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I first ate at kadeau in Copenhagen in early 2013. What I loved about it then was how simple, delicious, and straightforward the food was compared to the New Nordic zeitgeist at the time. Chef Nicolai Nørregaard showcased the flora and fauna of Scandinavia without veering into the bizarre.
Although I haven’t followed chef Nicolai Nørregaard as diligently as I’d like, I have managed to check in at his restaurants a couple of times over the years. In 2014, I had the pleasure of visiting the original kadeau, on the beautiful Danish island of Bornholm, where I caught the last day of service in late summer before its seasonal closure. And at the top of 2016, I returned to kadeau in the city, after the Copenhagen location moved down the block. But I hadn’t seen him since. So I was especially happy to see him on this year’s roster of guest chefs at the Twelve Days of Christmas. Nørregaard was the seventh chef to cook with hosting chef Christopher Kostow at The Restaurant at Meadowood.
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Given how omnivorous both Nørregaard and Kostow are in their cooking, it wasn’t surprising that this dinner featured a particularly broad spectrum of colors and flavors.
Nørregaard’s opening volley was a plate of leaflets, stalklets, and slices from The Restaurant at Meadowood’s garden, all lightly dressed. Arranged on giant platters, it was like a painterly page from Flora Danica.
There were cherry blossoms and peridot-colored preserves from Bornholm used to garnish clams; a pastel vignette in a shell. There was emerald-green kale, a fleshy leaf folded over with buttermilk whey. And there were tiny, tender pine cones, thick in syrup, which Nørregaard used like nuggets of nougat on milk ice cream sundæ.
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There were treasures from the sea – spot prawns; squid veiled in lardo (served with a small bowl of warm beef broth); and thinly sliced scallop with horseradish cream, blanketed with a fine shaving of dried mussels. All of them as flavorful as they were colorful.
Kostow revived one of his best dishes – cod coated with sunflower. This year, he smoked the cod, and served it with conserva of sunflower hearts.
And then there was a glorious strip of beef from an old dairy cow, served with charred onions and first milk. It was just one of a parade of excellent beef dishes from Kostow during this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas.
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This is the menu from Day 7 of the Twelve Days of Christmas with guest chef Nicolai Nørregaard (click here for all of the photos from this dinner):
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Canapés
Garden Plate
Broth of Roasted Beef
Squid and Lardo
Mackerel Preserves
Clam
Cherry blossom, Bornholm preserves.
(Nørregaard)
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1st Course
Oyster Salad
Gooseberry, potato, and pea crumble.
(Nørregaard)
2nd Course
Goldball Turnip
Caviar, aged pork stock.
(The Restaurant at Meadowood)
3rd Course
Spot Prawn
Black currant leaf, tomato.
(Nørregaard)
4th Course
Scallop
Horseradish cream, mussels.
(Nørregaard)
5th Course
Smoked Cod
Sunflower heart conserva.
(The Restaurant at Meadowood)
6th Course
Kale
Fig leaf, buttermilk whey.
(Nørregaard)
7th Course
Squab
Beetroot, beef fat, hiprose.
(Nørregaard)
8th Course
Dairy Cow “en Retraite”
First milk.
(The Restaurant at Meadowood)
9th Course
Bornholm Conifers
Milk ice cream.
(Nørregaard)
10th Course
Last Bites
(The Restaurant at Meadowood)
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Empire Estate, Dry Riesling, Finger Lakes, New York, 2016
Domaine de Saint-Just, Brézé
Remelluri Blanco, 2016
Radio-Coteau, Anderson Valley, Chardonnay, 2015
WesMar, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, 2017
Marcel Lapierre, Villie-Morgon, Cuvée 2014
Paradigm, Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, 1994
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Below are links to my posts and photos from all Twelve Days of Christmas dinners I have attended. Each chef is listed with the restaurant with which they were cooking at the time they participated in the event (some have moved on to other projects and restaurants).
