Glashuset Revisited

NOTE: New owner. Kim Møller-Kjær has moved to Villa Vest now!

Have you ever tasted a wine made from Danish dandelions? Well, I certainly hadn’t until about a couple of weeks ago.

Kim is still going strong! Absolutely. Delectable food made of fine quality products from the area around Lønstrup in the Northern part of Jutland.

Kim had the night off my recent visit at Restaurant Glashuset, so the place was run by ‘Miv’ in the kitchen and Lars waiting the tables. It’s easy to figure out what to eat here, as there’s only one menu. Of the two different selections of wine menus I chose the Feinschmecker’ one, which offers more interesting wines than the cheaper wine selection does.

We started out in the Spanish mood so to say with Fino Sherry, Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla, and small tapas. A much more interesting snack, than what we got the first time I dined at Restaurant Glashuset. Salted almonds, a paste of sun-dried tomatoes, two nice types of sliced sausages, crispy chicken skin, and the best of them all the tiny cubes of a very delicious tuna fish. Raw apart from the sides which had briefly kissed the hot pan.

Raw prawns followed with cauliflower and dill and on the side a very crispy langoustines spring roll with garlic and saffron aioli. In the bowl was olive oil with chilli and ginger, which in my opinion could have been left out as they didn’t add anything to the picture. I liked both the fish dishes, but one of my prawns was slightly floury. Both sorts of dill were perfect for the prawns. A nice 2004 Plantagenet Riesling, Western Australia accompanied these two dishes. Nose of petroleum(!), fruit and petrol, a nicely balanced taste comprising acidity and fruit with a medium to short after-taste. A bit of the petroleum remained at the back of my tongue.

Fettuccine with piment and rocula. And truffles. To be honest if the waiter hadn’t mention anything about the truffles, then I wouldn’t have noticed that smell and taste. The rest of the table disagreed with me though, so perhaps it was my allergies infected nose that wasn’t tuned in on that kind of scent. What I particularly liked about the fettuccine dish was the ‘al dente’ consistency of the pasta and the way that the bitter taste in the rucola leaves and the red piment cream matched each other. A couple of the fettuccines has stuck together but this hadn’t made them hard though. With the pasta we got a 2004 Allende Blanco, Rioja Spain.

A piece of pork from the local farm with almonds, pistachio nuts, lemon peel and liquorice. That’s the black dust over the plate. Very good, but although I’m the biggest fan of liquorice, I would be more careful with the sprinkler next time. Pork is very delicate in taste and can easily be over dosed by the black powder with the intense flavour.

Pork brawn with a crackling, a white buttery sauce and rosemary. So simple, so elegant, so tasty.

Rump steak of veal on mashed potatoes blended with tarragon and above it (in the photo) tarragon cream buttered on a slab of slate, which served as the plate for the main course. The baked tomatoes provided the acidity, which prevented the food from being stuffy.

With the cheese (six different good ones) we got two different glasses of wine. One which I knew was a Gewürztraminer and another glass of light yellow, unfiltered wine that the waiter asked us to guess what was. It looked like a wheat beer without the foam and quite thick in texture like a dessert wine like ice wine. I don’t recall what we thought it was but at some point I mentioned that it might even be Danish wine. The first scent in my nose was soap then lime fruit and apricots. Anyway, the liquid was a local wine made of dandelions. Dandelions. Quite impressive. We had absolutely no clue about that. So, apparently, now the town of Lønstrup is also on the wine map.

The dessert comprised white chocolate mousse, raspberry sorbet, fresh summer berries and a caramel of stewed condensed milk, which was fantastic. Freshness, sweetness and full enjoyment for the eyes. A lovely dessert with a lovely Mount Difficulty Muscat (I believe), Australia, wrapped in foil for us to guess, again, what that was.

Kim has got a new coffee machine since my last time. Great coffee, strong espresso. My kind of taste. By the way, Kim’s very generous with his coffee. The amount in the cup was three times the size of what I usually get in Italy. Are the people in Northern Jutland particularly found of coffee? Anyway, more value for the money. Literally speaking.

All in all, I got the strongest impression of all the courses from the two pork dishes, the veal and the dessert. These courses were simple, elegant and had made much more impact on me. As to the service, it was the same standard as my first time, and what I particularly liked was the way that the waiters were able to adjust their service to the clients – no matter if he or she was a tourist, a local, or a jolly Copenhagen blogger with her little black note book.

Thanks for a great evening and to Kim for the help with the photos!

Sunday 29 July, 2007.