Last night there was a big snow storm here in Copenhagen. At some point I looked out the window and saw huge lightning flashes across the horizon. Never experienced this combination before, it was beautiful and intense.

And so due to all the sudden snow everything is moving in a snow-slow pace. Most planes out of the airport are canceled and my apartment is freezing- so I decide to escape and cozy up somewhere warm for lunch. I visited a new cafe last Sunday during a flea market outing with a friend and I liked it so much that I decided to take the Metro train all the way out there today for lunch and coffee. Also, writing about a place here on Umamimart requires you to visit it twice – that’s just how we roll in the food nerd blogosphere.

The place is called Foodshop No. 55 and is the first of its kind in a new urban area in CPH called Ørestad. It’s populated with young families, power couples and fab single gay men with a monthly salary the size of their hunger for young flesh and new disco compilations (so no, I don’t live here). It’s a place of modern, tall, award-winning cement & glass architecture, and therefore also the habitat of the strongest winds as the skyscrapers push the air downwards. Not very cozy or intimate. But points to the Foodshop for taking a chance on a neighborhood like this. God knows it’s needed.

I really dig the logo – the motif is cleverly based on a doily. It has a significant clean and Scandinavian feel to it– signaling food in a traditional but also modern way with the typeface.

The cafe is divided into a store area and a relaxation area with a long, long table, NYC style where you are forced to eat with other guests next to you. Some may find it slightly intimidating, but I actually like it.

The Tom Dixon lamps are well put to use here, but alas they are everywhere in Copenhagen at the moment so I’d like to see something new soon.

I don’t know why, but I kinda dig their Christmas table decor…

The desk front and tall fridges containing freshly made dishes and soups ready for the busy take away crowd.

All sorts of organic and regular sodas and beer. Mostly Danish and locally produced.

Readymade cookie dough which you can just take home, slice in small circles and throw into the oven. Lazy cooking!

Freshly baked bread and cakes in the window.

I like the abundant piling of bread sporting a rustic crust- rough and sturdy. An old school red bread slicing machine sits in the background.

The shelves go all the way down the cafe space presenting a vast amount of pickles, jams, vinegars, oils, biscuits, chocolate etc. On the picture you see the store’s own organic raspberry jam and below, organic rhubarb-strawberry jam.

Organic licorice and gummi bears.

On to the food: We order a latte which arrives in a big glass.

And organic brown sugar in a cute little paper triangle:

My friend and I ordered sandwiches for lunch last Sunday. Salmon sandwich with red onion, cucumber, ruccola/baby spinach leaf salad and wasabi mustard creme on home baked malt bread:

Fresh and crisp- simple and logical food. Really delicious.

Big juicy slices of salmon!

Tuna salad sandwich with capers, mayo, red onion, cucumber and mixed spinach salad on home baked malt bread:

My friend loves it.

On my next visit I picked the vegetarian sandwich. Mixed baby spinach leaf/ruccola salad, tomato, red onion, Italian mozzarella and spicy avocado slices on home baked rye bread with lots of grains.

It’s superb, sturdy, pure and wholesome.

Rye bread sandwich porn!

I finish off with a home baked giant chocolate & walnut cookie.

It’s crunchy and soggy in that cookie-sorta-way. Really good.

Foodshop No.55 is a very nice place in a strange deserted land of suburban, trendy high-rises. The food is great and the atmosphere is excellent – even the local postmen hang out and take a break on their daily route. The prices are kinda high though. I paid 134 DKK ( $23.5) for a latte, a sandwich and a cookie which is borderline steep. But I’m actually happy to pay it. To me, supporting small, local businesses to keep them staying afloat instead of another Starbucks/7-Eleven/chain horror is key to maintaining a soul in this city.

So I walk back home through the urban snowscape towards the metro station with a full stomach and a good feeling of having put my monies on the right spot.