2012
Scott Anderson (Elements; Princeton, New Jersey)
John & Karen Shields (Formerly of Townhouse; Chilhowie, Virginia)
Phillip Foss (EL Ideas; Chicago, Illinois)
Stuart Brioza & Nicole Krasinski (State Bird Provisions; San Francisco, California)
Jason Franey (Canlis Restaurant; Seattle, Washinton)
Matthias Merges (Yusho; Chicago, Illinois)
Mori Onodera (Formerly of Mori Sushi; Los Angeles, California)
James Syhabout (Commis; Oakland, California)
Nick Anderer (Maialino; New York, New York)
David Toutain (Agapé Substance; Paris, France)
Josh Habiger & Erik Anderson (The Catbird Seat; Nashville Tennessee)
Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)
2013
Andy Ricker (Pok Pok, Portland, Oregon & New York, New York)
Rodolfo Guzman (Boragó; Santiago, Chile)
Carlo Mirarchi (Blanca and Roberta’s; Brooklyn, New York)
Tim Cushman (O Ya; Boston, Massachusetts)
Ashley Christensen (Poole’s Diner; Raleigh, North Carolina)
David Chang (Momofuku; New York, New York)
Matthew Accarrino (SPQR; San Francisco, California)
Mark Ladner & Brooks Headley (Del Posto; New York, New York)
Rasmus Kofoed (Geranium; Copenhagen, Denmark)
Nicolaus Balla & Cortney Burns (Bar Tartine; San Francisco, California)
David Kinch (Manresa; Los Gatos, California)
Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)
2014
Matthew Orlando (Amass; Copenhagen, Denmark)
Frank Castranovo & Frank Falcinelli (Frankies 457, Prime Meats; New York, New York)
Kobe Desramaults (In de Wulf; Dranouter, Belgium)
Alexandre Gauthier (La Grenouillère; La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, France)
Blaine Wetzel (Willows Inn; Lummi Island, Washington)
Joshua McFadden (Ava Gene’s; Portland, Oregon)
Virgilio Martinez (Central; Lima, Peru)
Grant Achatz (Alinea; Chicago, Illinois)
Corey Lee (Benu; San Francisco, California)
Esben Holmboe Bang (Maaemo; Oslo, Norway)
Ignacio Mattos (Estela; New York, New York)
Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)
2015
Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park, NoMad; New York, New York)
Nenad Mlinarevic (Focus; Vitznau, Switzerland)
Christian Puglisi (relæ; Copenhagen, Denmark)
Jorge Vallejo (Quintonil; Mexico City, Mexico)
Joshua Skenes (Saison; San Francisco, California)
Matthew Wilkinson (Pope Joan; Melbourne, Australia)
Kim Floresca and Daniel Ryan ([One]; Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Isaac McHale (The Clove Club; London, The United Kingdom)
Kyle Connaughton (Single Thread; Healdsburg, California)
Atsushi Tanaka (A.T. Restaurant; Paris, France)
Justin Yu (Oxheart; Houston, Texas)
Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)
2017
Mark Lundgaard Nielsen (Kong Hans Kælder; Copenhagen, Denmark)
Manish Mehrotra (Indian Accents; New Dehli, India; New York, New York; London, U.K.)
Jeremiah Stone & Fabián von Hauske Valtierra (Contra & Wildair; New York, New York)
Jeremy Fox (Rustic Canyon & Tallula’s; Santa Monica, California)
Ben Sukle (birch & Oberlin; Providence, Rhode Island)
Sean Brock (McCrady’s, McCrady’s Tavern, Husk, & Minero; Charleston, South Carolina)
Yoshiaki Takazawa (Takazawa; Tokyo, Japan)
Thomas Keller (The French Laundry; Yountville, California)
Eric Werner (Hartwood; Tulum, Mexico)
Jock Zonfrillo (Orana; Adelaide, Australia)
Alexandre Couillon (La Marine; Noirmoutier, France)
Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)
2018
Jose Enrique (Jose Enrique; San Juan, Puerto Rico)
David Pynt (Burnt Ends; Singapore)
Jessica Largey (Simone; Los Angeles, California)
James Lowe (Lyle’s; London, The United Kingdom)
Kamilla Seidler (formerly of Gustu in La Paz, Bolivia; Copenhagen, Denmark)
Byung-jin Kim (Gaon; Seoul, South Korea)
Wojciech Modest Amaro (Atelier Amaro; Warsaw, Poland)
Justin Cogley (Auberine; Carmel, California) & Trevor Moran (Nashville, Tennessee)
Michael Tusk (Cotogna and Quince; San Francisco, California)
Ana Ros (Hiša Franko; Kobarid, Slovenia)
Sota Atsumi (Maison, opening in 2019; Paris, France)
Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood; St. Helena, California)
2019
Gabriela Camara (Contramar; Mexico City, Mexico/Cala; San Francisco, California)
John and Karen Shields (Smyth, and The Loyalist; Chicago, Illinois)
Daniel Calvert (Belon; Hong Kong)
José Avillez (Belcanto; Lisbon, Portugal)
Junghyun Park (atomix and atoboy; New York, New York)
Jeremy Chan (Ikoyi; London, The United Kingdom)
Nicolai Nørregaard (kadeau; Bornholm and Copenhagen, Denmark)
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Photos: Tiffany DeGeorge roasting squab in the Josper; kale and fig leaf by Nørregaard; Kostow saucing dairy cow “en retraite,” clams with cherry blossom by Nørregaard; Kostow and Nørregaard in the garden; “Garden Plate” by Nørregaard; ribs from the dairy cow “en retraite;” wine pairings; Nicolai Nørregaard, Kyumin Hahn, and the team of The Restaurant at Meadowood; Charlie Appel trimming greens.
