Rasmus Kofoed (born 1974) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

who won the gold medal at the 2011

Bocuse d'Or The Bocuse d'Or (the ''Concours mondial de la cuisine'', World Cooking Contest) is a biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France, at the SIRHA Inter ...

, after previously taking the bronze medal in 2005 and the silver medal in 2007 in the same competition. He is the head chef and co-owner of

Geranium ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in ...

, a 3-star

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

restaurant in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Early life

Kofoed was born in

Birkerød Birkerød () is a town in Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is surrounded by several lakes and small woodlands. Birkerød station is located on the Hillerød radial of the S-train suburban network. Hist ...

in 1974. He grew up with his mother after his parents split up after a few months. She later had four more children with her new husband, Ole, a biologist. Kofoed attended Rudolf Steiner schools in first

Kvistgård Kvistgård is a small town in the southwestern outskirts of Helsingør, Helsingør Municipality, some 40 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is situated in the fork between the Helsingør Motorway to the east, separating it from Espergærde ...

and then

Vordingborg Vordingborg () is an old ferry town in Vordingborg Municipality in Denmark with around 18,000 inhabitants. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three sat ...

Career

Rasmus Kofoed received his training at

Hotel D’Angleterre The Hotel d'Angleterre is one of the first deluxe hotels in the world. Situated in the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark, it is located on Kongens Nytorv opposite Charlottenborg, the Royal Opera and Nyhavn. While its history dates back to 1755, it ha ...

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv ( lit. "The King's New Square") is a public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was laid out by Christian V in 1670 in connection with ...

in Copenhagen and afterwards worked at the two-Michelin-star restaurant ''Scholteshof'' in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. On his return to Copenhagen, he served as head chef at various top restaurants before opening his first restaurant, Geranium (one Michelin Star Awarded in 2012, two in 2013, three in 2016) in Rosenborg Gardens, together with Søren Ledet. Shortly after, the restaurant received a star in the Michelin Guide but faced closure after the bankruptcy of an investor in 2009. In 2010 the restaurant re-opened in one of the office towers of

Parken Stadium Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...

, a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (Inner Østerbro) district of Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2007, he served as the captain of the Danish national chef team at the

. While some controversy surrounded the Bocuse d'Or victory of French chef

Fabrice Desvignes Fabrice Desvignes (), born in 1973, is a French chef, and winner of the 2007 Bocuse d'Or.Bremner, Charles. Tourres, Marie. ''The Times'' (January 29, 2007)We were whipped by cheat chef, say the losing cooks/ref> Desvignes is a second chef at the P ...

, Kofoed made no official complaint. Desvignes became the subject of controversy, allegedly cheating by smuggling precooked ingredients into the final. The events became the subject of the 2008 book ''Infernoet i Lyon''. In October 2009, Kofoed was the Danish selection for representation at the 2011 Bocuse d'Or, becoming the first person to participate in the competition three times. At the time, he stated his ambition was "to bring home the one statue I'm missing," which he did in the January 2011 finals. This gold medal prize followed his victory in the 2010 Bocuse d'Or Europe. Geranium became the first Danish Michelin 3-star restaurant in 2016 and has held its 3 stars since then.

Personal life

Kofoed is in a relationship with his cohabitant, Maja Bak-Hansen. They have two children: Kamille (born 2012) and Karljohan (born 2014).

Awards

* Bronze medal, 2005 Bocuse d'Or * Silver medal, 2007 Bocuse d'Or * Gold medal, 2010 Bocuse d'Or Europe. * Gold medal, 2011 Bocuse d'Or

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kofoed, Rasmus Danish chefs Danish restaurateurs 1974 births Living people Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants People from Rudersdal Municipality