{"id":9666,"date":"2026-10-08T12:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/9666\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T12:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:04:17","slug":"at-copenhagens-koan-kristian-baumann-blends-danish-korean-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/9666\/","title":{"rendered":"At Copenhagen\u2019s Koan, Kristian Baumann Blends Danish & Korean Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"Chef Kristian Baumann. Koan<\/p>\n

A stroll along the Copenhagen waterfront, past the famous Little Mermaid statue, will bring you to Koan, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant that opened in April 2023. It\u2019s hidden under the archway of an elevated pedestrian path that stretches along Langeliniekaj quay, the area of Refshale\u00f8en visible across the water. It\u2019s a location that requires a short journey, but that is perhaps why Koan has become one of Denmark\u2019s most exciting culinary spots since its debut. The restaurant is led by chef Kristian Baumann, who grew up in Denmark after being adopted from Korea as a baby. At Koan, he\u2019s fully embraced his dual heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought it was my weakness to be in between the two places,\u201d Baumann says as we walk along Langeliniekaj after my lunch at Koan in early October. \u201cI had worked for many great chefs, but I was always looking for something that could be my own. I finally found the confidence where I realized: It\u2019s not my weakness that I\u2019m adopted and that I\u2019m in between two worlds. It\u2019s my strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baumann, 40, initially conceptualized Koan in 2011, but it wasn\u2019t until 2020 that he could actually bring it to life. His previous eatery, Restaurant 108, closed that fall, and Baumann quickly launched Koan as a pop-up, first in Refshale\u00f8en and then in the former Rel\u00e6 space, where it stayed for a year and a half. He used his personal savings to fund Koan and co-owns the restaurant with its general manager and head sommelier, Lasse Peder Nielsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone thought I was completely crazy to start a fine dining restaurant in the middle of a global pandemic,\u201d he says. \u201cEverything was so uncertain. But I was willing to take that chance and adapt, and I think we were rewarded for our approach to this uncertain experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Baumann found Koan\u2019s permanent space in the summer of 2022. It had previously been a restaurant, but a much more casual one, with tables and chairs covering an outdoor patio. The chef envisioned it very differently the moment he walked in the door. \u201cI told my wife, \u2018This is it,\u2019\u201d Baumann says. \u201cI could feel it, like the tables were going to be here. We were going to build the kitchen there. The waiters could have their own section. I knew it could become very special. And it\u2019s perfect for us because we can be here for a very long time. I see myself getting old in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Koan. Neve Qaraday<\/p>\n

