108

Kristian Baumann was born in Seoul and adopted by his Danish parents at four months old. He helped Christian Puglisi open Relae and then moved on to work in the Noma kitchens under Rene Redzepi until he opened 108 in 2016. In 2017, he earned a Michelin star at the age of 29. In 2018, 108 entered the list of 100 best restaurants at position 98. Our trip to the restaurant was to celebrate my birthday and also bid a fond farewell to Copenhagen, our home for the past three years.

The bright and airy space had a great industrial feel but did make for a louder than average eating experience. The service throughout the meal was very good but there were several points in the presentations where I asked for them to repeat what they said. We chose the full taste of 108: tasting menu with wine pairings. We started with a lovely bubbly from Domaine Belluard called Les Perles du Mont Blanc. Made from 100% Gringet grapes, this sparkling wine tasted of stone fruit and minerals and had tight, tiny bubbles.

This paired very nicely with the first course of green peas with last years ceps. The fresh, perfectly presented peas were topped with sauteed ceps and herb flowers. The ceps added a nice earthy flavor to the bright flavor of the peas. Our next course was paired with La Sorga blanc, a beautiful orange wine from Mauzac blanc grapes with a nice crisp, citrusy taste. This also was a great pairing with greens and herbs from Krogerup with roasted seaweed. Krogerup is an organic farm north of Copenhagen. This salad was served with a frozen citrus sorbet dressing that was simply spectacular. Then came an Austrian white blend from Strohmeier. Their Kristall Weiss No 1 wine was minerally and acidic with grapefruit and fig notes. This sweet and sour wine was paired with Baumann’s sweet and sour dish: Lobster claw with white currents. This was nice but the currents were pretty bitter and did overpower the sweetness of the lobster. It was a great play on sweet and sour but I would recommend only using half the currents on this dish. 

We continued with the Kristall Weiss No 1 to pair with the marinated courgettes with smoked egg yolks. This was fine but nothing special and very similar to a not-so-thrilling dish we had at Relae. They next poured us Le Petit Domaine de Gimios Muscat Sec des Roumanis. Sweet muscat smell melds into a tropical taste that finishes with iron and chalk notes in this intriguing wine. This was served with raw grilled lobster tail with summer flowers. The pine branch was interesting but I think it would’ve been better to have the server shake it so the petals and herbs dusted the lobster. Instead we were left to do it ourselves and then we had this awkward bush on the side of the plate while we were trying not to eat pine with the perfectly prepared lobster.

Alessandro Viola Note di Rosso was the lone red wine we received. This Sicilian wine made with Nero d’Avola and Syrah had notes of red fruit, licorice, toasted nut and balsamic. It paired very nicely with the grilled quail with beetroot and spices. Lick your plate delicious. They gave us an Armagnac to pair with the dessert courses, hinting at the typical Danish idea that dessert should not be overly sweet. The sorbet of wild black currents with hazelnut milk was a pretty and refreshing dessert. Then our final dessert was Rausu kombu ice cream with 6g of Royal Belgian Caviar. This kelp broth, usually used to create Miso soup, makes a very interesting ice cream when adding a bit of sweetness from hazelnut milk and salt from the caviar. I really liked this, but my husband did not. He loves his sweet desserts and is not a huge ice cream fan to begin with so I think that is why he was disappointed.

Overall, this was a very nice evening. There were hiccups and little changes I would have made, as noted, but 108 deserves its recognition. It is a champion of foraging and fermenting of the New Nordic ideology and if you enjoy that style of cuisine, you will love 108.

108, Strandgade 108, 1401 København, Denmark; Tel. +45 3296 3292; Reservations recommended; Mon – Sun 5PM – 12AM.