In the Kitchen with Dave's

An afternoon at Dave's: a neighbourhood kitchen in Copenhagen, built from scratch

In the Kitchen With is an original series from Honest Toil exploring the chefs, kitchens and restaurants using our extra virgin olive oil every day. Through conversations, dishes and behind-the-scenes moments, the series captures the people shaping thoughtful, ingredient-led cooking and the role olive oil plays in restaurant kitchens across London.

For our latest In the Kitchen With, we headed to Copenhagen's Nordvest neighbourhood to spend the afternoon with Dave and Tim at Dave's, a neighbourhood bar and eatery that Dave quite literally built from the ground up.

Dave's relationship with hospitality started early. At 16, he began culinary school before completing an apprenticeship at Frederiksminde in Præstø, his hometown. From there came years working across restaurants and wine bars, opening two coffee shops and, at one point, sailing across the Atlantic on a ship carrying biodynamic wine.

By 2022, though, Dave was ready for something different. Uninspired by the restaurant industry and tired of working evenings, he left hospitality and enrolled in cabinet-making school, eventually beginning an apprenticeship with a Danish furniture company. A few years in, the itch to return to restaurants crept back – only this time, Dave wanted to create a place on his own terms.

"I got the itch to go back to the restaurant industry, but this time I would build my own place, with my own hands, from the ground up."

He meant that quite literally. Dave's began as an empty room without electricity, bathrooms or even finished floors. Everything in the space was chosen by the team, while Dave put his newly acquired skills to work building the entire kitchen and shelving systems himself. The longer-term dream is to eventually make the tables and chairs too, although, he admits, that one might take a little longer. Tim joined last year, bringing with him years of experience across restaurants and bars, an ease with people and a particular way with cocktails. He quickly became an essential part of the business, and today the pair run Dave's together.

Returning to hospitality on his own terms has also shaped how Dave thinks about working within the industry. His brother, a classically trained chef, was one of the reasons he first found his way into kitchens, but years spent working in them have taught him to resist the idea that hospitality has to consume your life. "It's a job, treat it that way. I really care for my job, but I also care for my life, so it's important to me to showcase that you can be in this industry and it won't be all or nothing."

Good ingredients without too much interference, and a restaurant that leaves room for a life outside of it.

That uncomplicated approach carries through to the food. With limited kitchen facilities, Dave starts with whatever good produce he can get his hands on, often ordering a selection of vegetables and figuring out the dishes from there. Nothing is too fixed; sometimes a dish gets better by day three, he says, as he fine-tunes it along the way.

For our visit, that meant anchovies and guindillas sourced through Daniel at Origreen – a salty, spicy dish inspired by the Basque Gilda and, according to Dave, best eaten alongside one of Tim's martinis. Next, tomatoes, peaches and stracciatella, with vegetables sourced through Natoora, followed by lightly grilled courgettes and aubergine with olives and an emulsified salsa verde of coriander, green tomatoes and jalapeños.

"The thing about cooking is… it calls for good produce."

Beyond that, Dave says one of the smallest things that makes the biggest difference is seasoning, although for him that means much more than salt. Fat and acid are just as important, and there's almost always a vinaigrette of lemon juice and Honest Toil within reach in the kitchen. It's an approach that feels fitting for a place Dave returned to hospitality specifically to create: good ingredients without too much interference, bespoke drinks to drink alongside them, and a restaurant that leaves enough room for a life outside of it.