The story
The name says it all: a vessel that preserves life. Ark, on Nørre Farimagsgade in Copenhagen, is the flagship of the Ark Collection — a fully plant-based fine dining restaurant that holds the distinction of being the first in the Nordics to receive a Green Michelin Star, awarded to restaurants with an exceptional commitment to sustainable gastronomy. The White Guide has placed it firmly at the top of its "Very Fine" category, calling it one of the spearheads of vegan fine dining at accessible prices.
Three figures shape the restaurant's identity. Jason Renwick, founder and CEO, brings an Australian background and global hospitality experience — and forages ingredients himself. Executive Chef Brett Lavender draws on nearly two decades of cooking across England, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan to produce cuisine that challenges expectations without losing precision. Creative Director Jenia Nelisova ties it all together, ensuring the space, the menus, and the brand feel coherent and rooted in the same sustainable ethos. Conversations at Ark happen in English, and the room — warm, light, built with natural materials — reflects the same honesty the kitchen brings to the plate.
There is no printed menu. Guests listen as the evening's eight courses are described, each one a reinterpretation of local and often foraged vegetables, prepared with what the White Guide calls "accuracy and inventiveness." The mushroom courses are the signature. Ark grows its own fungi at Funga Farm, and they appear in multiple forms: blue oyster mushrooms served raw as a purée on an oyster leaf — the brine-like flavour startlingly vivid — and again yakitori-grilled with an umami emulsion, the texture and savour remarkably close to chicken breast. Later, hedgehog mushrooms, carefully cleaned and grilled, arrive with spring onion, cabbage, peas, and wild chive flowers, tasting unmistakably of pork.
Seasonal produce gets the same considered treatment. White asparagus with fermented plum, black garlic cream, and seeds from sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame, finished with dill and watercress, balances acidity, umami, bitterness, and texture in a single composed dish. Desserts are equally deliberate: tarragon sorbet on sesame crumble lifted by wakame-tango oil, and poached rhubarb with lychee and mirin on a macadamia base scattered with lemon thyme. The kitchen's use of wild and cultivated herbs throughout is, as one diner put it plainly, "they taste of something — they're not just there for show."
The wine list is entirely vegan, mostly low-intervention, and sourced with the same care as the food. Many bottles are transported by bicycle within Copenhagen; some arrive via the sailing vessel Tres Hombres directly from the Loire Valley. Danish wines appear prominently, often as part of the pairing. Leftover wine becomes house vermouth, recycled into cocktails — a small detail that reflects how seriously Ark takes the idea that sustainability is not an option but a requirement. The juice pairing is equally considered, and both tracks land, in the White Guide's words, as "many bull's-eyes in flavour combinations."
The room is bright and warm, with natural materials throughout. The team is, by every account, genuinely warm and professional — smiling without being performative, guiding guests through an unconventional evening with ease. This is plant-based fine dining that dissolves stereotypes rather than leaning on them.
Recognition
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It is undeniable that the trend is green, and Ark is among the vanguard of vegan fine dining at moderate prices. The owner, Jason, is from Australia, and all conversation is conducted in English. There is no menu here, so it pays to listen closely, as the acoustics are not ideal in what is otherwise a warm and bright space featuring natural materials. And it is not just the premises that embrace the guest—the staff are broadly smiling, genuinely warm, and consistently professional. They ensure guests move confidently through the menu’s exciting reinterpretations of local vegetables, prepared with precision and ingenuity. The mushroom dishes and desserts stand out most strongly, but the seasonal white asparagus with fermented plum, black garlic cream, and rich seeds and kernels from sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame, topped with dill and watercress, is also a well-considered, delicate, and fresh dish balancing acidity, umami, bitterness, and texture. The mushroom dishes are signature highlights, featuring produce from the restaurant’s own Funga Farm. Here, we receive blue oyster mushroom served as a raw purée on an oyster shell, making the oyster flavor extremely pronounced, while the same mushrooms appear in a yakitori-grilled version with an umami emulsion, where the mushroom now resembles chicken breast in both meaty flavor and texture. A few courses into the eight-course tasting menu comes another intriguing mushroom: the hedgehog mushroom. Carefully cleaned and grilled, it tastes like pork, served alongside a green potpourri of spring onions, cabbage, and peas, sprinkled with wild chive blossoms. This is experimental cooking with great flair and boldness, though not every dish lands perfectly—for instance, the potato sourdough bread with macadamia-pine nut emulsion lacks both salt and acidity, while the kitchen’s use of wild and cultivated herbs is brilliant. “They taste of something—they’re not just there for show,” exclaims my dining companion, as we agree that the tarragon sorbet on sesame crumble surprisingly becomes even better thanks to the fish-flavored wakame seaweed oil, which in this combination acts merely as a flavor enhancer for the freshness of the tarragon. Now we get acidity and freshness in full force, also in the poached rhubarb with lychee and mirin on a macadamia base, garnished with a generous sprinkle of lemon thyme. Wine or juice pairings are as thoughtfully designed as the food itself—unconventional and hitting many targets in terms of flavor combinations, which places Ark securely at the very top of the Very Good Class.
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