I think you would have to be a foodie to understand how a Friday night where I didn’t want to cook ended with a 7-course menu at Relæ. If the answer is not straightforward I will provide part of my chain of thoughts. The food is exceptional, great atmosphere, they have an open kitchen which you have a direct view to from the bar and final it is very cheap compared to other restaurants at a similar level.
As a starter two string beans and a cucumber with bagna cauda was served where the saltiness from the anchovies was a perfect match to the fresh and crispy vegetables. The mini cucumber was of good quality, very crisp and full of taste. A classic Relæ starter.
First regular serving had celery in a leading role. Served fresh with seaweed, olives and a fermented juice based on celery and kelp. Very refreshing and pure in flavors. As with the starter I admire how they use ingredients with a high degree of saltiness to flavor the dishes such as olives and anchovies instead of salt.
Cauliflower couscous with a lukewarm makrel and bergamotte. I think the makrel was prepared sous vide which preserved the delicate flavor of the fish and hereby balancing it with the cauliflower allowing the bergamotte to stand out. This was off course in great balance with the natural wine it was served with.
Before I got the next dish a small cup of mushroom broth. Great on its own, but it really came to its right with a later serving, but who would have known that it would be a dessert.
I have no idea of how to describe this dish. With just a few changes this might as well have been a dessert as it was very sweet and very tasty. Pumpkin, seabucktorn and almonds where the seabucktorn provided enough acidity to balance the sweetness from the pumpkin.
I have almost always preferred the vegetarian dishes from Relæ. Whether it is because the lack of proteins forces them to be more innovative, focused or just the fact that they love vegetables I don’t know yet. This dish was a perfect example of this. Dried zucchini which was subsequently been slowly cooked and garnished with powder from zucchini and different vegetables. The process had intensified the sweetness making it extremely rich and worthy of as a main dish.
The next dish was on the other case a classic Relæ dish; otherwise I have just eaten there a lot lately. A chicken thy of very high quality from Sødam cooked sous vide served with its own heart and liver to give more depth and umami and puffed skin for crunch. Two different types of cabbage was a great accessory.
It has been a while since I have had a dessert, which I thought was really innovative and delicious at the same time. Mushroom ice cream served with black currant granite. The ice cream was filled with umami after which I asked my self-why hasn’t anyone tried this before??? I only wished that there had been more ice-cream compared to the granite as this was truly innovative and intense in flavor.
When I say that this last dessert was classic in flavors I think it says more about me then it does of the dessert. A mouse made of caramelized corn, served with thyme and pulverized popcorn. I really loved this one. Simple and elegant with great textures and the pulverized popcorn was a great touch.
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