Castles, Danish Strawberries, and a Rhubarb Crisp

Dearest Pizza Tourists,

I’m writing to you from the Delta Lounge at the JFK airport. We are on our way to France. It has me thinking about another trip that changed the way I cook.

In today’s issue:

• a reflection on staging in Copenhagen

• a few places I’d recommend on your next trip (including pizza)

• an in-season dessert recipe — strawberries or rhubarb crisp

In 2018, I apprenticed with a restaurant group in Denmark. A chef friend had encouraged me to volunteer at Heartland Music festival. If I helped out in the kitchen, I'd likely be able to stage with the team back in Copenhagen. The food scene in CPH was very exciting at the time. And one of their restaurants, Baest was known for its strong pizza and charcuterie program.

The festival was to be held in the gardens of a Egeskov Castle, and LCD Soundsystem would be playing. I booked my flight and left on a pizza voyage.

I remember shaving white asparagus while listening to the chefs talk about perfecting porchetta, their fermentation projects, and foraging strange-sounding mushrooms in the forest. People from all over the world had come to work at these restaurants, all of them so uniquely talented. The cooks were competitive but had an encouraging, educational energy to them.