Six experienced and passionate foodies have joined forces to create Copenhagen’s new seafood venture, Restaurant Umage. Photo: Restaurant Umage
Serious about seafood Prenominated as the Breakthrough Restaurant of the Year, fish and seafood specialist Restaurant Umage has made a noteworthy entrance onto Copenhagen’s renowned gastronomic scene. Behind the success are no less than six experienced and passionate foodies whose professions and connections allow the gourmet restaurant to eliminate many of the usual intermediaries and consequently to serve cheaper and fresher seafood. By Signe Hansen | Photos: Kim Matthäi Leland
One of the main driving forces behind Restaurant Umage’s opening in May last year was, as the name reveals (‘umage’ means ‘effort’ in Danish), the ambition to create a restaurant where guests feel that the greatest possible effort has been put into their meal. In their manifesto the six founders explain: “To make an effort is a calling; a calling that runs on passion and cannot be kept down. When you make an effort, you are the best possible version of yourself. In our restaurant we make an effort to ensure that you, as our guest, get the best possible version of the ingredients – fish, seafood, meat, game and vegetables – which are procured to us by our trusted 42 | Issue 86 | March 2016
suppliers who, again, only supply to us because they make an effort.” The founders’ shared passion for produce stems from each of their different backgrounds within the food industry. Some have worked as chefs and sommeliers in prominent restaurants such as Geranium, Le Sommelier, Umami and D’Angleterre, and others supplying ingredients to them. In one way or another, all have become connected to Copenhagen’s popular fresh-food market, Torvehallerne, which is just down the road from Restaurant Umage. The restaurant receives its supplies on a daily basis from the producers there, most no-
tably from Hav, a well-assorted fishmonger owned by Tommy Lund, one of the co-founders of Restaurant Umage.
Passionate about produce Despite the differences of their respective fields, the owners of Restaurant Umage all agreed on one thing when the idea of opening a restaurant arose. Co-owner and chef Steffen Bach, who was part of Restaurant Geranium’s Bocuse d’Or winning team in 2011, explains: “As a group of friends who all work with some kind of wonderful produce, we shared a dream of creating a place where we would have the chance to present this produce in the best possible way.”