Today is the 4th of July, and the largest celebration of America’s Independence Day outside of this country is taking place in Denmark. This long-standing tradition started in 1912 when a group of Danish immigrants to America purchased 140 acres of land near Rebild in Northern Jutland. They immediately donated it to the Danish people, which was a good thing because as a rule Americans can’t buy land in Denmark. The gift was given with the stipulation that Danish-Americans could celebrate American holidays at the park — which they have done every year for over a century.
It has taken almost that long for Danish food to make a major inroad into American society, with the exception of kringle and restaurants in small enclaves of Danish culture such as Solvang in California. But super-restauranteur Claus Meyer has set out to bring his New Nordic Food Manifesto to New York, and now smørrebrød and Danish licorice can be found in Grand Central Station– which coincidentally was built just one year after the first Rebild 4th of July celebration. It staggers the mind to think of how many people will now know about Danish food, since the world’s largest train station attracts some 750,00 visitors a day.
Claus Meyer, who is best known as co-founder of Noma, moved his family to the Big Apple over a year ago in order to prepare for this new Danish invasion into the competitive food world of New York. He has taken on a very ambitious project that involves a high-end restaurant called Agern as well as the Great Northern Food Hall, which opened last week.
Agern takes its name from the Danish national tree as well as the acorn in the family crest of the wealthy Vanderbilt family that built Grand Central Station. Claus Meyer and his team have designed a beautiful modern restaurant that one would expect to find somewhere in Denmark rather than in the former men’s smoking room of America’s largest train station. Icelandic chef Gunnar Gíslason offers a la carte options and two tasting menus (one for meat eaters, and a “Field and Forest” option for vegetarians) based on the principles of New Nordic Cuisine and using seasonal, local ingredients from the New York area. Prices are high — although not in comparison to Noma, as one reviewer said — and the Danish tradition of no tipping is being introduced to Americans for the first time.
Despite the high income and education level of Grand Central Station commuters — 93% of them are college graduates — most New Yorkers will not end up eating at Agern. But a staggering number are likely to get something from Meyer’s food hall, which is located in a former waiting room called Vanderbilt Hall that is conveniently located right inside a main entrance to the station.
There are five separate pavilions in the Great Northern Food Hall, as well as two bars. The first is Meyers Bageri, an American version of the Danish bakery chain. In order to create authentic Danish baked goods in New York, Meyer and his team took over an existing bakery in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. For a few months this spring it offered Scandinavian breads and pastries only on Saturdays, under the original name of Margo Patisserie. Now that the food hall in Grand Central Station has opened, the bakery will transition to its new Danish identity.
The second stall is a coffee stand called Brownsville Roasters, specializing in a lighter, Danish-style roast bean. Never one to do things in half measures, Claus Meyer has announced plans to open a culinary school and restaurant in Brownsville – an area of east Brooklyn recently described as one of New York’s most dangerous neighborhoods — in addition to the coffee roasting operation. Meyer is known in Denmark for his strategic partnerships with high security prisons offering training in the culinary arts to inmates.
The Grain Bar will serve sweet and savory porridges, or grød, as well as parfaits made of the the Danish soured milk product ymer. A fourth pavilion called Almanak will specialize in salads, smoothies, and small plates, with an emphasis on vegetable-based dishes.
Open Rye is the last of the five pavilions, and it features Danish smørrebrød on bread baked from heirloom rye grown in New York state and freshly milled in the Williamsburg bakery before being made into rugbrød. Toppings include traditional favorites such as potatoes, eggs and shrimp, and pickled herring, with an emphasis on local, organic ingredients whenever possible.
And as if these options were not enough, there is a Great Northern Deli, featuring specialties such as Johan Bülow licorice and the newly published English edition of Claus Meyer’s book Nordic Kitchen: One Year of Family Cooking, as well as a Danish Dogs pølse stand situated in the shuttle passage of Grand Central Terminal. Let us hope that Americans warmly welcome this latest sign of Danish-American friendship, because according to The New York Times, Meyer and his partners have a 10-year lease for the 16,000 square feet in and around Vanderbilt Hall, with the rent starting at $1.8 million a year and rising to $2.8 million in the 10th year, plus a percentage of the gross.