{"id":238471,"date":"2026-01-09T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/?p=238471"},"modified":"2026-01-09T09:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T08:25:25","slug":"the-deliciousness-of-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2026\/01\/09\/the-deliciousness-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The deliciousness of change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Californian chef Matt Orlando<\/strong> has returned to Denmark after a two-year stint in Singapore. After positioning his former Copenhagen<\/strong> restaurant, Amass (2013\u20132022), as one of the world\u2019s most sustainable dining destinations, Orlando now takes that mindset several steps further with his new restaurant, ESSE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cured zander is served in a small ceramic bowl placed inside a larger one. The outer bowl is filled with dried, matte, powdery green tomato leaves and sprigs, creating a striking backdrop for the dish. The greens are not meant for eating, although tomato leaves are also used as an ingredient. Visually, the dish is striking, with reddish and yellow hues and glittering juices collecting at the bottom. The aromas are enticing and mouth-watering. Small pieces of cured fish blend with deeply flavoured preserved tomatoes, cream of toasted tomato leaf, and beach onions preserved in salt and vinegar. Chilli seeds and trimmings, which are smoked, dried and blended with oil, finish the dish, adding to the depth and addictiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An impressive 70 percent of the former staff from his restaurant Amass in Copenhagen, have returned to work with Matt Orlando at ESSE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since restaurant Amass went bankrupt and closed in 2022, they had dispersed across the restaurant world. \u201cI worked at Ernst in Berlin, and then in Australia,\u201d says one in the current staff. \u201cBut then Matt called.\u201d Matt Orlando has an impressive CV. Even before his years as head chef at restaurant Noma, he worked with Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin, Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat\u2019Saisons, Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, and Thomas Keller at Per Se.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another familiar element from that era that also returned is the fermented potato bread. A signature dish at Amass, it is now fermenting in large glass containers displayed on shelves in the dining room. After a week of lacto-fermentation, the potatoes are turned into flour and baked into a juicy bread with a sticky, caramelized surface rich in Maillard flavours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin,\u201d Orlando says as he serves another dish. The phrase is an accurate summary. The crown prince pumpkin, aged for 6\u20138 weeks, is used in its entirety and prepared using multiple techniques, resulting in a dish that feels both nuanced and complete. One key component is the intensely flavoured pumpkin sauce made from the skin. “The hard outer skin is ground up with onions and garlic and roasted in a pot until it is deep and caramelized in color and flavor, says Orlando. \u201dWe then puree it with honey and miso to create a \u2019hoisin”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Those familiar with the creative energy of the southern part of Copenhagen\u2019s former industrial harbour\u2014home to Refshalv\u00f8en, Noma, Alchemist, and bordering the herb-scented gardens of Christiania\u2014may want to turn their attention north. Nordhavn, covering more than two square kilometres, is undergoing a long-term transformation scheduled to run until around 2060. Its metro station opened in 2020, and the ambition is to create what planners call the world\u2019s first true \u201cfive-minute city”. The neighbourhood is designed to reduce the need for transportation, with daily necessities available within walking distance once the area is complete. The architecture and urban planning promote a largely car-free lifestyle, dominated by pedestrian streets. The atmosphere is so clean and orderly that it almost makes you want to take off your shoes outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ESSE occupies a brick warehouse built in 1895, with high ceilings and an open kitchen.<\/mark> Hanging from the ceiling are reinterpretations of Poul Henningsen\u2019s iconic artichoke lamp, made from leftover oak wine barrels. Two large wooden storage shelves filled with preserved and fermenting vegetables\u2014forming a patchwork of colours\u2014define the dining room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Further out toward the sea in Nordhavn is one of ESSE\u2019s close collaborators: the beverage producer Muri Drinks. Working under the motto \u201cliquid gastronomy,\u201d the team at Muri Drinks<\/strong>, led by founder Murray Paterson, meticulously assembles cuv\u00e9es of non-alcoholic beverages. These are dry, complex, well-balanced beverages often created using a number of fermentation methods, ingredients and techniques, like kvass, water kefir, kombucha, wine yeast, lacto-fermentation, and koji. Of the company\u2019s eight full-time employees, three are chefs with backgrounds in kitchens such as Mugaritz in the Basque Country and Copenhagen\u2019s Alchemist. The collaboration works both ways. The teams co-create beverages tailored for the menu at ESSE, often made from side streams from the restaurant<\/mark>. Like a pairing for the cured zander and the potato bread: a beverage made from juniper kefir, pear skin infusion, and fermented gooseberry juice. It\u2019s spot on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At ESSE, they pressure cook their fish stock. The high temperature not only gives great extraction of flavor, but also breaks down the bones. This gives the background to another dish: the fish bone noodles. \u201dWe puree the bones until they are completely smooth, add egg yolk and starch, make a dough from that mixture and then make noodles from that dough. The protein and collagen help with the texture of the noodles as well.