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'Hygge' experience

Noma Under The Bridge

Noma's Under The Bridge is an informal dining experience located beneath Knippelsbro Bridge.
Gemma Z. Price
Tented in from the chill with plastic sheeting and gas heaters installed at intervals, warm light from woven wicker pendant lamps casting a rosy glow over the table and faces of people eating, it's the definition of "hygge" -- that now famous Danish concept of conviviality and contentment.
The crowd is also a little younger than the usual fine-dining set.
Most are in their 20s and 30s, much like the staff -- possibly because the 1,250 DKK ($200) price, inclusive of pour-your-own wine pairings, is more affordable than Noma's typical $480-plus charge.
Two seatings are offered for the prix fixe, five-course, family-style dinner and dishes are kept secret until they're served.
Richard Hart, founder of San Francisco eatery Tartine, is working with Noma until he opens his bakery in Copenhagen in 2018 and our first platters are heaped with huge hunks of crusty bread baked by the man himself, with mandatory slabs of Danish butter.
Welcome nibbles in the form of light, crispy tostadas quickly give way to bowls of warm mushroom broth with black trumpets, young spinach, grilled baby cucumber and wild Swedish blueberries.
The next course is a menu mainstay and a nod to the team's spring 2017 Noma Mexico pop-up in idyllic beach destination Tulum -- DIY cabbage leaf "tacos" topped with microgreens, edible flowers and smoked cod roe, accompanied by a cast-iron pot filled with whole, crunchy fried fjord shrimps and oil and salsa made with Mexican habanero and salted green gooseberry.
"It's that perfect bite of, 'OK, I'm tasting these flavors and feeling the influence of Mexico,' but whum, you're also in Denmark," says Katherine Bont, restaurant manager at Noma and team leader for its pop-ups.
It's also a clear departure from what I've come to expect from a restaurant named for the contraction of "nordisk mad," the Danish words for Nordic food.
But while it's run by the Noma team, Under The Bridge is not Noma.
One of the main differences is that it's not an outlet for Redzepi's cooking.
"René'll come down and taste and give his feedback, but really it's a chance for the young cooks in the kitchen to show their creative side and use ginger, chillis... things we wouldn't use at Noma," Bont explains.
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