ALCHEMIST is a universe that fuses gastronomy, theater, art with science, technology and design to create an all-encompassing and dramatic sensory experience where taste, high-quality ingredients and skillful preparation of food go beyond the plate, seeping into the immediate physical environment outside time and space.
Along with numerous awards, in 2020 ALCHEMIST was awarded 2 Michelin stars, and in 2021 it was ranked 58th on the list of the “50 best restaurants in the world”.
The ALCHEMIST kitchen is run by a young and talented award-winning chef Rasmus Munk, who also owns the restaurant together with former CEO of Saxo Bank, Lars Seier Christensen.
In the Photo: Head Chef Rasmus Munk
Rasmus started his career at 22 at Treetop in Vejle, where he started combining ingredients, textures, and flavors in new ways, which ultimately led to the opening of the first ALCHEMIST in Copenhagen in 2015. In 2019, after two years of building, a new incarnation of ALCHEMIST opened in an old shipyard in industrial district of Refshaleøen.
Here Rasmus could realize his dream and vision of “Holistic Cuisine” where art and performance augment the dining experience. Munk’s thought of provoking, surprising and humoristic gastronomy is often orchestrated to initiate and support debate on social and ethical issues, while providing a complete sensory experience without losing sight of the taste that is always in the spotlight.
“Gourmet cuisine and sophisticated cooking were far from my culinary upbringing, which was dominated by frozen pizzas, powdered sauces and other convenience foods, — Rasmus says. — I was destined to “become either a mechanic or join a biker gang” (smiles). Thanks to a friend who convinced me to join him at the catering college, my life took an unexpected turn. I loved cooking so much that I realized it was my calling and never looked back again”.
The ALCHEMIST universe, spanning 2,200 square meters of the former Royal Danish Theater, begins with massive 100 square feet and 2 tons of bronze doors, designed by Danish artist Maria Rubinke, slowly and mysteriously opening the entrance to the restaurant’s mysterious world.
No Rasmus Munk designed and drew the first plans of the new ALCHEMIST himself back in 2016. Architect Michael Duncalf of Duncalf Ltd (UK) got involved in the end of 2017. The interior at Alchemist is contemporary with a high focus on aesthetics, art and technology, far away from the color palette and the interior styles that characterize a traditional restaurant. The color palette is dark and mysterious with no natural light seeping into the restaurant. The idea behind the design is to give the impression of a place outside time and space.
Guests pass through two sensory rooms during the dining experience, which are regularly changed and filled with amazing interactive presentation elements.
The first room is themed on music in collaboration with symphony orchestra Copenhagen Phil.
Three violinists rotate in taking on the part of “Lulu” every evening, performing a 19th century emigrant song “We sold our homes” in a dramatic, dark setting for arriving parties of guests at the very start of the evening.
Guests then enter the main living room, where a gastronomic journey through the restaurant begins. The height from floor to ceiling in the main lounge is over 22 meters with a glass wall providing views of the R&D kitchen. The main lounge overlooks the three-story wine cellar (high is 15 meters), which holds 10,000 bottles of wine. Wine Director Helle Hasting has curated ALCHEMIST’s extensive wine list.
The ALCHEMIST experience lasts between three and six hours. There are around 45 – 50 edible impressions during the experience. The menu is also available in vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian version with due notice. There are 3 set wine pairings, an alcohol-free pairing based around tea, kombucha and water kefir and one combo pairing available.
The gastronomic journey opens with snacks, and as an aperitif to them, a cocktail, which you can choose from a sensory cocktail list.
— Daisy…
— Greed…
— Smokey ball…
— The Dumpling
A cotton candy dumpling casing made from the Japanese sugar wasanbon filled with traditional Asian flavors — Asian fresh herbs are wrapped in a gel made from a fish sauce.
— The Omelette
“After working for a few years in a culinary school, and having eaten hundreds of bad omelets on my travels, I decided to create my perfect omelet in which a membrane made from egg yolk is filled with an egg yolk- and Comté cheese filling that has been carefully heated to 48 degrees to retain the flavor of raw egg yolk” — says Rasmus.
The omelet is topped with paper thin lardo, black truffles and brown butter.
— Sunburnt Bikini
The ham and cheese “Bikini toast” is a Barcelona classic, named after the Bikini Concert hall where it was first served. The Alchemist version is made with sweet and chewy mochi dough, filled with Gruyére cheese and Joselito ham.
The heart of the restaurant consists of a gigantic planetarium Dome where guests dine surrounded by artful projections and stunning views, conjuring up and enhancing moods and statements. Guests find themselves either under the sea surrounded by jellyfish floating among plastic bags, or in space, looking at the earth, or in a tropical forest among exotic plants and birdsong, or in the sparkle of the northern lights.
The entire experience is accompanied by musical scores created by the music producer and composer Lars Bork Andersen with the composition “A voyage of sound through mystical spaces”.
