Scan Magazine | Special Theme | A Taste of Denmark
A unique shellfish restaurant in Copenhagen With fresh seafood, big portions, an authentic atmosphere and affordable prices, Ristorante L’imperatore will always go out of their way to give you an experience you will never forget. By Nicolai Lisberg | Photos: Ristorante L’imperatore
Stepping into Ristorante L’imperatore is like stepping into Italy. The walls are painted with images of Italy, paintings of Venice are plastered all over the restaurant, and in the kitchen, Sicilian-born chef Armando di Raffaele is preparing your course in true Italian-style, as he has been ever since he opened up the restaurant two years ago. “Authenticity is a keyword for us. There are a lot of good shellfish restaurants here in Copenhagen, but none with the same atmosphere that you’ll find here. 70 | Issue 116 | September 2018
The interior design makes a difference and so does the fact that I prepare the dishes on recipes I learnt when I was living and working in Sicily as a chef,” says di Raffaele, who grew up in a kitchen, so to speak. His father had a restaurant in Palermo and di Raffaele quickly became a big part of that restaurant. In fact, he was still just a teenager when he became the chef at the restaurant. Since then, he has only refined his recipes. And so the guests at Ristorante L’imperatore
are always guaranteed a spectacular food experience, which a guest made di Raffaele aware of not too long ago. “After he had finished eating, he came to me and asked if I was the owner of the place. I said yes, and he told me that he just wanted to pay his compliments for everything we had done throughout the evening. He said it really felt like being in Italy.”
A spectacular experience The restaurant’s signature dish is the Grigliata Imperiale, a lavish and exclusive shellfish plate with everything you can possibly imagine. “We have guests travelling from far away just to try this dish, as there is really nowhere else you can get such an extravagant dish at such an affordable price. You get differ-