Going Out on a Tuesday...For Some Smorrebrod

Brunch at Ida's

     For our last Tuesday class, we had a field trip to the smorrebrod resturant, Ida Davidsen. In the Danish culture, smorrebrod (art of famous Danish open sandwich) usually consists of a piece of buttered rye bread and the toppings of cold cut pieces of meat, fish, cheese, and spreads. Allowed into the kitchen, we were able to meet person the establishment is named after, Ida Davidsen, and watch her explain & prepare various types of smorrebrod. She explained that every ingredient we see on the table is fresh and is grown/acquired locally. Some interesting smorrebrod that stood out to me that she prepared was the race car driver influenced sandwich (french baguette, grab meat, two types of seaweed carviar, lemon, and dill) and SAS airlines inspired sandwhich (raw tenderloin, raw salmon, black seaweed caviar, and egg yolk tartare). After the preparation in the kitchen, we joined the rest of the class in the dinind room, and Ida explained the history of the restaurant. Ida Davidsen began in 1888 when Oskar Davidsen openned a wine bar in Copenhagen and started creating smorrebrod for his hungry guests. Continuing the tradition of open-face sandwiches, the fourth generation of the Davidsen family, Ida, decided to opened the restaurant at St. Kongensgade 70, where her, her husband, and starff carry on the 100  yeas old unbroken family tradition of quality Danish food and culture. I am surprised that the restaurant has a menu with about 250 different smorrebrods available, and that the sandwiches are relatively the same recipes (some exceptions/adaptations now) as the smorrebrods prepared by the original, Oskar Davidsen. When lunch was ready, I decided to get the smorrebrod that consisted of raw salmon, wasabi cream cheese, pink & black seaweed caviar, dark rye bread, and crawfish tips, and dill. The food and experience was great and explains a lot about the identity of the restaurant, Ida Davidsen. For example, the identities present in this restaurant are Scandinavian culture/cuisine,  Danish culture/cuisine, traditional Smorrebrod (Danish open-face sandwiches) culture, family & tradition, and the Davidsen family. Overall, the smorrebrod served in the restaurant represent the Davidsen family and their legacy of maintaining quality and accurate to the Danish culture smorrebrods for both Danish regulars and tourists alike.