Rasmus Kofoed is the Danish chef-co-owner of Geranium in Copenhagen, a three-Michelin-star restaurant on the 8th floor of Parken (the Danish national football stadium) overlooking Fælledparken. Born in Vordingborg, the old ferry town 100 kilometres south of Copenhagen, Kofoed trained at Hotel d’Angleterre in 1997 and opened Geranium in 2007 with general manager Søren Ledet. He remains the only chef in the history of Bocuse d’Or to win all three medals, taking bronze in 2005, silver in 2007 and gold in 2011.
Geranium became Denmark’s first three-Michelin-star restaurant in 2016 and was named The World’s Best Restaurant by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in July 2022 at the London ceremony. Earlier in 2022 Kofoed had removed meat entirely from Geranium’s tasting menu, leaving only vegetables, fish and seafood. The restaurant has retained its three stars continuously since 2016 and sits in the Best of the Best category at the World’s 50 Best. Kofoed also co-founded the plant-based pop-up Angelika during the COVID-19 pandemic.
TL;DR
- Danish chef born in Vordingborg, southern Zealand, Denmark
- Head chef and co-owner of Geranium in Copenhagen (opened 2007)
- Three Michelin stars since 2016; Denmark’s first three-star restaurant
- The World’s Best Restaurant 2022 (The World’s 50 Best Restaurants)
- Only chef in Bocuse d’Or history to win bronze (2005), silver (2007) and gold (2011)
Rasmus Kofoed key facts
| Born | Vordingborg, southern Zealand, Denmark |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Main restaurant | Geranium, 8th floor of Parken stadium, Per Henrik Lings Allé 4, Copenhagen |
| Michelin stars | Three at Geranium since 2016; first Danish restaurant to hold three stars |
| Style | Modern Nordic; no meat since 2022 (vegetables, fish and seafood); biodynamic and organic produce |
| Bocuse d’Or | Bronze 2005, Silver 2007, Gold 2011 (only chef to win all three medals) |
| Notable awards | The World’s Best Restaurant 2022; Art of Hospitality Award 2018 |
Early life and training of Rasmus Kofoed
Kofoed grew up in Vordingborg, a small ferry town 100 kilometres south of Copenhagen on southern Zealand. His love of nature, vegetables and cooking came from his mother, a vegetarian who often took him foraging in the forest and along the coast. She raised him and his siblings on biodynamic vegetables, and this period (well before any public fashion for plant-based cooking) is the foundation of his lifelong commitment to organic and biodynamic produce. He has said he cooks this way because he cares about the planet rather than for PR or trend reasons.
He gained confidence in the kitchen by receiving praise from his brothers and sisters, which led him to pursue a culinary education. He qualified as a chef at Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen in 1997 and then moved abroad to work at the celebrated restaurant Scholteshof in Belgium under Roger Souvereyns, an early formative experience in classical European fine dining. He returned to Copenhagen and in 2005 became Head Chef at Hotel d’Angleterre.
The defining early identification with Denmark’s culinary programme came through Bocuse d’Or. Kofoed was captain of the Danish culinary team for seven years. His competitive career at Bocuse d’Or began in 2005 with bronze in his first appearance, silver in 2007, and gold in 2011 in Lyon. No other chef in the history of Bocuse d’Or has won all three medals. He has said that what he enjoyed most was the preparation itself: the development of ideas, the optimisation of technique, the thought required to compete at that level.
Rasmus Kofoed career timeline
- Childhood: Grows up in Vordingborg with a vegetarian mother; forages with her in forest and along the coast
- 1997: Qualifies as a chef at Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen
- Late 1990s: Works at Scholteshof in Belgium under Roger Souvereyns
- 2005: Head Chef at Hotel d’Angleterre, Copenhagen; wins bronze at Bocuse d’Or
- 2007: Opens Geranium with Søren Ledet; wins silver at Bocuse d’Or
- 2008: Geranium earns its first Michelin star
- 2010: Geranium moves to the 8th floor of Parken, the Danish national football stadium
- 2011: Wins gold at Bocuse d’Or (only chef to have won all three medals)
- 2012: Geranium earns its first Michelin star at the new Parken location
- 2013: Geranium earns its second Michelin star
- 2016: Geranium earns its third Michelin star, becoming Denmark’s first three-star restaurant
- 2018: Art of Hospitality Award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2019: Geranium ranked No. 5 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2020: Opens plant-based pop-up Angelika during COVID-19 lockdown inside Geranium’s private dining room
- 2022: Removes meat entirely from Geranium’s tasting menu (vegetables, fish, seafood only)
- July 2022: Geranium named The World’s Best Restaurant at the London ceremony
- 2023: Enters the Best of the Best category (retired from World’s 50 Best competitive list)
- 2024-2026: Three Michelin stars retained; menu continues to evolve around Nordic produce and plant-based dishes
Rasmus Kofoed signature style: Nordic produce without meat
Geranium’s cuisine is built on three principles: Danish and Nordic seasonal produce, biodynamic and organic sourcing, and a structural argument that cooking should engage all the senses. Kofoed’s mission statement has been that dining at Geranium should “restore, challenge and enrich” the guest. The kitchen works with small, mostly Scandinavian farms, forages extensively in Danish forests and along the coast, and builds menus around what is peaking at a given moment.
