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16/03/2015

Copenhagen Norrebro district

by admin / Cities&Events
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They say all you need to do to find Copenhagen’s Jaegersborggade in Nørrebro (the district north of the city centre) is to follow the smell of coffee straight through Assistens Cemetery, the final resting place of two of the city’s most famous sons, Søren Kierkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen.
Tempting as it is to dally among the historic headstones that are dotted about within the cemetery’s marigold-coloured walls – a popular picnic spot in the summer – the smell of freshly roasting beans up ahead is irresistible and leads you to what is fast becoming the city’s hottest neighbourhood.
A product of Copenhagen’s rapid rise as a food destination over the past few years, Jaegersborggade is its own little village, populated by a small gang of food obsessives, eco-warriors and artists, and although it is best known for a strong gastronomic profile focused on provenance, it has plenty more besides.
This is the kind of place where you can also grab a green haircut, pick up some antique Danish homeware and sip a fabulous glass of burgundy.
Until a few years ago, however, it was somewhere you’d have more hope of scoring a joint than a cup of java. A block away was the notorious Ungdomshuset (Youth House), the headquarters of the labour movement since 1897, which had garnered all sorts of support in its 100-year history from Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg, to Nick Cave and Björk, who both played here.

It became the site of several riots in the mid-Noughties, when its residents were evicted, and on March 5 2007 the house was demolished amid protests across Europe. The incident heralded the start of a general regeneration of the neighbourhood.

Jaegersborggade’s fortunes began to change a couple of years ago with the arrival of specialist coffee roasters, the Coffee Collective, and Christian Puglisi, former sous chef of the restaurant Noma, which was declared the best in the world in both 2011 and 2012. Puglisi admits it was the only neighbourhood he could afford when he decided to open his own restaurant, Relae, in August 2010. Now he has one Michelin star and appears at number 75 on the World’s Best list.

“Noma’s success has been great for the city in every sense,” says the Italian-born chef. “It attracts such a diverse range of people from consumers to producers to chefs. They come to Copenhagen now just to eat, but I think what’s most important is that we are all trying to create something original, not just copy what Noma does. That’s what makes it such an exciting time to be here doing it.”

The opening of a glitzy gourmet food-hall-cum-market designed by the architect Hans Hagens at Torvehallerne (torvehallernekbh.dk) in September 2011 also helped to raise the profile of the neighbourhood, enticing visitors to explore a part of town that had previously been largely off-radar.

And so, the once shabby, now chic, town houses that line the cobblestone street of Jaegersborggade are painted in discreet shades. Doorways are flanked by lush green planters, while the alleys that break up each block are filled with gleaming Christiania bikes – distinguished by a cart up front for families ferrying kids around – the preferred mode of transport among eco-and-design-conscious Copenhageners.

At breakfast, lunch or dinner you’ll find the street abuzz, especially in the sunshine, but savvy insiders also come to stock up on handmade sweets and baked goods to take home, and to prowl the natty little boutiques selling salvaged designer gifts and furniture, and oh-so-tasteful handcrafted wool blankets, socks and jumpers. It just goes to show, you don’t need bucketloads of cash to regenerate a community, just a few great ideas and a whole lot of soul.

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