On Christianshavns Volde, old trees die and are felled in rows when spring leaves them as tree skeletons without leaves.
But up around the old mill, the enormous trees spread their green crowns and protect a special piece of history.
Since 1669, the building has been a post mill, a Dutch windmill factory, a private home, and a brunch restaurant in the 1990s, where Bastionen and Løven were packed with scrambled eggs and guests.
Most recently, restaurant Lola occupied the address with a postmodern, kaleidoscopic decor that was quite cool in its own way.
But this mill has its own story to tell, so it doesn’t hurt to tone it down, as the new restaurant Lille Mølle has done with a super classic decor.
It’s exclusive with high panels and pillow-thick tablecloths, yet so calm and homely that you feel included and grounded in the creaking mill.
The young chef Christoffer Sørensen has been considered one of the country’s greatest talents since his time at Studio – awarded Michelin’s Young Chef Award in 2021 – and if you’re willing to pay 1,795 kroner for exceptionally good food, you can safely do so at Lille Mølle. It was mind-blowingly good right from the start.
And the start was a serious round of snacks that revealed a lot about the level of ambition.
After a fresh and finely tuned bite of oysters with pear and verbena in a crunchy light crustade, we had a small crispy tart with the most delicious shrimps, sustainably caught in traps. Animal welfare is important at Lille Mølle.
The shrimp’s subtle sweetness stood out nicely between salted cherries, preserved tomato, and a precisely unfolded flavor from a pickled rosehip.
A small pancake of almond and fermented potatoes was fried in marrow and topped with a teaspoon of luxuriously creamy Gold Caviar from white sturgeon and pickled elderflowers, where both acidity and flower perfectly complemented the whole.
Then came the bomb. A clear, mahogany-dark, concentrated mushroom consommé boiled down with porcini, chanterelle, truffle, and probably also black trumpet was infused with Asian herbs in a coffee siphon at the table.
It would have been enough on its own, but served with smoked cream on top, it was black magic and a trip to the underworld. I could have stood up and gone home happy right there.
Top class
The larger dishes started with sturgeon in Elegance Caviar Oscietra Classic, whose rich, lightly salted, and nutty flavor beautifully complemented hazelnuts, which – as always – pair well with cauliflower, while a caramelized cream united it all in world-class.
There are two wine menus to choose from. One with more conventional wines for 1,495 kroner for eight glasses and a so-called ’Prestige’ menu for 2,295 kroner for eight glasses, where restaurant manager and sommelier Jesper Nielsen ventures into more experiments.
I had to try the latter, not least because of a 30-year-old Amontillado sherry NV from Bodegas Tradicion in Jerez. Well, I mean. Liquid copper with a light oxidative current through nuances of nuts, rum, dried fruit in a deep umami, dry and salt structured. I died a little with each sip.
My guest had the other wine menu, so we didn’t miss the ’Les Abeilles’ (2023) from Pierre Girardin. A fresh and quite intense and concentrated white wine with chalky minerality and citrus fruit, but also with nuts and butter to balance the dry, slightly acidic expression. Top class.
There were overwhelmingly many top experiences among the remaining red, white, and sweet glasses, which were perfectly paired with the dishes. Wine enthusiasts are guaranteed a great experience at Lille Mølle.
I’d rather talk about the bread. Their mix of brioche and milk bread spread with insanely good homemade butter will stand crispy, spongy, and irresistible in my memory forever.
Golden and Disney-delicious
So will the poached turbot. I simply haven’t had the sea’s best fish so well prepared before. It almost had the clear sheen of raw meat, but transparent milky white, shiny, soft, and firm with a poetically fine flavor without lacking the turbot’s richness.
It was served in an ultra-delicious champagne sauce with popping dots of caviar and roe. But honestly. You had me at turbot.
A ten-armed squid cut into ghostly light noodles was almost drowning in the delicious chicken broth infused with chicken skin, packed with coriander, fermented cucumbers, and seaweed. But in each bite, it emerged and rounded off beautifully, lightly, and softly with just the right amount of detectable sweetness and sea flavor. That’s all it took.
A highlight was the grilled gray duck breast, lying golden and Disney-deliciously shiny in a circle of red wine sauce with Sichuan pepper and liver sauce with cognac. Crunchy crispy and dripping juicy, classic yakitori style, but here executed perfectly. Christmas duck will be ridiculous this year after this.
The desserts continued the high level, including a dazzling øllebrød made from the house’s bread scraps and umami-boosted by a caramel spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, star anise, and tonka bean. At the bottom lay malt ice cream, bread crusts, and buttermilk caramel.
We had coffee, petit four, and avec in an adjoining living room that stood untouched like a museum. But here there was life. History is no longer museum-like at Lille Mølle.
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