Before opening Koan, Baumann worked in several of Copenhagen\u2019s top restaurants, including Noma. He grew up in a small town outside the city, where he was exposed to the best of Denmark\u2019s produce. His family raised chickens, and he worked on a farm picking berries and fruit for a few years as a kid. He moved to Copenhagen at 18 for culinary school and began learning in the country\u2019s kitchens, including several stages at Noma. After spending time working in France, Baumann joined forces with Christian Puglisi to co-found Manfreds and Rel\u00e6, both of which are now closed. In 2016, he opened Restaurant 108 in partnership with Noma co-founder Ren\u00e9 Redzepi. It went on to earn one Michelin star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people who are very talented here who haven\u2019t worked at Noma and don\u2019t have a connection with Noma,\u201d Baumann says of Copenhagen\u2019s culinary landscape. \u201cBut Noma has played a huge role in my career. And it has given the average Dane a much better understanding of ingredients and seasonality. Noma has paved the way for other chefs and for gastronomy to do something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that Noma has helped to transform Copenhagen into a lifestyle city over the past decade. \u201cPeople come here for the Louisiana Museum or because they want to visit the bakeries,\u201d he says. \u201cThey come in the summer because they want to jump in the harbor. They want to have coffee or go to this little cafe. Sometimes I think to myself, \u2018Why would you choose Copenhagen all of a sudden over Paris, London, Barcelona?\u2019 Not for the weather. You choose it for the lifestyle. It\u2019s safe. You have fresh air. There\u2019s much more diversity here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this shift that has allowed Koan to thrive. Baumann doesn\u2019t think the restaurant would have succeeded if he\u2019d opened it in 2011. \u201cIt was too early,\u201d he says. \u201cBut by 2020, they were ready. But I also realized there is no right time. You have to jump, and you either make it or you don\u2019t. If you believe in it, if you show up every day and you give your best, that\u2019s all you can do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although Baumann grew up in a Danish family and was taught many Nordic culinary traditions during his training, he also had early exposure to Korean cuisine. His parents adopted both Baumann and his sister from Korea, and made the effort to ensure they were part of the local Korean-Danish community. \u201cThere were a lot of adopted children here, so we always went to these gatherings and saw other children,\u201d Baumann remembers. \u201cI was always very curious about my birth country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baumann began traveling to Korea in 2017, both for business and vacation. He is constantly learning new things about the country\u2019s traditions, ingredients and recipes. \u201cNot only did I have a connection inside of me to Korea, but I felt like I had this apprentice mind again,\u201d he says. \u201cThe curiosity was really amplified by being there and seeing so many things I hadn\u2019t seen before. I have a better and broader understanding now, but generally it\u2019s nice to be in a place where you\u2019re learning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Koan\u2019s 18-course menu draws on both of Baumann\u2019s backgrounds. It reflects on the overlap of the two cuisines, particularly when it comes to fermentation and preservation\u2014practices common to both Korean and Scandinavian cuisines. There are expected Korean elements, like kimchi, pine and rice, but everything is presented in an unexpected way. The white kimchi, made with kohlrabi, constitutes one of the snacks. It\u2019s artfully rolled and augmented by herbs and a granita made with the pickling liquid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Kimchi at Koan. Neve Qaraday<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kimchi is exciting for me because it\u2019s not spicy and it\u2019s about lacto-fermentation,\u201d Baumann explains. \u201cIt is a very traditional kimchi, but what we add to it takes the flavor in other directions and lifts the dish into a new experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another nod to Korea is the inclusion of rice, which is cooked in a traditional cast-iron gamasot pot. Baumann combines three types of rice, which are currently imported from Japan because Korean rice is so difficult to get in Denmark. It\u2019s served first as a rice bowl with raw vegetables and shrimp, accompanied by a plate of carefully arranged banchans, classic Korean side dishes. The next dish uses the caramelized rice from the bottom of the pot. When I dined, the dual rice dishes concluded the savory section of the menu\u2014a conscious choice by Baumann not to end with a big plate of meat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The gamasot rice dish. Neve Qaraday<\/p>\n

\u201cPacing is very important,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen you sit down at a restaurant, something needs to happen straight away. So we know the snack section needs to go quite fast, and then we slow down a little bit. By the time you get to the main course, you have been at a restaurant for around two hours. Maybe you\u2019re a bit tired, so we feel like something fun needs to happen. The rice dish creates a moment where you forget how long you\u2019ve been there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baumann prefers to focus on seafood and vegetables, rather than meat. During my meal, the only meat on the entire menu was some crispy chicken skin on the caramelized rice. The chef previously used Korean blood sausage in a dish, which won the Danish Dish of the Year prize in 2024, and combined beef and langoustine in another. He took both of those off the menu because he was \u201ctired of looking at them.\u201d Now the focus is on Danish lobster, brown crab and caviar. The caviar dish, created from homemade tofu coated in GastroUnika caviar, is precise and delicious. \u201cWe can\u2019t take that off the menu,\u201d the chef admits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Homemade tofu is covered in GastroUnika caviar. Neve Qaraday<\/p>\n

Also impossible to remove: Baumann\u2019s signature dessert. It\u2019s composed of an oolong milk tea souffl\u00e9 and a bowl of roasted seaweed ice cream drizzled with hazelnut and topped with more caviar\u2014an incredible combination of flavors, textures and temperatures. The chef has dubbed it \u201cOolong Tea & Good Memories\u201d because the ice cream dish dates back to 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s from 108, and when we opened here, several people were like, \u2018Are you going to serve that dessert again?\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cI wasn\u2019t. But when you hear that a few times, you think, \u2018Fuck it. People like it. Why not?\u2019 It went from the ice cream to two dishes served together, and it really works.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\u201cOolong Tea & Good Memories.\u201d Neve Qaraday<\/p>\n

