Taking classic Danish herring and mackerel to another level , this inventive restaurant pairs unexpected tastes for striking results .

The first Nordic vegan restaurant with a Michelin Green Star , Ark on Nørre Farimagsgade challenges perceptions of meat-free cuisine over a nine-course tasting menu .

Danish for porridge , this Nørrebro restaurant ’ s menu is based on oatmeal , transforming it into dal and risotto , turning your world upside down .

image : awl images

Above : Warpigs Brewpub in

the Meatpacking District of

Copenhagen

across town to pick up their favorite pastries — as well as local neighborhood anchors . Each has their own specialities and flavors and it ’ s worth knowing which bake new batches all day and which run a ‘ when it ’ s gone , it ’ s gone ’ style of approach .

In Østerbro , tiny corner bakery Juno serves up renowned cardamom rolls from the oven all day , their distinctive taste the result of a key Danish import — along with cinnamon and allspice — that can be traced back to the Vikings . I leave on my bike the next morning , my tongue and nostrils tingling with the scent of the complex fruity-piney spice for many blocks .

Copenhagen gives even a nervous cyclist confidence to join the locals pedaling wide cycle lanes with purpose . It ’ s also the perfect way to tour the city , using bakeries as map pins for insight not only into the creativity

of laminated pastry but the characters of the various neighborhoods .

On the up-and-coming south Holmen islet , English Noma alumnus Richard Hart is redefining Danish tastes along with head pastry chef Talia Richard-Carvajal at the waterfront bakery Hart Bageri . Here , black sesame cookies regularly wow the crowds , and constant and surprising invention is the order of the day . Notes Richard-Carvajal , “ Being foreigners , it wasn ’ t sentimental for us — we could play with the classics and just think , ‘ Oh , that tastes good ’. I ' m sure at first we were offending people all the time , but it gave us a way to put our spin on things and pull in new influences .”

In front of the bakery , bridges connect the city and extensive modern development in this former dockyard . It appears a characteristically thoughtful part of the

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