Let's switch the scene all the way across the globe to a Scandinavian country Denmark.
It was such a long-haul flight, two flights plus the layover time was nearly 20 hours one way from Taiwan to Denmark. Mister and I were like a pile of rattling bones when we landed. What's the quickest way to recuperate besides a very comfy bed? Food of course. On top of many must-eat small items in Denmark, we also booked two one-Michelin star establishments throughout the trip.
Just like many other gourmet foodies, we did try to book the two most iconic restaurants in Copenhagen, Noma and Alchemist. I actually put in the waitlist right after the schedule has been laid out, but with no luck of course. After all, these two restaurants were like the pinnacle for all the international food lovers traveling to the country. It's extremely difficult and unbelievably lucky if I can get a table at any of these places under such short notice.
So what I did was laying out all other Michelin options in Denmark, ruled out places that don't fit in our travel plan, and picked the ones closer to our hotels. There I had two wonderful candidates, formel B in Copenhagen and Substans in Aarhus. Tried both, and they were amazing, not just as I hoped but far exceeded my expectations.
The servers greeted us long before we walked in. In fact, if you look closer to the image of formel B's front door when I snapped a shot, one guy was actually posing to my phone camera. As you can see, the vibe was friendly and welcoming here.
So we settled in and have our coats and bags stored away, we were led downstairs walking pass their impressive wine cellar by the stairway.
It seems like the first floor were for large group customers, I also saw semi-private dining room on the way. Downstairs were mainly smaller table settings, the space gives you a classic vibe but still has a cozy element to it.
Dotted with wooden tables and chairs, the decor looks like an actual living space for a model from a Montblanc campaign. Elegant, classic, a bit charismatic matured man sort of energy.
We were arranged at the end of the corner, which I like. There's also enough space between tables, a bit private but yet not too far away from the main scene.
Just like many other fine dining restaurants in Europe, we were greeted and asked if we would like to start our meal with a glass of champagne. Note that such gesture is not as common in Taiwan. Some might also get confused and thought that the champagne is included in the set menu.
No no, you pay extra for the champagne, and sometimes it's the same for the tea or coffee towards the end of the meal. That part is different again compared to Taiwan, in which tea or coffee are usually included in the set menu.
I got the Lacourte-Godbillon Terroirs d'Ecueil Premier Cru, and Mister got the Frédéric Savart Bulle de Rosé. The prices are 200 DKK and 300 DKK. A bit pricy yes, but the quality of the wine and the selection seemed very promising.
What I like the most about formel B is that customers get to mix and match their meals. Pick five out of the selection, and of course you can always go for more with a slightly bargained price. If I prefer lots of veggies, go for it. If I love seafood, just order whatever's on the menu. The unrestrained combinations are limitless.
Even if I'm such a sweet-tooth person, I can simply order two dessert items on top of the simple petit four that was going to serve to all guests in the end. What a marvelous way to present the meal. Let the customers decide, let us get what we want.
If fact, if formel B is in my neighborhood and I have already tried and liked it, I can come back quite often and just order different dishes, perhaps keep one or two must-eats. That way I get to try different food most of the time, very versatile and highly customizable, a rare find especially at a Michelin restaurant.
On top of the basic five dishes of your liking, all guests will still receive extra items such as starters, bread, and dessert. So here they were, our two thin and crunchy tarts to begin the meal.
Both tart shells were lighter than expected, almost like an airy pillow, especially for the dark and tough-looking one. It's the filling that gives the majority of the weights when I picked up the tart.
One has Jerusalem artichoke, crème fraîche, and salmon in it. And the darker one was centered on blue mussels. Both tarts were lightly flavored, a gentle way to approach the meal instead of going for the bright acidity to awake the senses.
Sour dough dusted with sesame seeds from a local Danish bakery -
I really enjoyed all the bakeries in Denmark. While the bread tends to be soft and fluffy for Taiwanese style bread, the European counterparts can be quite chewy or even tough, but the bite gives the bread such strong character and the true aroma of the wheat really shines this way.