Koan was awarded two Michelin stars surprisingly quickly. The team received an invitation to go to the Michelin ceremony in Finland only 10 weeks after opening, although Baumann didn\u2019t want to get his hopes up. At the ceremony, all of the new one-star restaurants were called to the stage. Koan wasn\u2019t one of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always prepare for the worst and hope for the best,\u201d Baumann says. \u201cI thought we might get some kind of \u2018One to Watch\u2019 award. But when we saw our name with two stars, I felt like the stone that I had carried around since 2011, when I had the idea for Koan, disappeared. To get that approval from Michelin can really help a restaurant. And we needed it\u2014we were over budget, and we didn\u2019t have a billionaire behind us. We needed those reservations to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reservations did come in. Koan was able to hire more staff and improve its service. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful for all the guests who come back and say, \u2018This is better than it was the last time,\u2019\u201d Baumann notes. \u201cAnd it should be. I want us to keep moving. What I think brings people to a table is a sense of curiosity and then connection, and it\u2019s very important for the guests to connect with the staff and the chefs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Baumann describes Koan as \u201ca place where Denmark and Korea meet.\u201d He doesn\u2019t want the restaurant to be one specific thing. Like him, it\u2019s in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many Korean guests from all over the world, and people say, \u2018There are so many flavors we know with flavors we don\u2019t know,\u2019\u201d Baumann says. \u201cAnd the guests who are non-Korean say the same. And that is exciting. It opens the door to a new world. If someone is curious after a meal with us to go to Korea, then we have played our part, and that makes me very happy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Koan. Neve Qaraday<\/p>\n

Baumann has more plans, both for Koan and for other opportunities, though he isn\u2019t able to discuss them yet. He believes in the adage \u201cslow and steady wins the race,\u201d which he describes as the \u201cturtle theory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep pushing every day,\u201d he acknowledges. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on at the moment that I can\u2019t say, but I\u2019m venturing into unknown territory, which is very exciting. Hopefully, we\u2019ll be able to share things very soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we walk back to Koan so he can begin preparing for the dinner service, Baumann says he\u2019s become especially contemplative recently. Maybe he\u2019s overthinking things, he says. Or, perhaps, he\u2019s finding clarity. The sun finally pushes through the clouds above Copenhagen, a hopeful sign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The chef says he\u2019s preoccupied with time, in part because he just turned 40 and in part because he recently lost his mother. \u201cI\u2019m very focused on time and what we should do with the time while we\u2019re here,\u201d he says. \u201cSo if something seems like a good idea, I want to give it a try. Maybe it works, and maybe it doesn\u2019t, but at least I tried. I like that approach.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"At<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chef Kristian Baumann. Koan A stroll along the Copenhagen waterfront, past the famous Little Mermaid statue, will bring you to Koan, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant that opened in April 2023. It\u2019s hidden under the archway of an elevated pedestrian path that stretches along Langeliniekaj quay, the area of Refshale\u00f8en visible across the water. It\u2019s a location<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,323,10113,10116,10115,336,335,326,10117,3423,10111,10112,310,327,2052,328,538,10114,7,10108,10109,10110],"class_list":["post-9666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-chef","tag-chefs","tag-christian-puglisi","tag-copenhagen","tag-denmark","tag-europe","tag-international","tag-interviews","tag-koan","tag-korean-food","tag-kristian-baumann","tag-lasse-peder-nielsen","tag-lifestyle","tag-lifestyle-interviews","tag-michelin-guide","tag-nightlife-dining","tag-noma","tag-renu00e9-redzepi","tag-restaurants","tag-scandinavia","tag-travel-to-copenhagen","tag-travel-to-denmark"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117405198804155764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}