Waterford and Danish food combine at Garter Lane
Danish Chef Emilie Qvist.
At Garter Lane Arts Centre on September 23, an interesting event takes place in celebration of Danish food.
The event takes place as part of Ireland hosting the Presidency of the EU Council. As part of the presidency, each county in the Republic of Ireland has been paired with an EU Member State.
Waterford has been paired with Denmark.
For the upcoming event, guests will join Danish chef and restaurateur Emilie Qvist and Waterford chef and SETU Lecturer in Culinary Arts Michael Quinn, to sample Smørrebrød, a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich, with a Waterford twist.
Special guests will include Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Liam Brazil, Ireland’s Ambassador to Denmark, H.E. Kyle O’Sullivan, Chargé d’Affaires a.i of Denmark to Ireland, H.E. Ole Egberg Mikkelsen and Tina Nielsen, gastronomic journalist.
Emilie Qvist is the chef and owner of Restaurant Lyspunktet and creative chef studio Hengemt in Hanstholm, on Denmark's rugged and beautiful northwest coast spoke about how much she is looking forward to visiting Waterford.
“I am really looking forward to experiencing Ireland and exploring the food pantry that exists in county Waterford," said Emilie.
"It will be a great experience to travel around, visit the individual producers, and see the variety of ingredients that are available. I am looking forward to cooking with these ingredients and creating a lovely lunch in collaboration with the SETU Culinary Arts students. It will be a great experience to explore Ireland from a gastronomic perspective," she added.
Emilie was raised on an organic farm, and while many ambitious young chefs are drawn to Copenhagen, Emilie chose a different path.
During the pandemic, she left her formal chef training to open her first restaurant, Medvind, on the harbour in Hanstholm beside Denmark's largest fish auction.
She later opened Lyspunktet, housed in the historic Hanstholm Lighthouse.
Waterford Chef and SETU Culinary Arts Lecturer, Michael Quinn, said he is looking forward to introducing Emilie to Waterford food producers and cooking with her and his students.
“This is a perfect opportunity to showcase Waterford producers on an international stage. We have fantastic food in Waterford be it seafood, vegetables, meat, cheese... it’s all here," he said. "As a proud Waterford man, I am delighted to show it off and hopefully create an awareness at how good we are here.”
This event is free to attend but booking is essential via Eventbrite.ie.
