History
Open-face sandwiches for Slotskælderen at Gitte Kik by cultural journalist Torben Weirup, and friend of the house
Slotskælderen, at Gitte Kik's, is a place I have many fond memories of conversations with friends over beer and open sandwiches. I was delighted when restaurateur Frank Due asked me to write a short text in 2010 to mark 100 years since the Kik family moved to Fortunstræde.
The first hundred years
Slotskælderen and Gitte Kik
Just around the corner, there's Slotskælderen!
You go down a small Copenhagen street,yes, there is a free choice, you can come from either side, and then just take the three familiar steps, then you're in Slotskælderen and for that matter also at Gitte Kik. The restaurant can notsettle for one name. Two names are needed. The first refers to the residency of Christiansborg Castle, the second,is indirectly linked to the street's first host, the merchant and tavern keeper Karl Kik, who got his surname because healways had to be on the lookoutto see who came in when the door opened.
Traditions and Buffet Etiquette
2010 marked 100 years since the Kik family took over the restaurant and established some traditions that are largely continued and respected to this day. The buffet, for example.
The principle is simple: once you have been seated at your table,(you have been wise enough to book it in advance)and ordered some drinks, you walk up to the long, beautifully crafted counter at one end of the room. You look, and choose. From time to time, guests arrive, who think it's a cafeteria and that they can bring their own plate to the table. Around the room, heads shake indulgently.Tsk tsk tsk
Behind the buffet is a friendly man. You may also be lucky enough to be greeted by one of the nice girls, but for the past several years it has usually been the host.
He says "hello," friendly to new or very rare guests. More cordially to regulars. Especially if they've paid their bill. Frank Due is his name. He is the owner of Slotskælderen. His polite style is exemplary and is characterized by both friendliness and a certain discretion.
It's sometimes said, but it's not something you should rely on, that there's a lot of drinking in the restaurant industry. It certainly hasn't affected his memory. Frank Due has a remarkable ability to remember his guests' names and usually also what kind of beer they drink and which schnapps they prefer.
- Fried herring
- Marinated herring
- Spicy herring
- Herring salad
- Boiled herring
- Pickled herring
- Curry salad with herring
- Potato with herring
A Hymn to Tradition
Some might think it was just a list of variations on herring, but it's not. Not only. It's a hymn to the Danish culinary tradition. It's a fanfare for the introduction to the Danish lunch. A good start, as they say, and an excellent occasion for a schnapps with your meal. In Slotskælderen they are not small, and they hardly live up to the Danish Health Authority's admonitions on moderation. They pour to the edge with a sure eye and impressive precision. Only the surface tension ensures that the schnapps does not spill over the edge of the glass.
The buffet and hot dishes
The herring is just the beginning. Up at the buffet, the host can tell you about other dishes that might tempt you. Some of them are seasonal. To the 'opening prayer' of our meal, as we call the essential first course of herring or
There are many other different
It's so photogenic and it's no wonder that Fritz Syberg once painted a plate with four halves, and of course it's impossible in this context not to quote from Johannes V. Jensen's famous poem about lunches
Now I feel truly content.
Four flourishing pieces of smørrebrød lay before me.
First I eat one with eggs and herring,
Oh, that scent of the sea, of brine and fresh iodine from the kelp forests!
Then I sink my teeth into a tender cut of roast beef,
And here the flavor is so deep that I remain silent.
The robust aroma of the fields, as rich as the earth itself, fills me with well-being.
The cheese then joins the mood, weaving together nostalgia and warmth in my heart.
But now my chest trembles for the schnapps,
Which I have poured from the ice-cold bottle.
Look at that glass, it's clearly beaming!
I hold it up like a great, living diamond.
Grain brandy, in short, Denmark!
Here I sit and prepare myself for the best of moments.
Life is good here. Hats pass by the window, and many people are on the street.
I’ve been telling myself that life and the solar system are going just great.
At lunch, painted by Fritz Syberg
It wasn’t in Slotskælderen that Johannes V. Jensen sat recovering after a lively evening. At Gitte Kik, we don’t pour our own schnapps from the bottle, and from our cozy cellar, it is actually quite difficult to spot the hats of men passing the window, though it is much easier to see the elegant "stems" of the glassware. Johannes V. Jensen, like so many others in the Copenhagen social scene, frequented Café Bernina, which was located on the corner of Vimmelskaftet and Badstuestræde. It no longer exists in its original form.
In recent decades, Danish lunch restaurants have also been hit hard, and sadly many of the small places where you could get Danish smørrebrød with a beer and a schnapps have disappeared over the years that Slotskælderen has existed. There are now many major cities across the country where you simply cannot find a classic Danish lunch. In Copenhagen, however, the decline seems to have stopped, and the number of traditional lunch restaurants has stabilized. We can only hope that Slotskælderen will remain for the next 100 years. Anything else would be a loss for future generations.
Authored by Torben Weirup
TORBEN WEIRUP
Tales of life and art
https://www.torbenweirup.dk