Food on the Paper Island closed down. In May this year, the team behind it launched Reffen on Refshaleøen. This time, the scale was somewhat different, with 54 start-ups in the form of food stalls, bars, and creative workshops, open all year.
Odense’s street food Mecca Inspired by the new buzz of the capital’s street-food scene, in 2017, Julian Group established Odense Street Food in Storms