Ive inadvertently followed chef Jonathan's career from the early days at Noma, the whole lifetime…read moreof Relæ and now Jatak. It seems to be the hottest ticket in town and I thought we weren't going when the waitlist opened up. Lucky us...
On the border of Frederiksberg/Nørrebro, it took over the old Gilt bar space. It's an open kitchen with a small counter and then a handful of dining room tables. A very international staff mans the front and back of house and sometimes it's hard to tell who's who. As the menu goes along you then see the breakdown of expertise...
Relæ is almost an indescribable flavor experience that often presented things on paper that didn't make sense but were ultimately delicious. It qa often challenging in the best possible way but I do know some who found it inedible. But one likes what one likes.
At Jatak the techniques of Relæjave been made leas challenging if one has tried Chinese cuisine specifically from the Cantonese canon. Luckily I grew ip where the two best Chinese places were Cantonese and so I was exposed to a base understanding of the cuisine "s traditional flavors. Plays on the Cantonese pastries, steamed fish, wontons, etc are smattered throughout with a plethora of Danish ingredients and sometimes the melding of techniques. It's a concise and light menu though, not the gut busting examples of dim sum, chow fun, claypots and such ive experienced where i grew up. Not that the latter is a bad thing it's just sometimes you don't want to be comatose after.
Beautiful food, delicious intriguing flavors , and a great overall experience. Customers came in all ranges and it was cool to see a late Sunday night full of food enthusiasts
