Dinner at Le Sommelier

We had a date at 8pm on Saturday evening – dinner at Le Sommelier, Copenhagen. After a day spent partly on a bus and also having eaten lunch, we needed to get some exercise before we embarked on a gourmet meal at this, one of Copenhagen’s leading restaurants. So we declined our host’s offer of a taxi and opted to walk to Bredgade, instead. We strolled along H C Andersens Boulevard, passing Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and a busy, noisy Tivoli Gardens. Here people were enjoying all this famous entertainment park has to offer. This year ‘Oliver’ is the extremely popular show on at Tivoli theatre, but there are also all the traditional entertainments – the fairground rides, restaurants and bars. The Star Flyer is this year’s new attraction, from where squeals of joy – or terror – were emanating! The lights at Tivoli are lovely – with buildings outlined like gingerbread houses, willow trees weeping lights into the lake, and coloured lights looking like bushes of flowers along the waterside.
We crossed the road towards the Radhuspladsen, where there is a lovely Christmas tree decorated with lights and traditional heart decorations. Apparently, the heart decorations we see all over Scandinavia are pagan symbols. They originated back when Christianity came to the North and the pagan tradition of human sacrifice was abandoned. Before then, hearts had been cut out of the sacrificial victims, chopped up and scattered across the fields to ensure the ‘gods’ would bring a bountiful year. Our route then took us down Stroget all the way to Kongs Nytorv, where we watched the intrepid skaters negotiate the ice-skating circuit set up around the centre of the square. Across the square there is the Christmas market down the Nyhavn, where all sorts of grockle-ish souvenirs are on sale. The cafes provide blankets and brolleys with heaters for their ‘al fresco’ guests and much Jul Glogg and sausage can be bought and consumed. We soon headed for Bredgade to meet up with the rest of the party.
Le Sommelier is one of Copenhagen’s finest restaurants and we ate in one of their smaller rooms, being a party of nine. Some of us opted for their four course Christmas menu, others ate a la carte. The Christmas menu began with a lobster consommé with scallop ravioli; roasted cod with salted foie gras on celeriac mash; a main course of venison medallion served with a roast parsnip, dried cranberries and a cep sauce; and finally a cherry clafoutis. The a la carte choice was a warm goat’s cheese salad followed by fish of the day, which was flounder; and finally they chose pancakes with orange sauce and vanilla ice cream. It was so delicious and beautifully presented with a full explanation of each dish as it was served. We drank some lovely wine; first a Pouilly Fume and then Gevrey Chambertin, which was perfect with the venison.
When the meal was over, we again decided to walk back to the Marriott and this time we were joined by a majority of the diners wishing to aid digestion and thus a good night’s sleep. It was so enjoyable wandering back through the seasonally lit streets thronged with people all enjoying the crisp cold evening in Copenhagen. We said our goodnights and goodbyes as we all would go our separate ways tomorrow, and vanished up into our rooms. As I closed the curtains, I heard a few distant bangs and realised that somewhere there were fireworks. Yes! Just down by the bridge to the right of the hotel someone was having a display, and so our day was rounded off by a short celebratory firework display. What a fitting end to a day of celebration.