When reaching for the stars, it helps to keep both feet on the ground-especially in a country like Denmark, where the Law of Jante reminds us not to think we’re anything special. Rasmus Kofoed, 51, masters both arts: he has won bronze, silver, and gold medals at the Bocuse d’Or. At the same time, he has succeeded in balancing his work and family life while creating a positive work environment at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Geranium.
The Michelin-starred chef on the 8th floor
In short, there are two kinds of people who make their way to Per Henrik Lings Allé 4 in Østerbro, Copenhagen. There are those who throw 400 DKK on the table to watch football at Parken and bite into a stadium sausage, washing it down with a cheap beer at halftime. And then there are those who take the elevator to the 8th floor and are welcomed into the restaurant Geranium.
The latter guests are often tourists who have traveled to Denmark specifically to dine here. An experience worlds apart from the stadium sausage in the stands at Parken. And it’s an experience one pays for: a dinner for two approaches 9,000 DKK, plus you need to budget for drinks-2,300 DKK to be exact. Not a cheap affair.
And for wine connoisseurs, Geranium offers the wine menu ‘Rare & Unique,’ which costs no less than 20,000 DKK! But in return, you get to taste wines with prestigious names such as Château-Grillet or the sweet Sauternes Château d'Yquem-wines that would normally cost up to 2,000 DKK per bottle. The price is on the high end for both food and wine, but it covers 15 courses. According to Rasmus Kofoed, they are also generous with the wine.
It is said that one Michelin star doubles a restaurant’s revenue, while two stars triple it. With three stars, the restaurant can earn even more. At that level, it is not just about exceptional gastronomy but true art-a craft that attracts foodies from all over the world. Yet it is also a success that allows for a daily routine where everyone-from dishwashers to dessert chefs-can see themselves reflected. And, in parentheses, the dishwashers are the only ones at Geranium with a view of Parken’s pitch from their workstations.
First with three stars
“Winning the Bocuse d’Or and receiving the three Michelin stars has, of course, meant that we have been able to raise prices, hire more chefs, and give the staff an extra day off per week. It creates a better balance between work and personal life, so they don’t have to stand in the kitchen five days a week until late in the evening,” says Rasmus Kofoed, who, together with his friend and colleague Søren Ledet, has run the restaurant Geranium since 2007. They first opened in Kongens Have, where the pair received their first Michelin star just one year after opening.
In 2010, they moved to Parken, where the star count grew to three over the next six years.
Despite the financial crisis, the culinary success continued with the move to Parken.
“We were the first Danish restaurant in the Nordics to achieve three stars. We have tried to convert that success into better working conditions for our employees, who today have a three-day workweek. We are open to guests from Wednesday to Saturday. This has had a tremendous impact on our ability to maintain presence and passion for cooking excellent food,” says Rasmus Kofoed, continuing: “But without the Michelin stars and being named the world’s best restaurant, we probably wouldn’t be open today.”
Good working environment
The fact that a good environment has been created on the 8th floor at Parken is evident if you are lucky enough to be invited into the kitchen. On a Wednesday afternoon, when Geranium’s staff is busy prepping for the evening service, a relatively calm atmosphere prevails. A single waiter sits in the test kitchen-or the inspiration kitchen, as Rasmus Kofoed also calls it-folding napkins while the dessert chefs prepare fruit, berries, and sauces. Everyone has time to look up and politely greet visitors before returning to focus on creating the gastronomic highlights that the evening’s guests will enjoy.
It is a world apart from the atmosphere found in the latest trend in Copenhagen’s restaurant scene, where inexpensive French bistro dishes are served to hundreds of guests at a time. Not a word against the idea of offering a more affordable dining experience. But it is clear that there, waiters and chefs move very quickly.
At Geranium, the atmosphere is subdued. Not least because the 13 round tables with the architect-designed chairs in the restaurant only accommodate 36 guests at a time. That makes it all the more impressive that the restaurant’s 46 employees are able to generate an annual turnover of over 30 million DKK, even if the publicly available accounts show that the profit amounts to only two to three million DKK.
Meat has been eliminated
But for a restaurant that doesn’t have a single gram of animal meat on the menu, it is still quite impressive.
That restaurant Geranium today exclusively serves dishes without red meat is not due to a desire to preach or be particularly dogmatic. First and foremost, it is part of :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}’s upbringing. His mother has been a vegetarian for most of her life.
