In Defense of a Copenhagen February
- Jessie Shen
- Feb 19
- 6 min read
On Fastelavn, Dining Week, and Chinese New Year
Locals will tell you that the worst time to visit Copenhagen is in February. It’s cold, usually cloudy, and the days are still short. The excitement and hygge (pronounced hoo-gah, meaning coziness) of Christmastime and New Year’s has worn off, and locals won’t fail to remind you that “this would be so much more beautiful in the spring and summer.” Despite all this, I would say that the past two weeks have been very fun and hyggelig (cozy)! There’s something about spending time with friends that makes this month feel more than just ok.
Let Them Eat Cream Buns
Fastelavn marks the coming of Lent, taking place the Sunday seven weeks before Easter. On Fastelavn, kids will dress up, get candy, and play a game of “hitting the cat out of the barrel” (which is now thankfully represented as a piñata with candy inside; no cats are being harmed anymore to my knowledge). According to my visiting host, Halloween is more popular now (in terms of kids dressing up and getting candy), but I still saw some kids in costumes! You can read more about Fastelavn traditions here.
For adults, the real treat is fastelavnsboller (my new favorite Danish word)!! Fastelavnsboller is a cream bun; you can buy them in supermarkets and bakeries throughout January and February. The original fastelavnsboller is the gammeldags fastelavnsboller which can be traced back to 1250. It is similar to a Boston cream donut but less sweet and more dense.
Bakeries in Copenhagen have begun competing to create the best fastelavnsboller. Some sell the gammeldags fastelavnsboller but others have focused their efforts on creating extremely unique ones with different fillings, flavors, textures, and doughs. To be honest, I’m not even sure if you can call some of them a true fastelavnsboller anymore…but most customers don’t seem to care and the bakeries are making serious bank.
The best fastelavnsboller I had was at Noma Projects. Noma has three Michelin stars and has been named the World’s Best Restaurant five times! While Noma has temporarily moved to LA (which is just such an incredible time to do so because I live near LA and it will be back in Copenhagen right after I finish my exchange semester), their test kitchen, Noma Projects is still here. After I found out that Noma Projects would be creating a special 2026 fastelavnsboller, I knew I had to try it. They only sell it during February weekends at 10 AM in an extremely limited quantity, so you know I was at the Noma greenhouse bright and early awaiting my turn 😋
Guys, it was INCREDIBLE. I’m a harsh critic (my Beli followers know…) and it was worth the $11. I love it when shops and restaurants turn their products into experiences. I wasn’t just buying the fastelavnsboller, I was buying the experience of being in the Noma greenhouse. We were able to taste a variety of their sauces which each had such a unique flavor profile and made my taste buds light up.
Regarding the fastelavnsboller itself, it was delicious. After waiting outside for an hour, my fingers and toes were so numb a
nd cold that my mobility was compromised. Even then, I could not have asked for a better start to my Saturday morning. I’ve had fastelavnsboller at some other well-known and highly regarded Copenhagen bakeries but nothing can outdo Noma’s. It was crafted with intention and attention, and didn’t feel like a seasonal cash grab.
Money does buy (some) happiness, after all.
Copenhagen Dining Week
Across the ten days of Dining Week, selected restaurants offer a special fixed-price menu with either three courses, five courses, or a tasting menu. It is designed to make fine/finer dining more accessible and approachable. I went to Theo, which is listed in the Michelin Guide, and Gemini, its sister restaurant under the Norrylst group. Both restaurants served delicious food, but I’m not here to talk about that (follow me on Beli @jessshen if you want to talk food).
What I love most about food is the way it brings people together. I love good conversations. I love getting to know people better through shared meals. Time has become a commodity; social media and countless apps are designed to take it from you. So to be able to share uninterrupted hours with someone feels rare and special.
At Gemini, Maya and I were seated by the window overlooking St. Jørgen’s Lake. The views were stunning. Dark sky, snow on the ground, frozen lake, and a warm cozy ambience inside that felt intimate but still spacious. And yes, the food was delicious. I had beef tartare for the first time, Copenhagen bread just hits different, and the hazelnut mousse with mandarin compote was unforgettable.
But what I remember most is that we spent over an hour on the starters alone. It wasn’t even much food, but there was no rush. No distractions pulling us away, no sense of urgency to move on to the next course. What’s special about a five-course meal is the way it stretches time without forcing it. Silence feels natural. You sit. You look out the window. You look at each other. You look around. You look at anything and everything but your phone. You’re not trying to be everywhere at once. You’re just here, fully present.
I left both dinners feeling like I knew the people across from me better than when I arrived. In a way I think Dining Week is about more than just food. It’s about slowing down. Maybe we ought to think about February differently — not as empty, but as a month that invites you to sit and be still for longer.
Traditions That Travel
Chinese New Year crept up on me this year. It felt different from what I’m used to — no decorations everywhere, no supermarket deals, no excitement. Usually I’d celebrate at home with my family, make dumplings, and turn on the television to watch the CCTV New Year’s Gala.
Before leaving for Copenhagen, I made my mom teach me how to cook the foods I grew up eating. When I moved to Michigan for college, I experienced for the first time what it felt like to miss good, home-cooked Chinese food. And because Chinese food is not one cuisine, nor is it the eight regional cuisines, but many, many, more, I realized that not every cuisine felt like home. In San Diego (and California generally), you can find everything. In Michigan, that was far from it.
Food is so deeply ingrained into cultural identity, and I realized that I would never want for this massive part of my identity to be lost because I never learned to cook the food my mom and grandma made for me growing up. Because I don’t have a kitchen in college and am on a meal plan, I only started cooking for myself last summer when I was interning in a new city. While abroad, I often find myself cooking classic Chinese dishes when I’m looking for a sense of comfort and familiarity.
Among one of the dishes I made my mom teach me how to cook was how to make dumplings fully from scratch, starting from the wrapper dough. I’ve made dumplings hundreds of times throughout my life but I had never done the full process independently. When I was younger, my task would often be to flatten the small pieces of dough or roll out the dough into wrappers. I knew I wanted to make dumplings at least once while in Copenhagen, so I practiced making everything from scratch before leaving. Luckily, Copenhagen has a few solid Asian grocery stores where I was able to find the same brands of sauces and ingredients that I use back home: Shaoxing wine, Chinkiang vinegar, Lee Kum Kee soy sauce, Lao Gan Ma, etc.
My friend Patricia invited me over for Chinese New Year! Equipped with familiar ingredients, I was able to make a pork and chive filling that tasted pretty similar to what I’d make at home (there was a decent amount of room for improvement though). To save time, we used store-bought dumpling wrappers. I had such a fun time getting to teach new friends how to fold dumplings the way my family does. Everyone was so excited to learn and just be together which is really what Chinese New Year is all about. Patricia taught us how to play a Chinese card game and we talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company.
Traditions travel. And that’s something I found very beautiful this week.
I guess February really isn’t so bleak.
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