Greetings from Charlotte

The summer heat and sunshine is upon us. This means cocktail sipping on the terrace and light meals. The early evenings on the terrace are lovely and great for people watching with Copenhagen cocktail at hand! However, at Madsen we have been busy with crayfish party menus and this year's Christmas menu. We are taking bookings for both events now and you can find the menus on the website. We have also upgraded our "photo collection" with new shots of the restaurant interior with a little help from Joanna Henderson. You can see some of the results below.

During June we had the pleasure to cater for the Jens Risom launch at Rocket Gallery in Shoreditch. It was a fun evening with great furniture and Danish canapes. The exhibition is on until beginning September so you can still make it.

Enjoy the summer and the great weather

Pre-concert offer & Scandinavian High Tea

Pre-concert Offer: The Proms season has now started which means many will be looking for an early meal. At Madsen we have therefore come up with a good offer for those dining before 6.30pm. We offer a glass of complimentary red or white wine with the set-menu (2- or 3-courses) for orders before 6.30pm. Our set menu is seasonal and changes every three weeks. This week the set menu features cod with grilled courgettes as starter followed by baked salmon with pan-fried potatoes and creamy chervil sauce. Finally, for dessert a Danish classic "Rødgrød med fløde"/red berry porridge with cold cream. To see the full menu click here.

Scandinavian High Tea: Head Chef, Esben, and Restaurant Manager, Karolina, have been busy coming up with new ideas for the menu. One of the most exciting ones is the Scandinavian Afternoon Tea. Esben and his team have been making delicious sweet bites (Sara Bernhardt cake, okseøje, kransekage) to match the coffee and champagne offer. The afternoon tea will be served from 2pm to 5pm every afternoon. Here is what we have come up with:

Scandinavian Afternoon Tea

Three homemade petit fours with coffee/tea of choice (Café Latte, Espresso, Cappuccino, Americano) £8.25
Three homemade petit fours with a glass of Rodiere Pere Fils Champagne £12.50

Scandinavian High Tea

Three of our homemade petit fours, two open sandwiches (smushis); smoked salmon and Norwegian Jarlsberg cheese
with a coffee of your choice and a glass of Rodiere Pere Fils Champagne £22.50

Crayfish Menus

Kräftskiva, or Crayfish Party, is a Swedish traditional summer time eating and drinking celebration. Crayfish parties are generally held during August and the celebrations are a vital part of Swedish summer. Dining is usually outdoors with customary party accessories such as comical paper hats, paper lanterns and bibs.
Crayfish have been eaten in Sweden since the 16th century. For a long while, only the aristocracy partook of these delicacies, but in the last 100 years, crayfish became a national delicacy and all Swedes began celebrating the occasion. In the mid-19th century, people started eating crayfish as they are eaten today. The very few who have private access, of course, catch their own crayfish. The little creatures are night animals, so fishing has to be done after dark. They are caught in wire traps and the bait is often rotten or raw fish. Crayfish must be alive when placed in the saucepan.

At Madsen we will be serving kräftskiva from August 19 to September 18. You can be a large group or a smaller table down to the size of four diners however, you need to book the menu minimum 48 hours in advance. The menu includes both dill and cumin marinated crayfish, smoked salmon canapes, Västerbotten cheese, new potatoes and herring just to mention a couple of dishes. The price is £34.50 per person. The full menu can be found on here.

Homemade rye bread & artisan crisp bread available

From our catering and restaurant guests we have often been asked if it is possible to buy the rye or crisp bread. These products are hard to find in London and we have therefore looked into filling this gap. Our Danish Head Chef, Esben, is now baking our own homemade rye bread which ensures the bread is always fresh and baked the traditional Danish way. The recipe we use is a sourdough recipe that involves dark rye and granary flour as well as sunflower and pumpkin seeds - to that add a dash of dark ale and you have a very tasty loaf of rye bread,
Moreover, we offer 200g packs of Swedish crisp bread. It is made in Peter's Yard in Edinburgh according to a Swedish recipe and in the restaurant we use it with the cheese dishes. It is best described as thin, crispy and fantastic with cheese or for a light meal. Finally, we are still offering Trina Hahnemann's fabulous Scandinavian cookbooks for sale. They are a great source of inspiration and the photography is great.
You can find these products on the shelves in the restaurant however, you are always welcome to ask one of the waitresses for more information.