The outer layer had a bit chew, but manageable, and you can see all the pores inside, giving the center a softer texture but still somewhat elastic. When spread with butter, the bread tastes even sweeter. I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing in case I run out of room for all the upcoming dishes.
My first non-alcoholic beverage pairing, kombucha from a local Copenhagen brewer Table Ferments -
The scent is quite familiar to me because it reminiscent of a Chinese ingredients pickled napa cabbage. Supposedly it'll go really well with the salted beef coming up soon.
Danish black lobster with Hokkaido pumpkin and dried tomatoes -
Such a lovely presentation, it's like a three-dimensional painting on the plate.
The main acidity comes from tomatoes, especially the dried tomatoes dotted throughout. To balance that acidity, you'll find Hokkaido pumpkin purée and fermented pumpkin juice. However, both the sourness and the sweetness from the tomatoes and pumpkins are kept within the middle range, so that the true flavor of black lobsters can still be the center of the dish.
There you get the claw meat on the bottom and tail meat on the top. All the elements were well-orchestrated, not exaggerating, it really was a harmony in my mouth. When I had a dish like that, I always think that the lobster has died with dignity, with its body being utilized and transformed in a such a wonderful creation.
Tartar of salted beef -
Where's the salted beef? Underneath the grilled cabbage and fried kale, you'll find salted beef tartar mixed with Spanish green olives and fermented cucumbers.
On top of the pickled taste from the green olives, you can also sense a vivid aroma from the olive oil. The oil acts like a binder, bringing all the chopped ingredients together as a whole. And yes, such flavor profile really works with my kombucha pairing, especially these two shared some sort of pickled scent.
The next pairing was also from a local Danish brand MURI -
The two men behind MURI are Murray Paterson and Ioakeim Goulidis. One had experiences at a distillery, and the other once worked at Noma Fermentation Laboratory. Don't underestimate the complexity of their products. Perhaps not as aged or as strong compared to wine, but the complexity and delicacy were to another level.
Like the bottle served here, "THE SOUND," with its apricot base, you'll find tannins from Yunnan tea, marigold, and pine sap. The semi-finished drink has to go through multiple fermentation processes then finished with a maceration of citrus skins and kaffir lime leaves.
One probably wouldn't know that this bottle has gone through such extensive process, so don't treat it lightly. A lot of planning and hard work have been poured to it to give you something with depth yet enjoyable, and without the side effect of getting buzzed.
Fried celeriac -
We can't find celeriac easily in Taiwan, basically none unless once in a blue moon from a fine dining restaurant. So me and Mister were demanded to order this dish and gain some familiarity with celeriac.
For sure that half celeriac, such generous portion, truly carved into our senses. But I'm quite positive that the celeriac at formel B should be a lot more tastier compared to the commonly served celeriac.
The main celeriac was fried entirely, then paired with caramelized celeriac purée, black garlic sauce, plum wine sauce, and white miso. I was surprised to see so many Japanese ingredients being used here, don't forget there was also Hokkaido pumpkin earlier.
The celeriac itself probably just like other root vegetables, it has an earthy taste, but not strong at all. What gave it flavors were the frying technique, especially the crispy root, and the combination of the sauces on the plate. The high acidity from the orange vinegar works really well with creamy black garlic sauce, these two acted like salt and pepper, simply breathed life to the celeriac.
MURI again, this time NUALA series with much higher acidity compared to THE SOUND -
Pointed cabbage -
I was glad that I picked so many vegetable-centered dishes. It was the biggest amount of vegetables I've eaten from a meal throughout my stay in Denmark. There just weren't enough greens from the common dining scene. The most was a bit of pickled cabbage from the sandwich or a few pieces of salad greens here and there. That's it, so I've been drinking mixed juice in order to get some veggies.
Served with morels, pine, and pickled ramson. You'll also find pickled cabbage juice and morel foam, dotted with adorable onion flowers.
Morels are very expensive in Taiwan, so even when we find it on the plate, no way you'll see such amount of morels used in a single serving. I guess on top of celeriac, I also gain more understanding of morel after eating so much of it. One interesting finding is that when you had quite the amount of morels, it'll evolve into an aged cheese-like aroma. Something I never realized back then.
