On a Danish mission

10th February 2009, 4:48pm

A young and successful Danish businesswoman came to London five years ago with a clear mission to bring the best of her Nordic cuisine to the city. Les Leonard discovered how she is changing the British perceptions of her homeland's food.

Charlotte Kruse Madsen, 31, arrived in the UK from Denmark with impeccable credentials, having trained at the prestigious hotel and restaurant management school Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne in Switzerland and gained kitchen experience in top European hotels.

She made an impressive start in London managing the opening of five café bars at Barclays Bank HQ in Canary Wharf for 5,000 employees for catering company BaxterStorey.

But a combination of wanting to work for herself and missing the food of her homeland gave her the inspiration to set up her own catering company specialising in Danish food.

She left BaxterStorey and went back to Copenhagen to train before returning to London in 2006 to start Madsen Food, concentrating on the Scandinavian market.

This was the stepping stone to her much bigger aspiration of opening her restaurant. And this ambitious dream came a reality last October, with the opening of Madsen restaurant in South Kensington.

Her client base has significantly expanded from her core Scandinavian business clients to embrace British customers looking for "something different" on the culinary front.

Her head chef, René Madsen (no relation) 25, is equally talented and brings new and innovative ideas to the menu, where traditional meets contemporary.

Charlotte says: "The climate, landscape and coastal waters of Scandinavia have given rise to a unique food culture. The light, long growing season and the wide open spaces create a cuisine shaped by the environment itself: healthy, natural, and infused with taste."

Refreshingly, Charlotte has a sense of purpose and finds innovation where others have seen limitations, showing how traditional ingredients such as herrings, pollack and bacon can be given a deliciously contemporary twist.

With her revival of Nordic cuisine in mind, she sets out to serve clean and modern, refined food with respect to its heritage, styled after the 11 Michelin-star restaurants found in her native Denmark.

"Inspired by the Scandinavian tradition of using wholesome, raw and unprocessed ingredients to produce the finished dish, the emphasis at Madsen is on freshness, simplicity, purity and taste," she says.

"Food is simple and straightforward, yet full of character. Blending the traditional with the modern, dishes are prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients, brought to the table without fuss and unnecessary garnish.

Paying homage to her homeland, Madsen offers a Smørrebrød at lunchtime – literally translated as 'butter and bread', this is the Danish version of a Smörgåsbord with a delicious choice of hot and warm open sandwiches.

With a base of rye or sourdough bread and a choice of toppings, the clever combination of flavours and the artful arrangement of the ingredients make Smørrebrød a lunchtime favourite for the ease of choice, the healthier factor and the keen price.

Just two pieces from the cold or one piece from the warm choices are plenty for an average lunch, from £5.95 a piece.

Beyond the traditional Herring platter from £8.00 (three ways, with freshly made curry salad) washed down with dill akvavit, there is Roast pork and crackling topped with home pickled red cabbage.

Stierneskud, a meal in itself, combines breaded and steamed plaice, Greenland prawns, asparagus and smoked salmon. For smaller appetites, there's Snitter – bite size smorrebrod served as finger food, tapas-style, as well as salads and soups.

Originality shows on the seasonal evening menu, in the autumn offering Scallops on a bed of pumpkin and a clear lemon sauce, served with wafer thin toasted rye bread, or a classic Beef tartare. Salmon fillet with terrine of leek and white butter sauce and a Slow-roasted pork loin with glazed beetroots and Jerusalem artichokes has proved popular.

On the dessert menu, the Blackberry Trio is a combination of fresh fruit, ice cream, blackberry syrup and chocolate jelly. A three course meal with wine is around £35.

Part of the dining experience, the setting highlights the contemporary Scandinavian brasserie feel.

Ethics are impressive, with food mostly sourced locally and wines only from Europe to reduce carbon emission from long distance transport.

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