Madsen's own rye bread - £ 4.25 or 2 loaves for £7.75

Peter's Yard Crisp bread (200g) - £ 3.50 or 2 packs for £ 6.75

Nordic Diet by Trina Hahnemann - £ 12.99

The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann - £ 20.00

Norwegian "guerilla gardening"

"Moss your city" by Oslo-based PUSHAK is a Norwegian exhibition held at the Architecture Foundation. It combines contemporary architecture, landscape and natural resources. PUSHAK was established by Sissil Morseth Gromholt, Camilla Langeland, Marthe Melbye and Gyda Drage Kleiva and this exhibition is their first international one. The aim is to show moss as a beautiful and versatile material that can work in harmony with contemporary design. The exhibition is on from the 6th June – 6th August, 2010 and should not be missed by those who are interested in upcoming international artists. As a restaurant striving for sustainability we think this would be worth visiting!

PUSHAK : 19 June – 6 August 2010
The Architecture Foundation
Ground Floor East
136–148 Tooley St
London SE1 2TU
Entry: Free
Open hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 12 – 6pm

Find more information here

Recipe of the month

Dansk æblekage (Apple trifle)

One of our most popular desserts is the "Æblekage". Here we reveal how to make it from scratch.

You need: 6 apples, water, a vanilla pod, juice from one lemon, Amaretti biscuit

Serves 4

To make: peal the apples and cut them into small cubes. Boil the cut apples at a low temperature together with the lemon juice until the apples are tender. Make sure you stir the mixture. When the apples are tender pour out the water and blend the ingredients in a mixer until smooth. Put the mixture it in the fridge to cool down. Take a glass and put the Amaretti crumbs and the apple mixture in layers. Top it with whipped cream and slices of apples.

Enjoy!

What's on in the area

Natural History Museum
Butterfly Explorers (8th April – 26th September):

A journey through the magnificent butterfly house, explore habitats and continents across the world and discover the spectacular butterflies that live there. On your journey, spot different butterfly species and the stages in their life cycles. Find out more here.

V & A Museum
Architects build small spaces (15th June – 30th August):

Architecture is intrinsically part of our everyday experience. Yet architecture exhibitions, with their emphasis on drawings, models and photographs, sometimes deny their audience an engagement with actual buildings. Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. From these nineteen concept submissions, seven were selected for construction at full-scale. Small spaces such as these can push the boundaries and possibilities of creative practice. Find out more here.

Science Museum
Cosmos & Culture: how astronomy has shaped our world (23rd July – 30th December):

Explore how astronomy has changed the way we see our universe - and ourselves - through this object-rich exhibition. From ancient heritage to cutting edge technology, trace the history of people and the stars through different stories drawn from around the world. Cosmos & Culture uses a new multimedia display environment that allows you to explore objects in depth and find out about key scientific concepts. See how different instruments work, discover the stories of the people who made and used them, and enjoy beautiful models, illustrations and photographs. Find out more here.

Royal Albert Hall
The Proms (starting 16th July):

The Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, London. Each season currently consists of over 70 concerts in the Albert starting on the 16th July. Find out more here.

Cadogan Hall, Chelsea
BBC Proms - Chamber Music 1: Mark Padmore and Imogen Cooper (19th July, 13.00):

Schumann bicentenary celebrations begin with the composer at his most intimate and poignant. The 16 Heine settings of Dichterliebe ('A Poet's Love') trace a poet's increasing dejection as he reflects upon his imagined love. One of Britain's foremost tenors features as its protagonist –partnered by Imogen Cooper, who joins Padmore in a sequence of Schubert songs, and performs a lively Schubert miniature. Find out more here.

Christie's, South Kensington
20th Century British Art (15th July):

Christie’s put on an auction for you interested in art pieces from this particular time. Find out more here.

OPENING HOURS

Monday Midday - 10.30pm
Tuesday - Thursday Midday - 11pm
Friday & Saturday Midday - 11.45pm

Sunday Midday - 5pm
kitchen closes an hour prior to closing time

020 7225 2772
reservations@madsenrestaurant.com