SPECIAL:


THE GROWTH EDITION


DEAILLE TAM


In a story of reinvention and redemption, Eric Vildgaard has gone from a life of crime to claim his place among the gastronomy greats at his restaurant outside Copenhagen. He tells Tina Nielsen how he turned his life around


to success and peace E


ric Vildgaard is a man of contradictions. Weighing in at 140 kg (309lb), he is an imposing presence in any room, yet the dishes he cooks at his restaurant Jordnær are whimsical and delicate. His arms are covered in tattoos that speak to a complicated and not so distant past – the


word hate inked across the knuckles of his left hand, yet all he talks about is love. Jordnær is the Danish word


for down to earth. It is a word that describes Vildgaard well, grounded and with a healthy self-awareness – the contradiction between him and his cooking is not lost on him. “You see me, and you see my food, it is a great contrast; it’s like Billy Elliot, but in a chef’s life,” he says, in reference to the popular British film about the working-class boy who became a ballet dancer. Vildgaard says he cooks happy food. “It is very precise, very beautiful and we use high-end products. If I don’t get goosebumps when I taste my creations they won’t make the menu,” he says. “It needs to make me feel joy.”


When he describes his food, he often refers to the emotions a dish evokes. The product is the starting point and central part of any of his delicate and visually pleasing dishes, but beyond that, the plates leaving his kitchen need to spark joy. As an example, he speaks of a summer


on the beach, where, surrounded by his family, he picked raspberries and roses. At home he created a dessert that brought to life this perfect day. Simple and special. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to ensure the wheel is the strongest you’ve ever seen,” he says. “Some chefs try to put as many layers of flavor as possible, but I try to keep it to a minimum, if you have the best ingredients, you should bring them to the front.” His restaurant at Gentofte Hotel on the outskirts of Copenhagen has enjoyed a rapid ascent to the upper echelons of the gastronomic world. He and his wife opened Jordnær in May 2017 and the first Michelin star came the following February. Two years on he joined a small group of restaurants to hold two stars.


Gastronomy and gangs A glittering culinary path was far from a given for Vildgaard, as he explained when he took the stage at Spain’s gastronomy congress Madrid Fusión earlier this year. “If anybody had looked at my life five years ago, they would never have thought I’d be where I am today,” he said. “Five years ago, people might have assumed I’d be dead today.” Vildgaard’s story arc of redemption is a tale of personal growth, drive and determination. Coming from a background of instability and poverty, he spent his life in and out of organized crime and gangs, a youth marked by criminality and drugs.


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WORLDWIDE


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