Copenhagen dining hotspot Geranium has topped The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
It comes after the eatery secured second place last year.
After head chef and co-owner Rasmus Kofoed decided to follow a more plant-based diet, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant stopped serving meat in January.
Geranium was known for its lavish 22-course, meat-heavy tasting menu. Now a sustainable and seasonal-focused location, the menu centers around fresh produce. It still features seafood dishes created with locally-caught fish.
The meat-free restaurant that delighted judges
“Rasmus Kofoed, Søren Ledet, and their team have created an unforgettable dining experience, taking seasonal cooking to superlative heights and delivering precise, beautiful, and elegant food that combines art and flavor alongside a ground-breaking drinks program,” William Drew, director of content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants said in a statement.
He added: “Geranium has cemented its status as a global culinary destination and a much-deserved winner of the coveted title, The World’s Best Restaurant 2022.”
Geranium won the top award after a panel of 1,000 international restaurant experts voted in its favor. The presentation ceremony was recently held in London and hosted by actor Stanley Tucci.
Now it has the title of World’s Best Restaurant, Geranium is ineligible to win again. It is eligible for the “Best of the Best” category.
Geranium is the only meat-free venue to feature in the top 10 restaurants in the world.
Creating work-life-sustainability balance
Kofoed’s kitchen operates four days a week. Co-owner Søren Ledet, agreed with the move, to enhance work-life balance for all employees. Additionally, it ties in with Kofoed’s personal mandate to be more creative, while using fewer resources.
In a social media post, discussing the restaurant’s move away from meat, he stated: “I see it as a challenge to create new dishes which celebrate seafood from the pristine waters & vegetables from local, organic/biodynamic farms which thrive here in Denmark & Scandinavia.”
Kofoed credits his vegetarian mother with inspiring his new menu direction. It was after hosting a meat-free popup within Geranium in 2020 that he began planning the evolution of his kitchen.
Now, the meat-free menu includes plant-based dishes like infusions of grilled white asparagus, pickled elderberries, truffle, and crispy grains, and dark chocolate and Jerusalem artichoke reductions for dessert.
Geranium is not alone in opting to take animals off its diners’ plates. Likewise, in 2021, upmarket New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park (EMP) made the switch to a mostly vegan menu.
The move came after the Covid-19 pandemic forced head chef Daniel Humm to reevaluate the sustainability of his ingredients. Now, EMP uses experimental preparation techniques, including fermentation, to unlock exciting new flavors.
In the same year, Alexis Gauthier defied long standing customers and took Gauthier Soho entirely vegan.