\u201d In a blind test, no one would guess these noodles are made from fish bones. The texture and flavor are just too good, too authentic. Adding to the impression is the aromatic broth with crunchy turnips, red shiso and thin, extraordinarily flavorful slices of bottarga-looking, dried egg yolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The beetroot skewers have an exceptionally appetizing, somewhat chewy consistency, resembling smoked and dried charcuterie with their dense umami flavor. The skewers are made by first roasting the beets in spent coffee grounds, then slicing them thin, drying and rehydrating them in a reduction of beet juice. Add sunflower seed yoghurt and salted quince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meal concludes with a cookie with yummy, dense chocolate, or is it really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cookie is flavored with THIC, a product developed by Orlando\u2019s startup, Endless Food Co, which he founded with two chef-colleagues. The list of ingredients of the chocolate alternative includes spent brewery grain and cacao shells, along with a few closely guarded components. It contains no palm oil or additives and, according to Orlando, is not a particularly complicated product to make, although the exact process is also a secret. Prior to being used in the cookie served with whipped cream at ESSE, THIC has been introduced to the market in a large-scale collaboration with 7-Eleven stores across Denmark and other Nordic countries, replacing chocolate in their cookies. The result has been commercially successful. \u201cNot only did cookie sales increase,\u201d Orlando says, \u201cbut they didn\u2019t receive a single complaint. If we had announced from the start that this wasn\u2019t chocolate, people would already have decided they didn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Orlando, this serves as an important lesson in how to normalize alternative ingredients and ways of thinking about food. The way to communicate ideas is not necessarily through detailed information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re trying to tell this story through deliciousness. Because that\u2019s the only way we\u2019ll get through to people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A vision of ESSE is to be a source of inspiration and a library of techniques and practices for other restaurants with similar mindsets. Restaurants that are concerned with where and how their vegetables are produced, how the fish they serve is caught, and how they treat produce and resources with utmost respect. Therefore, ESSE will be a 100 percent open-source restaurant.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m working on a real strategy to put everything out digitally,\u201d says Orlando. For him, it\u2019s all about taste. “I don\u2019t care if your product has the least environmental impact, I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s the most sustainable. If it\u2019s not super-delicious, it is irrelevant, completely irrelevant, it will do more harm than good, deliciousness must be the driver<\/mark>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Californian chef Matt Orlando has returned to Denmark after a two-year stint in Singapore. After positioning his former Copenhagen restaurant, Amass (2013\u20132022), as one of the world\u2019s most sustainable dining destinations, Orlando now takes that mindset several steps further with his new restaurant, ESSE. The cured zander is served in a small ceramic bowl placed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":238167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"standard-left","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"selected_color":"","palette":"{\"media_id\":238167,\"colors\":[[48,34,28],[202,169,139],[128,97,77],[142,158,170],[116,133,154]],\"selected\":\"rgb(48, 34, 28)\",\"gradients\":{\"a1\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f6\",\"#ffdbcd\",\"#ffb595\",\"#f8905f\",\"#d87648\",\"#b85e31\",\"#7a3004\",\"#461700\",\"#360f00\",\"#240800\"],\"a2\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f6\",\"#ffdbcd\",\"#e6bead\",\"#c9a393\",\"#ad897a\",\"#917061\",\"#5d4034\",\"#382015\",\"#2c160c\",\"#1f0c04\"],\"a3\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff9ea\",\"#eee3a9\",\"#d2c78f\",\"#b6ac76\",\"#9a925e\",\"#807847\",\"#4e471b\",\"#2b2600\",\"#201c00\",\"#141100\"],\"n1\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f6\",\"#ede0db\",\"#d0c4c0\",\"#b4a9a5\",\"#998f8b\",\"#7f7572\",\"#4d4542\",\"#2b2422\",\"#201a18\",\"#15100d\"],\"n2\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f6\",\"#f5ded5\",\"#d8c2ba\",\"#bba79f\",\"#a08d85\",\"#85736c\",\"#52443d\",\"#30231e\",\"#251914\",\"#190e0a\"],\"error\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ffdad6\",\"#ffb4ab\",\"#ff897d\",\"#ff5449\",\"#de3730\",\"#93000a\",\"#540003\",\"#410002\",\"#2d0001\"]}}","authors":"[{\"role\":\"Words by\",\"related\":\"\",\"title\":\"Per Styregard\",\"unique_id\":\"MjA3MDA1NzYzNTE2NTkwNzIw\"},{\"role\":\"Photos by\",\"related\":\"\",\"title\":\"Emily Wilson Photography & Film\",\"unique_id\":\"NjA5MjI2MDM0MjY4MTAwMzA=\"}]","magazine_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1615],"tags":[],"location":[1621,1630,1631],"class_list":["post-238471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mini-story","location-europe","location-denmark","location-copenhagen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238471"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238633,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238471\/revisions\/238633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238471"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=238471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}