Climate-friendly menus are a serious business at Restaurant Julian in Copenhagen’s Nationalmuseet, where the exact figure of CO2 emissions is calculated on a number of dishes. Along with sister restaurant Toldboden, Julian at the Nationalmuseet is one of a handful of Copenhagen ‘Klima’ restaurants that have implemented direct measures to lessen their carbon footprint.
The palace housing Copenhagen's National Museum provides a beautiful backdrop to Julian's climate-friendly kitchen. — Photo courtesy of Restaurant Julian
To qualify for membership in the Klima program, a restaurant must show it is trying to reduce its overall energy usage and include at least one CO2-friendly meal – comprising starter, main course and dessert – on the menu. The initiative was started in preparation for the climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009.
“In 2008, in order to look closer into the matter, we prepared a climate-friendly menu for the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries,” says a restaurant press release. “We then asked scientists to calculate how much CO2 had been saved in comparison with a traditional menu, and proved that the amount of CO2 saved in a climate-friendly menu is equivalent to the amount released by driving 10 km in a car.”
Julian’s seasonal, local menu makes use of traditional methods like salting, smoking, and pickling, as well as vegetables and crops that grow naturally in the Nordic region, and buys its meat and fish locally. Meat is one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gases, particularly beef, so Julian has plenty of fish and vegetables on the menu.
Located in an 18th-century mansion, family-friendly Julian is pleasant without being formal, and especially known for its all-you-can-eat weekend brunches, that raise the bar on the city’s usual standard of buffet food; and with free entry to the National Museum, there’s plenty to see and do.
Julian’s weekend climate-friendly brunch costs DKK 195 per person, including unlimited juice and tea/coffee.
