Gastromé

We first visited Gastromé in 2015, when the then 1 year old restaurant was situated in central Aarhus; and one of the courses was pork with a broth, with which we to this day still compare any other broth. Nothing has ever lived up to that one! Back then the restaurant had a feeling of gastro pub with a kind and relaxed atmosphere, already then deserving their Michelin star.

Last year the restaurant moved to one of Aarhus’ suburbs and into a large villa with a garden, where they could grow their own produce, and naturally we were curious as to whether they had managed to uphold their former standards. Fear not, my friend. All was well!

1^st -6^th course – Amouse bouches

Croustade with chanterelle mushrooms and shallots

Roe (“Danish caviar”) with Indian puri and lemon

Malt bread with aubergine, Karl Johan-mushrooms, and nettles

Crumpet with quail egg and truffle

Small bread stones with chicken liver, raspberry, or coffee crumble

Coal taco with mackerel and green strawberries

Champagne, Fernand Lemaire

We had chosen the Signature dinner with experimental wines, and the first part of it was served in the lounge, where all guests were seated in comfortable sofas in small groups, and from the beginning the staff appeared professional and friendly. They took great care in presenting both wine and food. The amouse bouches were served in groups of three, with recommendations for the order of eating them.

The champagne had notes of raspberries and suited the different amouse-bouches well, and the delicate flavours came perfectly through in all of them. Between the first three, our favourite was the croustade; between the last, it was respectively the crumpet and the coal taco.

All amouse bouches had delicate flavours. The coffee crumble reminded us of a Danish coffee cake with chocolate; it only needed a small sprinkle of coconut to make the childhood illusion complete. All was inventive and promising.

7^th course

Mullet with hip rose, gooseberries, chervil, caviar, and spruce

Rose de Diel, Nahe, Pinot Noir Diel, 2022, France

There were two wine menus as well as a non-alcoholic option, and we picked the most experimental one. We rarely drink rosé wine ourselves, and we were a bit apprehensive, but it was a perfect choice. After being combined with the mullet, it changed character and tasted more like white wine. It contrasted the soft notes of the mullet well. The mullet tasted like a low-fat mackerel, and the chef understood how to let the soft nuances of the caviar stand out between the spruce and gooseberries.

8^th course

Smoked tuna under slices of silk tofu with horse beans and tomato consommé

Winzerhof Stahl, Sauvignon, 2022, Germany

At this point we were presented with bread; it was perfect timing. Sometimes you get the bread early on with the risk overindulging, but now we had laid a foundation, and we managed to control ourselves. The bread was focaccia baked with mashed potatoes; with creme cheese and herbs instead of butter, and it was light and fresh.

The tuna was extremely delicious. We would never have thought that the combination with horse beans and tomato worked, but of course it did. The consommé almost tasted like rye bread, with lingering notes of tomato, which were underlined with the tomato notes of the wine.

9^th course

Beurre blanc with trout roe with chives, shallots, and fava beans; served with brioche

Vinho Verde, Alvarinho, Quinta du Regueiro, 2022, Portugal

With a white wine almost like a powerful Riesling, the notes of peach and elderflower suited the trout roe perfectly. The beurre blanc was one of the best dishes of the evening. It was accompanied by a small brioche bread, which the waiter recommended instead of the table bread, and he encouraged us to dip the bread into the bowl. The fava beans had the function of potatoes, and the combination between them and the trout roe was divine. The wine lifted the dish to a higher level and drew out some of the fatness of the beurre blanc, so you got both the fat structure and the light intentions of this dish.

10^th course

Celeriac with Gammel Knas cheese and Lovage

Côte du Jura, La Vouivre, Domaine Carlines, 2019, France

The wine had notes of apple and ripe grapes, and it suited the celeriac and cheese perfectly. The cheese was made into a light soup; the celeriac was cut and caramelized to look like a croissant. The chef certainly understands how to cheat the senses and surprise you.

11^th course

Caviar Signature 2023 with hazelnut

Bonnet-Ponson, Perpetuelle, Champagne, 2016, France

This is Gastromé’s signature dish and according to the waiter a favourite among the guests. We understand why. The caviar is not supposed to play the leading part of the dish; instead the hazelnuts stand out and have a role of their own; both as hazelnut foam and sauteed hazelnuts.

Normally you can serve any champagne as a stand-alone, but not this one. It is powerful and needs something edible to play up against. There are hints of apple, and when you taste it, there is a hint of rankness. That changed with the combination of food; the champagne became softer; however maybe still too strong for this type of food. We think it needed a spicier and more substantial dish. This was one of the few times where we disagreed a bit with the restaurant’s selection of wine.

12^th course

Monkfish with garlic and horn of plenty

Bierzo, En-el Camino, Michellini Muffato, 2019, Spain

The wine was dry, heavy, and acidic, and it reminded us of a heavy Malbec. It definitely contrasted the monkfish. This dish was the one we left behind. We were reaching our maximum, and with one main course and five desserts to go, we only ate a little before leaving the remains. This dish was a bit anonymous; the wine was more interesting than the food. Monkfish rarely adds anything to the menu; we had it at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London in 2018, too, and it was the same experience with a heavy and tough consistence without much flavour.

 

13^th course

Pork with corn sauce, smoked goat’s heart, grilled baby corn, and blackberries

Reva, Dolcetto d’Alba, Bardo, 2020, Italy

The rich wine was perfect for the pork, and everything was finely executed. We are not huge fans of fat brims, so we left them out, but the rest was flavourful and delicious. The chef knows how to compose a main course, and with only the desserts left, we were convinced that the entire experience absolutely was its one Michelin star worthy.

 

14^th course

Melon with verbena and elderflower

Pachea, Porto Lagrima, no year, Portugal

The white port suited this first dessert perfectly. It had hints of elderflower, and it started out as a bit acidic but changed to sweetness combined with the fresh dessert with strong flavours of lime and elderflower. After the dessert, the wine changed again and became spry and acidic like a good cocktail. This dessert was a wonderful change of mood after the pork dish; we needed something fresh after the dark savoury pork.

15^th-19^th course

Canelé with whisky and vanilla

Yoghurt ice-cream with Darjeeling tea and yuzu

Cone with honey and pollen

Choux with strawberries and Chantilly

French toast with white chocolate and blackcurrant

The last desserts were served as a combination of petit fours. There was no wine for this one, but we were offered coffee or tea instead. Honestly, we couldn’t have managed more wine, so we enjoyed the last bits of happiness. The restaurant keeps their own bees in the garden, and they tend to use their own produce as much as possible.

To conclude

Overall, the menu was well composed and thought-through. The wine pairings were surprising and challenging as promised, without overthinking it.

The staff was attentive and informative, and we felt like welcomed guests. Our main waiter, Alexander, stood positively out. He told us that he was also a chef, and his memory was impeccable. When we told him about the consommé from our visit in 2015, he could remember which dish it belonged to, and which wine or beer (they changed the beverage from wine to beer during the time they had this dish on the menu) it was served with.

A few times a chef presented a course, and everything was done with an ease and joy about the food that spread to the guests. The transition from gastro pub with ambitions to a well-established villa restaurant certainly succeeded.