The only chef to have won the gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Bocuse d’Or, Rasmus Kofoed heads the Three-MICHELIN-Starred “Geranium,” named the best restaurant in the world according to The World’s 50 Best 2022. His cuisine stands out for its icy precision and sensitive naturalism, following the New Nordic trend with adherence to Scandinavian territory and a celebration of vegetables.
Rasmus Kofoed was born in 1974 in Birkerød, a charming town on the outskirts of Copenhagen, surrounded by lakes and forests. His parents separated after a few months, and he stayed with his mother, who, with her new partner, had four more children. “My childhood inspires me a lot. My mother is vegetarian, and I used to cook with her. I was the eldest child, so naturally, I had taken on my responsibilities and helped out in the kitchen. Since then, I started baking and cooking simple things, and the rest followed.”
Kofoed attended Steiner schools, first in Kvistgård, then in Vordingborg. He began his professional journey at the “Hotel D'Angleterre” in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen; then, in 1997, he moved to the restaurant “Scholteshof.” A classical training that surprisingly synergized with his aspirations: he envisioned a cuisine that is naturally evolving, dynamic and changing, increasingly aesthetic, purist, and light in its minimalism.
Back in Copenhagen, Kofoed started exploring the vicinity in a new way. He took on the role of head chef for several high-level restaurants, which, however, did not satisfy him. He realized that a restaurant is much more than the food on the plate and its appearance; it is about ambiance and energy, engagement, and teamwork. He could only achieve this by creating, together with Søren Leden, his own place: in 2007, “Geranium” was opened. After nearly facing bankruptcy in 2009 due to an investor’s insolvency, the restaurant reopened in one of the office towers of Parken Stadium, a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro district. Much of the vegetables come from their own garden, cultivated biodynamically at a nearby farm. It is the produce from the land, in its variability, that time and again inspires the cuisine in a New Nordic key, but without the primitivism that usually characterizes it. The rise is meteoric: the first MICHELIN Star comes in 2012, the second in 2013, and the third in 2016.
Meanwhile, Kofoed is awarded the title of Best Chef of the country and even wins the Bocuse d’Or in 2011, becoming the most awarded chef in the competition’s history, with a second and third place already in his list of achievements in 2007 and 2005, respectively. He also begins his unstoppable progression in the ranking of The World’s 50 Best, which will lead him to the first position and thus to the consecration among the Best of the Best in 2022.
In 2016, “Geranium” underwent a renovation following the style of the dishes: a large open kitchen to encourage symbiosis and a view that, from the eighth floor, expands over the surrounding park’s nature, all the way to the windmills and copper roofs, immediately making the changing seasons perceptible. The latest step towards consistency was made in 2021, with the decision to no longer serve meat. “I haven’t eaten it for five years in my house, so it makes sense not to use it in the restaurant. The menu is a reflection of me and how I am evolving. From my point of view, the change is positive: we grow, learn, step out of our comfort zone, and often benefit from it.” Seafood, however, remains on the menu. Recently, he opened “Angelika,” a casual plant-based cuisine restaurant, dedicated to his mother Angelika Gerd, located on a farm outside Copenhagen.