But the bulk of the drama in ALCHEMIST happens on the plates: layers of subtext, both humorous, provocative, political and just plain delicious.
— 1984
The dish is inspired by the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. The main character in the book works at The Ministry of Truth, where historical facets are constantly falsified. The phrase “Big Brother is watching you” screams out from the posters in London in 1984. And today information is collected through social media.
The pupil of the eye is filled with white asparagus juice, pistachios and raw hamachi, topped with caviar and a fish eye gel.
— Double Trouble
Due to the decline of their natural predators the Moon jellyfish is becoming an invasive species in the Baltic and North Seas. In this dish it is combined it with another invasive species, rosa rugosa – a non-native plant that is taking over the Danish coastline.
It is served with a nuoc mam sauce with coriander, fish sauce, green chilies, gyokuro tea and topped with beach herbs.
— Ankimo…
Kombucha Orchid & Hops
— Lobster Claw…
— Plastic Fantastic
“The interesting fact that up to one third of all cod caught in Northern Europe contain plastic. Even in the Mariana Trench at 11 kms depth microplastics are found in the tiny shellfish who live there. — says Rasmus. — In my interpretation, grilled cod is soaked in smoked bone marrow and is topped with a cream of Comté cheese.
And the “fantastic plastic” that tops the dish is made from a dehydrated cod skin bouillon”.
— Butterfly…
— Tongue Kiss
A kiss with the tongue is one of the most intriguing dishes, it’s served on a silicone tongue, cast from a real human tongue. It is a seasonal dish so the toppings change accordingly.
— Food for Thought
Its another one of the most interesting and unusual moments served in a silicone human head.
This dish is a tribute to foie gras producer Eduardo Sousa who figured out a way to produce natural foie gras from wild geese that land in Spain once a year to feast on acorns and olives before migrating further south. Sautéed foie gras in a Madeira casing topped with yuzu gel and aerated foie gras.
— Mycelium
The dish is a tribute to one of the world’s largest organisms. Mushrooms spread their threadlike thin hyphae up to several kilometers underground, creating a web of mycelium, which distributes energy between ecosystems.
“In this dish we toy with the idea of a mushroom soup. In a petri dish a gel of mushroom broth and malt extract is inoculated with oyster mushroom mycelium that slowly grows into a beautiful weblike pattern. It is topped with an emulsified mushroom soup and apple vinegar and is served with coffee kefir”, — says Rasmus.
— Airy Bread… / Alchemist Moonlight Kombucha
— Burnout Chicken…
The dessert part of the evening opens with:
— Antwitch
Ants are a very common ingredient in many cultures, especially in Asia and Africa, where they are appreciated for their citrusy flavor. In this ice cream sandwich, all elements contain ants.
The ice cream in the middle is made by combining sheep’s milk and fresh ants and the crackers are made from flour and ant powder.
— Andy Warhol
An interpretation of Andy Warhol’s iconic banana that first appeared on the sleeve of the Velvet Underground & Nico album from 1967.
Under a crispy casing made from banana juice lies a sorbet made from Manzano bananas, paired with South American flavors like cachaça, tonka beans and caramelized egg yolk.
— Guilty Pleasure…
After planetarium Dome the guest unexpectedly finds himself in another sensory room. It’s a Pink installation room themed the contrast between complying with authoritative social rules and a longing to let loose.
The gastronomic performance ends in the small Balcony lounge, where you can relax after your experiences, talk about your emotions, have a cocktail and enjoy sweet delicacies from Rasmus Munk.
One of the most unusual and unexpected cocktails is Martini with rabbit ears tincture.
— Amber
Red wood ants are trapped in a honey and ginger candy (pate de fruit with a beeswax and sugar shell). On the coast of Jutland, where Rasmus was born and raised, it is common to hunt for amber on the beaches.
To check if this is real amber and not glass, you need to bite it.
— Happy Ending
A chocolate shell filled with cashew nut crème and a purée from the fruit Brother heart (custard apple/cherimoya). It is wrapped in gold leaf.
“I think this is just the beginning of what holistic cuisine and this restaurant can be, — said Rasmus in conclusion, — we pride ourselves on creating food for thought and spaces that provide the ideal setting for this. Our cooperation with different people from theater, cinema, even with psychologists and magicians, and people from many other professional fields gives us the basis for creating new experiments and unique opportunities to translate them into our work”.
ALCHEMIST
Opening hours: Wed-Sat 5pm-00am
Address: Refshalevej 173C, DK-1432 Copenhagen
Contacts: info@alchemist.dk;
Tel. +45 31 71 61 61 (open Monday to Friday 10 am – 4 pm)
Instagram: @restaurantalchemist, @rasmusmunkalchemist
Editor-in-chief: Patricia Kolari
Text Writer: Marina Timoshevskaya
Technical Director: Evgeny Fedorov
Photos: EATWEEK GUIDE