Rebæl -
Main body consists of cherry juice and lesser amount of grape juice. More depth was achieved through blackcurrant juice, roasted oak, hibiscus, rose petals, and black pepper. Of course I couldn't detect all that from a few sips, but it did leave an impression of something like smoked plum juice and spicy earthy note.
If you spot some bread there, that's our second round. Yes, I couldn't resist the temptation and finished the first batch. Our server brought over another round of bread soon after he found out we devoured our earlier serving.
Roasted turbot -
The flatfish appears with some thickness over here, but in fact half of it was braised ox cheek underneath.
I really enjoyed this dish. You got something from the sea and something from the land, somehow they managed to marry these two completely different ingredients so well. The fish wouldn't be so flavorful without the support of braised meat, and the meat would be too salty without the fish to mellow the seasonings.
Not mentioning the crust on top, very well presented and the texture was like fine breadcrumbs seared to perfection. Parsley garlic sauce on the bottom for a somewhat refreshing herbal touch.
The logo of this apple juice was actually the same as the wines from Domaine Mark and Martial Angeli, where their land has been practicing biodynamic farming for a while. However, I couldn't find enough information regarding the juice side of it, but nonetheless, the apple juice was quite satisfying.
Out of the basic five dishes, me and Mister both selected one dessert instead of going for all savory items.
I was very happy with my choice, which was written as "havtorn en surprise" on the menu. The server told us it was one of formel B's signature dishes. When it first came to our table, I immediately thought about hedgehog, quite cute, and indeed delicious.
The spikes were meringues, with slightly crisp pointy tips but soon melts in your mouth once in contact with heat. A fun textural change. The server especially informed us to dig deep inside in order to get the sea buckthorn filling together with the meringue all at once.
True, with the sweetness and acidity from the filling, it's like these spikes came to life. All the flavors are now more vivid and unique, and what binds the meringue and sea buckthorn was the silky smooth vanilla cream in between.
Mister got a raspberry themed dessert. There're also vanilla mousse, raspberry sorbet, and surprisingly, sorrel.
Other desserts that were already included in formel B's set, Mister also ordered extra hot latte to complete his wonderful meal -
There're currant marmalade, white chocolate, something almond and rose for these sweet treats. Sorry I didn't get the details but I assured you they taste just as good as they look.
Initially we chose formel B because this is the restaurant that fits in our schedule the most. Before the trip, I only searched online for some pictures, formel B website, and Google Maps, nothing more. Gladly, the result was more than satisfying, and for sure we had a good time at formel B.
I'm most happy about getting a deeper taste of the ingredients not so familiar with before. Especially after eating that half chunk of celeriac, our understanding about such plant has already been deeply imprinted in our senses.
What we didn't know about is the news associated with formel B back in 2020. Mister took some time looking up more information regarding the two Michelin-starred restaurants we visited during the trip. Then he saw this Hollywood-like wine heist story.
I remember hearing about such news back then, since it was pretty serious and somewhat unbelievable. These thieves actually dug a passage from the nearby wine shop all the way to formel B's wine celler, and only stole Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, and Domaine Leroy. If you're unfamiliar with these wines, let me give you a reference. At the Sotheby’s auction in 2018, a bottle of 1945 Romanee-Conti was sold for $558,000 USD.
Despite the vintage difference, for sure one of the bottles stolen from formel B was 2014 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru, still comes with a scary price tag. However, it's one of these things that cannot be found easily even if one's willing to pay. Imagine the loss and sadness dawned upon formel B at that time.
Oh man, I should have take a closer look at the wine cellar. Such a fool, I walked pass by such treasure house, TWICE, without knowing anything about it.
formel B currently holds one Michelin star status.
formel B
Vesterbrogade 184
1800 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
+45 33 25 10 66
Website: https://formelfamily.dk/formelb/en/
Opening hours:
Monday through Saturday 5:30 p.m. ~ 12:00 midnight
Sunday off
