Nicolai Nørregaard is the self-taught chef who has captivated the world's food lovers, turning their gaze towards Bornholm. On this Danish island, he runs Restaurant Kadeau, a celebration of Bornholm's unique flavours.
Restaurant Kadeau in Denmark is a tribute to New Nordic cuisine in general and the flavours of Bornholm in particular. What started as a summer cottage restaurant on Bornholm has become a success story with one Michelin star, and a two-star sister restaurant in Copenhagen. Our visit to Restaurant Kadeau begins in the restaurant's garden, a few kilometres away, with chef-owner Nicolai Nørregaard.
"My father started the garden ten years ago. He lived in Jutland for many years, and when he moved back, he wanted to do something for us," says Nicolai, pointing to the greenhouse and the large, lush garden next to it. Across the road is another garden plot with beehives, added later. The greenhouse is filled with tomato plants, and the garden grows onions, cabbage, pumpkin, zucchini, cucumber, asparagus, gooseberries, blackcurrants, mulberries, and aronia. Of course, there are also the season's first strawberries and kohlrabi. Not everything grown in the garden is used in the current season; some are preserved through pickling and fermenting. A significant portion also goes to the sister restaurant, Kadeau Copenhagen.
Restaurant Kadeau on Bornholm is beautifully located by the beach just south of Aakirkeby. Next to the brown cottage with white corners, the Danish flag, Dannebrog, waves against a clear blue sky. Inside, the grill's embers await to cool down; soon, one of the restaurant's signature dishes, the palthest, will be prepared. A meal at Kadeau showcases the essence of Bornholm: the sea, the beach, and the flavours. The evening's two signature dishes are salmon, both cold and hot-smoked, and the iconic palthest, derived from a traditional Bornholm dish, a kind of pancake made from leftover porridge. Kadeau's version uses various grains, pan-fried over an open fire and brushed with herb butter. The pancake is covered with grated Havgus cheese and decorated with flower petals from the garden and the wild. The palthest is a delight for all senses, eaten with the hands, the soft, warm cake's taste, combined with the sweet umami from the cheese and butter, fills one with joy.
Nicolai grew up in Svaneke, a charming tourist town by the water, with cobblestone streets and picturesque turn-of-the-century houses. He started cooking early at home but had no plans to become a chef. His parents were creative souls. Nicolai himself aimed to be an architect or, preferably, a musician. In his spare time, he played handball with his best friend Rasmus Kofoed, who is still his best friend and business partner at Kadeau.
"My parents divorced when I was young, and I lived with my mother. We moved frequently within Svaneke," he recalls. Eventually, they settled in a self-sufficient house on the town's outskirts, with greenhouses growing everything from biodynamic vegetables to chilli peppers and mangoes. They even purified their own water. "My mother's new husband was a vegetarian. He was fantastic and taught me everything about the vegetarian lifestyle. But if I wanted to eat meat or fish, I had to cook it myself, so I learned to cook early on," says Nicolai, who also often went to his grandparents for traditional Bornholm meals.
Nicolai describes his grandfather as his greatest culinary inspiration. His grandfather wasn't a chef but a postman, yet he was always in the kitchen, and in the outhouse, there was always a blue barrel filled with salted herring. "We fished, salted, and fermented together," Nicolai recalls. "Grandfather had an allotment and preserved marrow, pumpkin, berries, cucumbers, you name it. And I enjoyed helping. We dug up potatoes and picked broad beans. I was incredibly inspired by my family's respect for ingredients, both on my father's and mother's side."
As a restless teenager, the capital city called. Nicolai convinced his mother to let him study music at a high school in Copenhagen, which, in hindsight, he admits he wasn't ready for. But one thing led to another. He had a few unskilled internships and eventually ended up as a jack-of-all-trades at the prestigious Hotel D’Angleterre at Kongens Nytorv. He did well there and, at 18, was promoted to bellboy.
His childhood friends worked summer jobs at Restaurant Pakhuset on Bornholm, and after Nicolai became ill during a trip abroad, he decided to join them. "I missed home. We had fun and the atmosphere was relaxed. It was wonderful to see everyone again," he says. His best friend Rasmus Kofoed was also at Pakhuset, and they quickly became a dynamic duo in the service. They complement each other, and Nicolai says Rasmus has always been there for him. "He has cheered me on and supported me. He could have been my manager," Nicolai explains. "I'm introverted, creative, and quite sensitive, while he's extroverted and fantastic in service."
In 2007, both friends were living and working in Copenhagen but had long considered opening a restaurant on Bornholm. They wanted to do something new, something no one had experienced before. At the same time, the municipality of Bornholm had launched the Gourmet Bornholm project, which gathered and supported the island's producers. The project has grown and is now well-established. The summer cottage by the water, Strandhytten, was for sale, and the friends realised it was the perfect spot for Restaurant Kadeau. The name is their version of the French word cadeau, meaning gift. In the first year, they hired a head chef, but then they agreed to take turns in the kitchen and service. "Haha, I knew right away that Rasmus would be responsible for the dining room and I for the kitchen," says Nicolai.
This was shortly after the launch of the New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto. Bornholm is a small island with a unique microclimate that produces fantastic ingredients, and Rasmus and Nicolai quickly saw that their vision fit perfectly into the New Nordic movement. Nicolai quickly turned his attention to Noma's cuisine.
I dove deep into the Nordic manifesto, learned all about herbs and plants. Instead of talking about the Nordic region as a whole, we went hyper-local. And what we couldn't get here, like langoustines or scallops, we sourced from other Scandinavian countries.
In 2011, Kadeau Copenhagen opened. Success followed, and in 2018, the restaurant was awarded its second Michelin star.
Both Kadeau and the childhood friends from Svaneke have come a long way since the first menu with snacks and three courses for 300 Danish kroner. Today, Nicolai and his team work more than ever with seasons, preservation, and fermentation. This summer, the Bornholm restaurant has been complemented with Eco Beach Camp, spacious canvas tents on Balka Strand, just ten minutes by car from Kadeau. "We've been looking for accommodation options for our guests at Kadeau Bornholm for a long time, and this will be a perfect synergy. We're looking forward to a fantastic summer," says Nicolai.
Kadeau was founded in 2007 by childhood friends Nicolai Nørregaard, Rasmus Kofoed, and Magnus Klein Kofoed. In the Falstaff guide both restaurants have four forks, the restaurants on Bornholm, 95 points, and in Copenhagen, 99 points. Both restaurants also have a green star, representing sustainability in the Michelin guide.
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