In a year, the brigade prepares up to fifteen tons of preserves, a gastronomic heritage that keeps the essence of the island alive even when temperatures drop below zero. Then there is the double format, which is booming with awards from Bornholm to Copenhagen: the Kadeau microcosm.
The restaurant
Kadeau tells the story of an island battered by the Baltic winds, a place where time passes differently and nature rules: Bornholm, aptly named the Island of the Sun, is a large rock that retains heat until late autumn, allowing figs, peaches, and mulberries to ripen as if in a southern garden. This climatic miracle has forever shaped the identity of Nicolai Nørregaard, chef and co-founder of Kadeau. When the first restaurant opened in 2007, overlooking the beaches of Sømarken, the idea was not simply to open a restaurant, but to create a gastronomic narrative capable of telling the story of the island through its products, its farming and maritime traditions, and the slow rhythm of its forests and cliffs.
Kadeau was created to be a sensory extension of Bornholm, a place where food becomes storytelling and gesture: “For us, it was never just a culinary project; we wanted to convey the way we grew up, our relationship with the land, the sea, and the need to take care of what summer offers in abundance, so that we can enjoy it during the darker months,” says Nørregaard. The idea of the two seasons (Growing Season and Preservation Season) is not a conceptual game but the backbone of the entire Kadeau universe: in summer, everything that nature provides is harvested, cooked, and preserved, while in winter, the pantry is opened and the creations are worked with, including fermentation, salting, syrups, infused oils, salted leaves, smoked fish, and dried vegetables.
In a year, the brigade prepares up to fifteen tons of preserves, a gastronomic heritage that keeps the essence of the island alive even when temperatures drop below zero. "The island's cuisine has been a part of me since I was a child. My grandfather grew everything himself, fished, and preserved everything using methods that we would now consider almost archaic. My uncle was one of the last fishermen who smoked fish in a real ‘open chimney’: he spent hours in front of the embers, because one flame too many was enough to ruin everything. From him I learned that fire is an unforgiving master that demands absolute respect," recalls the chef.
The menu
Today, this philosophy takes shape in a menu that changes constantly but maintains a structure that enhances the combination of freshness and preservation. Examples include cold-matured scallops with pine needle oil, a bite that concentrates the essence of the coastal forest, where the resinous aroma combines with the sweetness of the shellfish. The Baltic trout is lightly smoked in the traditional island style, served with currant leaves salted the previous summer and a clear broth made from fermented trimmings, a direct homage to the techniques of his fisherman uncle. Vegetables take center stage in the dish of roasted celeriac glazed with a fermented wild apple distillate, an elegant concentration of earthiness and acidity.
The Growing Season returns in dishes such as zucchini flowers stuffed with wild herbs and fresh pollen, a green explosion that captures the island at the height of summer. Preservation Season, on the other hand, manifests itself in creations such as duck marinated and glazed with plums from their garden preserved in sweet brine, accompanied by cabbage marinated for two months: a dish that encapsulates the philosophy of the Nordic winter and the ability to combine strong flavors with sensory lightness.
In the kitchen, alongside Nicolai and supervising the large young team, is Francisco “Pancho” Cardenas, the affable chef from Chilean Patagonia: he serves us dishes such as king crab with leavened barley and “Havgus” cheese, Norwegian lobster with walnuts and lavender, and cold- and hot-smoked salmon with lavender-scented butter (prepared with meticulous attention to detail throughout the smoking, salting, and maturing processes). Alberto Segade Menendez is the restaurant manager and wine director, and no one better than him can entertain you with pairings of great wines from around the world and non-alcoholic juices designed for the magnificent menu served.
The team, the location, and the experience
But let's return to Norregaard, Rasmus Kofoed, and Magnus Klein Kofoed, all originally from Bornholm. Nicolai oversaw the kitchen, while Rasmus and Magnus focused on service, wines, and broader responsibilities related to managing and growing the restaurant. In 2022, Kyumin Hahn, a long-time friend and chef, also joined the restaurant's management as a partner. Kadeau has two main missions: to offer the flavors and traditions of Bornholm to customers from all over the world with an attentive, genuine, and personalized approach to service.
International success and fame also (and above all) came thanks to the opening of Kadeau Copenhagen in 2011, in the Christianshavn district. The entrance is deliberately discreet, a gray door with no flashy sign, a doorbell like in old townhouses. Inside, a warm world opens up to be experienced: a lit fireplace, a custom-made oak open kitchen, ceramics created by Torben Lov, one of the last artisans on the island who still works on a potter's wheel.
Each season brings a complete change in the mise en place, the artwork on the walls, and the collection of dishes. “We never use the same ceramics for two menus,” explains Nørregaard, “each recipe requires a container that belongs to it, a dialogue between shape, color, and texture.” Over the years, Kadeau has earned one Michelin star on the island, two stars in Copenhagen, and two Green Stars, awards that confirm the consistency of a project focused on environmental sustainability and human well-being: "Our philosophy is first and foremost about people. We have employees who have been with us for ten years, some of whom started here before starting a family. A restaurant can be a beautiful place, but if it doesn't create a healthy environment, then it doesn't really work," emphasizes CEO and co-founder Magnus Kofoed.
Kadeau's strength lies precisely in this combination of roots and innovation, memory and technique, identity and openness to the world. It is a restaurant that does not copy nature's expressions but translates them; it does not chase spectacle but depth. "Our goal is not to amaze but to make people understand what it means to live on an island, to depend on the seasons, to listen to what the earth wants to give you. Kadeau is Bornholm, and Bornholm is our home," says Nørregaard. It is from these authentic and deeply Nordic roots that he drew inspiration for the Kadeau project, becoming one of the leading figures in the Nordic cuisine movement.
And so, between a wild flower picked on the coast, a slowly smoked fish, and a fruit preserved in summer, Kadeau continues to build one of the most poetic and distinctive gastronomic narratives in Northern Europe, a story that smells of wood and salty wind.
Contacts
Kadeau Bornholm
Baunevej 18
3720 Åkirkeby
bornholm@kadeau.dk
+45 56 97 82 50
Kadeau Copenhagen
Wildersgade 10B
1408 København
kbh@kadeau.dk
+45 33 25 22 23