The most visible shift came in 2022 when Kofoed removed meat entirely from the menu. He had personally stopped eating meat five years earlier, and has said that creating the one savoury meat course per menu had become something he no longer believed in. During the COVID-19 closure he spent time on the windswept island of Samsø with his family, went for long runs through the meadow, and in one night wrote down 25 new dishes that eventually informed the current Geranium menu. The decision to remove meat preceded the July 2022 World’s Best Restaurant award by six months.
The restaurant’s signature aesthetic is one of precision and lightness. Dishes are composed in layers of flowers, herbs, vegetables, fermented elements and seafood, often on white or natural ceramic ware. The dining room on the 8th floor of Parken overlooks Fælledparken, with glimpses of Copenhagen’s green copper roofs and the windmills of the Øresund. The tasting menu runs approximately three hours and is priced at around €530 per person with wine pairing starting at €295.
Notable dishes at Geranium
Several Geranium dishes have become reference points in modern Nordic cuisine. The famous marbled hake (salted, layered and presented in thin sheets) is a long-standing signature, as is the bite of beetroot served as an opening course. Salted herring in crispy algae with dill stems and aquavit is a direct reference to Danish preservation traditions. Flowering Brussels sprouts, leeks and wild onions capture the restaurant’s vegetable-first register. The bread pancake with buttermilk, ramson and winter truffle crosses pastry into the savoury course. Celeriac with smoked cod roe and fermented cream with caviar is one of the most technically precise dishes on the menu. And the forest mushroom course (mushrooms, beer, smoked egg yolk, pickled hops and rye bread) draws directly on Kofoed’s foraging habit.
Rasmus Kofoed awards and recognition
- 2005: Bronze at Bocuse d’Or
- 2007: Silver at Bocuse d’Or
- 2008: First Michelin star at Geranium
- 2011: Gold at Bocuse d’Or (only chef in history to win all three medals)
- 2012: First Michelin star at the new Parken location
- 2013: Second Michelin star
- 2016: Third Michelin star (Denmark’s first three-star restaurant)
- 2018: Art of Hospitality Award, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2019: Geranium ranked No. 5 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2022: The World’s Best Restaurant (The World’s 50 Best Restaurants)
- 2023-present: Best of the Best category at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2026: Three Michelin stars retained
Rasmus Kofoed impact on Nordic cuisine
Kofoed’s most concrete contribution is positioning a Danish restaurant alongside René Redzepi‘s Noma as a reference point for modern Nordic cuisine globally. Before Geranium earned its third Michelin star in 2016, Denmark had never had a three-star restaurant; after 2016 the country had two (Geranium and Noma). The 2022 World’s Best Restaurant award was the second time a Copenhagen restaurant had held the title, confirming the Danish capital as one of the global fine-dining centres of the 2010s and 2020s generation.
The second contribution is the argument for haute cuisine without meat. When Kofoed removed meat from Geranium’s tasting menu in early 2022, he influenced an entire generation of younger chefs to feel confident offering fine dining based on strictly vegetarian or vegetable-and-fish principles. Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park had made a parallel move in New York in June 2021. Together, Geranium and EMP created the framework within which vegetable-forward fine dining became a legitimate category at the three-star level, although Humm reintroduced optional animal proteins in October 2025 while Geranium has retained its meat-free structure.
Within the current Copenhagen generation he sits alongside René Redzepi at Noma (which closed its main service in early 2024 and operates as Noma 3.0), Rasmus Munk at two-Michelin-star Alchemist, Christian F. Puglisi at the former Relae, and Eric Vildgaard at Jordnær. Danish fine dining in 2026 is arguably the densest three-star city per capita outside Paris, Tokyo and Kyoto.
Rasmus Kofoed FAQ
How many Michelin stars does Geranium have?
Three Michelin stars, held continuously since 2016 when Geranium became Denmark’s first three-star restaurant. The Michelin Guide Nordic Countries has retained the rating every year since, including in the 2026 edition.
Where is Geranium?
On the 8th floor of Parken, the Danish national football stadium, at Per Henrik Lings Allé 4 in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen. The dining room overlooks Fælledparken (Common Gardens), with views across Copenhagen’s green copper roofs and out to the windmills of the Øresund.
Did Rasmus Kofoed really win all three Bocuse d’Or medals?
Yes. Kofoed is the only chef in the history of Bocuse d’Or (the biennial competition founded by Paul Bocuse in 1987) to have won bronze (2005), silver (2007) and gold (2011). He was captain of the Danish culinary team for seven years and has described the competition preparation period as one of the most creatively rewarding of his career.
Does Geranium serve meat?
No. Kofoed removed meat entirely from Geranium’s tasting menu in early 2022. The menu now consists of vegetables, fish and seafood, all from organic and biodynamic farms in Scandinavia. Kofoed has personally been on a plant-based diet since around 2017 and has said he no longer believed in serving a meat course he did not want to eat himself.
What is Angelika?
A plant-based pop-up restaurant named after Kofoed’s vegetarian mother. It opened in summer 2020 inside Geranium’s private dining room during the COVID-19 lockdown, serving a completely plant-based tasting menu inspired by Kofoed’s home cooking. Angelika continues to host occasional plant-based events, including biodynamic farm dinners at Kiselgaarden.
What is next for Rasmus Kofoed
Following the 2026 retention of three Michelin stars and continuing work in the Best of the Best category at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Kofoed has spoken about using the freedom that comes from having already topped the global ranking to be more creative. He is working on the long-awaited Geranium cookbook, continues to host Angelika plant-based events, and remains focused on Geranium as the core of his work. His public Instagram (@rkgeranium) is the best source for current updates.
