Alchemist 2.0: The restaurant of senses and hallucinations in Copenhagen

November 19, 2021
Tasos Mitselis
Tasos Mitselis visits Alchemist, one of the world`s most exciting and expensive restaurants, in the Danish capital and is amazed by Rasmus Munk`s culinary talent.
  • ALCHEMIST 2.0: THE RESTAURANT OF SENSES AND HALLUCINATIONS IN COPENHAGEN | Globe-Eater

Initially, I would urge you, in case you are one of those super lucky people - you must feel that way - who have managed to book a seat at Alchemist, you had better not continue reading this. On the other hand, no matter how many spoilers one sees or reads, it never even crosses his mind what he is about to experience from the moment the restaurant`s substantial two-ton door opens until six hours later, as he is led back towards the exit through another iron door. That`s about how long the journey into the wondrous world of thirty-year-old chef and co-owner of Alchemist 2.0, Rasmus Munk.


In 2015, after passing through the kitchens of Fat Duck, Geranium, and Noma, he opened the first Alchemist in Copenhagen with just fifteen seats, recreating memories of his childhood and performances from his wanderings around the world on his plates. But in a holistic way, which, of course, he had the opportunity to cultivate a year later when Geranium`s principal investor and significant shareholder, Lars Seier Christensen, was impressed by his talent and made him an offer to take the story several steps further. Miles.

And he became Alchemist 2.0.

The investment reached €15,000,000, and on 4 July 2019, the young alchemist became co-owner of perhaps the world`s most universally spectacular restaurant, which has since been located in the industrial area of Refshaleøen, near the port of Copenhagen. It`s been almost twenty days since my dinner at Alchemist 2.0, and I can honestly say that I still can`t quite metabolize this unprecedentedly exciting experience. I hope the Michelin Guide in its next version will also rise to the occasion, giving it a third star immediately and that it won`t have to wait a decade like the Noma. Moving on to procedural matters, please note that you need to have tanks of patience and great reflexes to book a seat since the waiting list is over 15,000 people as we speak. But if you subscribe to the newsletter or follow it closely on social and are quick enough to deposit €470 spontaneously, they often announce new dates and always have an exact time for reservations. So, fingers crossed!

Wine is also an extensive chapter at Alchemist, with the cellar containing 2,200 labels and almost 13,000 bottles spread over three levels and the head sommelier the multi-award-winning global sommelier, Nina Jensen. As with most of Copenhagen`s gastronomic restaurants, the value for money on their list is scandalous. It`s worth giving just three prime examples: for Nicola Joly`s Clos de la Culée de Serant 2014 the average price in the cellar is €135, while there it costs €190; Trimbach`s Clos St. Hune 2014 which is on the shelf for around €250, you`ll find it at €320; and to go to the iconic Super Tuscans, the top Saciccaia of 2016 which ranges in an online shop at least around €380, you can enjoy it for €470. Of course, they also have at least fifty labels between €60-100. Yes, there is no doubt that we are in heaven, but before we move on to the food, I will put a perfectionist spin on "hagiography" by saying this: I realize that the demands of an extended performance like this are great and exhausting. But to have two sommeliers arguing in front of us with an attitude about whether the wine is in good enough condition to be consumed, or to hear the line "I feel exhausted " from a waitress with a downcast face at one point out loud, I find it foul for this level. Humane in a human way, but somewhat inelegant and unprofessional.

But these are misdemeanors in the face of the most perfectly choreographed culinary show imaginable, which unites all the senses, awakening them with a whole host of stimuli from the arts, philosophy, science, decoration, literature and music. It`s no accident that Alchemist is called that. Nor is Rasmus Munk called by many the most extraordinary culinary genius of the new generation for no reason. The way he integrates the naturalistic culture and art of fermentation from Noma, the unlikely technical proficiency and sumptuous ingredients of Geranium, and the pervasive theatricality with molecular nuances of The Fat Duck into a holistic approach that connects gastronomy to everything spiritual in addition to material that ought to be relevant to modern man is unparalleled. Where you bow, now, to this genius is that in addition to the above, omnipresent and all-encompassing in this intergalactic journey is deliciousness. With four exceptions in which I eventually got utterly lost in translation, all of his creations are a punch to the palate, stomach and brain. Each dish has something to say and says it. Some message he wants to get across, and he gets it across. It rouses you, it moves you, it troubles you, it divides you, it often makes you "float". As an exaggeration, I might call it a transcendental experience, but in Munk`s world, everything is perceived with the senses. I didn`t expect to say that about a restaurant, but this one, yes, touches the foothills of art.

The Alchemist`s multi-act performance is given in five acts, where they play on as many different levels. With twenty-two acres at their disposal, they had the flatness to work wonders. Since it is impossible and tedious to describe fifty stages frame by frame along with the accompanying audio-visual material, I will stick to some that exceeded all expectations. Moving on from the first - I`ll leave you to experience what happens there, and you`ll remember me - in the second act, in the Champagne Lounge that is, they serve several snacks as a prelude, such as the inventive "The Greed", that is, where it`s a "granita" with notes of pine, apple, luisa and citrus where it doesn`t stay on the palate for more than five seconds and then... disappears, or an amazingly technical, delicious omelette resto ball flavoured with comté cheese, lardo and truffle, which releases an airy yet firmly concentrated egg custard. But all the magic unfolds in the next act, where most of the interactive dinner takes place.


In The Dome, as the restaurant`s main dining room is called, the changing backdrops projected on the dome accompany miniature masterpieces, From the marinated jellyfish in rosehip (rose fruit) with Vietnamese "nuoc mam" sauce to a lobster claw made from bread stuffed with lobster salad and served with tomato butter, to the fictional roasted cod jaw in which an edible plastic from the collagen of its skin is intertwined, wanting to highlight the fact that a third of all cod caught in Northern Europe have plastic in them. Among the challenging moments, I rank the butterfly fed with kale and honey water to serve in a wet salad of frozen greens. At the same time, Munk`s ode to the most ethically and sustainably produced foie gras from Eduardo Sousa`s farm in Spain and his pigeon are two sublime bone-breaking moments. In the following two rooms, the barking is slowly done with a series of expressionistic desserts, all the same with the pig`s blood ice cream and the sandwich, a frozen sandwich with various preparations of ants being the most daring and complex. As for the Pink Room, you`ll have to forgive me, but what happens in the pink room stays in the pink room.

GRADE: 10 / 10

Info: https://alchemist.dk/


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