The first step toward a plant-based menu at Geranium was taken by Rasmus Kofoed back in 2020, after the first COVID-19 lockdown. The name was Angelika, named after his mother. A pop-up restaurant that exclusively served green dishes.
“Geranium’s menu is neither vegan nor vegetarian. Greens take center stage. But we do have dishes with both fish and shellfish.” In practice, a pescatarian menu.
As a child, the prospect of a rye bread sandwich with bean pâté may not have been something Rasmus Kofoed looked forward to when opening his school lunch. But it is something that has increasingly taken hold in his own home kitchen in Humlebæk.
So it was certainly not a foreign idea when he and Søren Ledet in 2022 chose to eliminate animal meat at Geranium.
“Meat has never played a major role in our menus. We have always focused heavily on fruits and vegetables. And at home, after a short period where the children and we ate 100 percent plant-based meals, we experienced a positive effect on our well-being,” says Rasmus Kofoed, who admits, however, that family taco Tuesdays remain a success at home.
Rasmus Kofoed spent his youth in the Vordingborg area. It was also there that he experienced being fired for the first time.
“I had a job as a delivery boy, where I had to go all the way out to Masnedø. It was winter, and the snow was blowing around my legs. I think I ended up throwing out some newspapers and flyers. That wasn’t appreciated,” he recalls.
The anecdote
The next time he experienced being fired, there was more at stake. Over time, however, it has turned into something of an anecdote about the young star chef who refused to put “stjerneskud,” Parisian steak, and club sandwiches on Hotel d’Angleterre’s menu.
“Over time, it has become a good story. But the truth is simple: the bar menu already included both stjerneskud and club sandwiches. I just didn’t think they belonged in the restaurant.”
Even though Rasmus Kofoed doesn’t mind club sandwiches or stjerneskud, gastronomy has always been his main interest. In fact, from a very young age.
“I am the eldest of five children. At some point, I started helping my mother in the kitchen. I baked, cooked, and enjoyed the aromas, flavors, and especially the time it took to create a meal. Also, sitting together and eating a homemade meal meant something.”
This led him directly to culinary school in Nykøbing F. and an apprenticeship at Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen.
“It was a new world. But I enjoyed entering a disciplined kitchen directly. And I liked the uniform, the service, and the team spirit in the kitchen. The more I learned, the more convinced I became that this was right for me.”
It was a time full of food. New recipes were developed, and he began participating in various cooking competitions-competitions he also began to win.
His early career took him through the two-Michelin-starred Belgian restaurant Scholteshof, home of master chef Roger Souvereyns. In his free time, Rasmus Kofoed drew inspiration from cookbooks. Not least because the restaurant, located in a converted farm, had a special ability to utilize the farm’s products in its menus. But it was also in cookbooks that Rasmus Kofoed discovered a new goal. On one page, he saw a photo from the Bocuse d’Or with 24 judges and 24 chefs presenting their gastronomic creations on large platters.
Bocuse d’Or
“It planted the idea of participating in the Bocuse d’Or. An idea that practically became the foundation I stand on today. It was a fire that was ignited within me.”
On a shelf in Geranium’s lounge area overlooking Fælledparken and the rooftops of Østerbro sit the Bocuse d’Or trophies: a bronze statuette, a silver one, and a gold one. Quite a collection that many chefs envy. Moreover, it was precisely participating in these unofficial world championships for chefs that made him truly start trusting his taste buds-an experience he remains faithful to to this day.
Especially when it came to a crossroads between the animal-based and plant-based kitchen at Geranium. While some proteins remain on the menu, they are now limited to fish and seafood-for example, the legendary knife scallops, where the shell is artfully molded and painted so that the entire dish is edible.
Meat, however, has been definitively removed from the menus.
“I grew up with vegetarian food. Three years ago, my family started eating more plant-based, and it inspired me. When you can’t use animal products, you have to think differently-focus on vegetables, seasonality, simplicity, and umami. I also wanted to challenge my team and inspire guests to eat greener and live more balanced.”
Eliminating red meat at a three-Michelin-star restaurant might seem like a gamble. It has proven that even devoted foodies can see themselves in a universe where plants take center stage-at least when it is created by star chefs like Rasmus Kofoed and his team on the 8th floor at Parken.