NYC Tastes

Our one and only night in Iceland just happened to coincide with the Iceland Beer Week kickoff at Mikkeller & Friends.  The Swedish guys from Brewski were in house along with hometown Iceland Kex Brewing to launch their collaboration beer Cookie Jar. Billed as a New England style IPA this was made with wheat, oats, malted barley and a ton of hops creating that signature hazy orange body, thick frothy head and lots of bright citrus flavors. This beer was so good we immediately ordered another one along with the Brewski pale ale Mangohallonfeber which was a juicy blast of mango, pineapple and grapefruit.   We had been to the Mikkeller & Friends in Copenhagen before which was casual and cozy but this one was definitely on the scary side.  Big red jesters were painted on the wall while dolls heads served as the centerpiece for the back of the room.  If I wasn't enjoying the Brewski beers so much I probably would have been a bit freaked out but damn...

We loved our lunch at Manfred's so much we decided to finish out the week right back where we started with brunch on Sunday. This time we opted against the Chef's tasting and went a la carte starting with one of their signature dishes the Beef Tartare. This was chopped a bit more coarse than the one I just had at Bastard with a sprinkle of sourdough chips on top and a dollop of creamy horseradish sauce on the bottom.  It was salty and rich with a nice satisfying crunch from the chips. Chicken Confit with ramson and rhubarab had a tangy asian flare from the addition of lemongrass and suger. The Roasted Carrots with Swiss Chard, creme friache and cous cous had us a bit confused at first.  I've honestly never eaten a purple carrot before but the sweetness of the veggie really shined alongside the nutty mound of cous cous. We finished up our lunch with one last beer over at Mikkeller and Friends before heading ...

Friday we got up bright and early and took a cab over to Sparta Hallen for the Copenhagen Beer Celebration.  This festival is the brain child of Mikkel Borg Bjergsø of Mikkeller brewing who has organized it since 2010.  Forty brewer's were in attendance from around the world, offering two different beers at each four hour session over the course of two days.  We had tickets to three of the four and let me tell you it was easily the best beer festival any of us have attended.  Besides some serious problems with purchasing the actual tickets months ago (which was the ticketing site Billetlugen's fault) the event was pretty flawless. We showed up right around 9:30 and got in the small line that had formed outside for the 10:00 AM start.  After a quick check of our tickets we were handed our glasses and walked inside to begin the next 8 hours of beer tasting.  The event had been sold out for months, but tickets were so limited that there was...

Our first night in Copenhagen we didn't do very much.  Mr. T. was feeling pretty wiped out again from the flight/illness so we just chilled at the hotel. Tuesday morning we awoke bright and early, both feeling pretty darn awesome.  My jet lag was gone and Mr. T was feeling the best he had in days!  We spent the morning exploring the city.  We walked past Tivoli and the National Museum, over to Christiania and then back through the Assistens Cemetery which lead us to our first food stop in Copenhagen Manfred's and Vin. Manfred's is the sister restaurant of Relae, one of the highest rated restaurants in the world.  In fact it sits right across the street from Relae with a more casual atmosphere and  friendlier price point.  We got a lovely table on the cobblestone street out front and ordered the "Small Lunch Hunger"...a Chef's Choice tasting menu of five dishes to be shared between the two of us.  Over the next hour Mr. T and I would receiv...