Lunch at a Smoresbrod Institution

Smoresbrod (or Danish open-faced sandwiches) can be found at any café on every corner in Copenhagen, oftentimes displayed in the window, inviting you to come and devour. However, one place in particular, or I should say, one woman in particular is known for having the best smoresbrod in all of Denmark. Her name is Ida Davidsen, and the other week I had the pleasure of being placed in her capable hands for a lunch I will never forget.

Ida Davidsen is like the Ina Garten of Denmark. Warm, friendly, and inviting, she has been featured not only on the Food Network, but also the Travel Channel, and Gourmet Magazine, just to name a few. She is known as the “Queen of Smoresbrod”, as she takes the sandwich to a whole new level with her seemingly endless combinations of toppings from the best and freshest ingredients. She takes great pride in what she does, and she wants you to get as excited about food as she is.

So walking into her restaurant with my friend Caroline on a Monday afternoon, I should not have been surprised to her behind the counter, in her trademark crisp, white dress, eagerly pointing out the ingredients on every displayed sandwich (there were about a hundred of them) to a mix of regular and clearly tourist customers. But I was surprised. I have been lucky enough to eat at several celebrity chef restaurants, but not once have I seen any of them presiding over the place that made them so famous. Ida ran back and forth between the kitchen where the sandwiches were prepared fresh, and the counter, making sure that every customer was well taken care of. Perhaps that is the difference. While celebrity chefs cash in on US capitalism by hopping around to their three or four restaurants, keeping to the kitchen to check on the food they no longer prepare themselves, Ida has one restaurant that she continually perfects not only with delicious food, but stellar customer service.

Approaching the counter of never-ending smoresbrod, I certainly felt like the overwhelmed American tourist. There were no signs explaining the ingredients, and EVERYTHING looked absolutely divine. After staring hopelessly for a few seconds, Ida popped over with a huge smile and welcomed us, telling us how we had to order a fish sandwich, then a meat sandwich. We had no qualms with that! She then went on to explain every sandwich in the case, each with a slightly different tone of affection. Sandwiches with everything from herring, salmon, caviar, beef, egg, fried onions – I knew no matter what I chose it would be good. Casually I asked Ida which one was her favorite. She looked at me as though I had asked her to pick her favorite child. Then she responded, “my dear, I love them all!”

In the end I opted for a smoresbrod with small Danish shrimp that were in season, topped with asparagus and a cream sauce that was lightly broiled until the top was brown and nutty. My friend chose a smoked salmon and wasabi cream roulade of sorts, topped with a healthy amount of salmon roe. As we oohed and aahed over our meal, we wondered how we would fit another meat-based sandwich into our bellies. We were feeling pretty satisfied. However, when our second plates were placed down a few minutes later, we knew that we would have no problem.

My second sandwich consisted of the most perfect combination of rugbrod, medium-rare roast beef, house-pickled vegetables, and a perfectly fried egg on top, with the yolk just begging to be poked. The richness of the egg and steak with the acid and slight sweetness of the vegetables, all on top of the perfect base of hearty rugbrod – my mouth was in absolute taste bud heaven. I have never tasted such complexity in a sandwich before. Words were just not good enough to descibe what we were eating, so Caroline, who had a similar sandwich topped with fried onions, and I just stared at each other, seriously nodding our heads with furrowed brow, before tucking into our plates with complete and utter silence.

my second sandwich. yum!

After coming extremely close to licking our plates clean, Ida came over to our table, like she does with everyone, and asked us if we were enjoying our meal. We told her how delicious it was and how much we had been looking forward to coming to her restaurant. She laughed, and hugged us both. Danish Ina Garten hugged me! Needless to say we both floated out of the restaurant on a food-coma cloud. Not only were we ridiculously well fed, we were nourished, body and soul. I believe that is the whole point behind smoresbrod. Not only does it nourish the average Dane everyday of the week, it can also show Danish hospitality at its finest.

me and ida davidsen!