I moved to Copenhagen in January 2006 with enough money to last a few months. I had no job prospects, no contacts, and knew nothing about the city. I can’t quite remember how I heard about the bar. Maybe it was mentioned in some article in the local English-speaking newspaper, or listed in a guidebook. The description was appealing either way.

I seem to recall not being able to find it the first few times I tried. Eventually I achieved the feat. I wandered in early one weekday afternoon and found a dark and scruffy cellar bar with one other patron – both had seen better days. Crucially, the other chap was watching cricket on the TV. I stayed for a few hours, had a couple of beers, made some small talk about the cricket. I returned often. Began to recognise faces and was recognised in turn. The best bars exert a particular force. You see something in them others don’t. But that’s fine because then they’re your own. Bloomsday was my own.

#bloomsday #Copenhagen

A couple of the pics above I shot while filming in Bloomsday – the bar I’ve drunk in since moving here six and a half years ago and which is closing in less than a week. I’m looking forward to sharing the film with you but I’m not looking forward to life without my favourite bar.

#bloomsday #Copenhagen

Our second film opens with us foraging on the beaches at Lammefjord and ends with some footage of the fifth meal. We would have liked to get more shots of the dishes themselves but it can get a bit hectic in the kitchen and we kept forgetting. We know for next time.

We really enjoyed working with chef Emil Glaser. He’s a massively talented young cook and we were proud to give him his first opportunity to express himself outside of his day job. He’s been at Noma for a couple of years now and I guess there’s no better place to learn your trade. It will be interesting to see how he develops from here.

Our amazing friend and colleague Hannibal Lang shot, edited and graded the piece and Chris and I directed.

#cph meal #emil glaser #noma

Woke up to a light drizzle and a need to add something to the day. These are all taken in my neighbourhood – a route I take often to walk the dog. Early morning in Vesterbro is tranquil; the all-night bars are shuttered, the cafes and the corner shops take over. One gentleman takes the opportunity to wash his van.

#Copenhagen #vesterbro

An Evening At Paté Paté from cphmeal on Vimeo.

Though we’d love to do more, Chris and I can only really handle arranging four or five CPH Meals a year. From the start, we tried to think of ways to complement those events; something that broadened the brand’s voice and scope and was still a natural fit with our values – original, entrepreneurial, a little quirky and deeply personal.

Initially we tried written profiles of various establishments around town that we held close to our hearts – usually fiercely independent and unique restaurants. But these also were very time-consuming and somehow lacked vitality.

We wanted to stick with the idea of profiling an establishment – giving a deeper insight into a place and the people behind it – and we settled on film, largely inspired by our burgeoning friendship with Hannibal Lang Jensen, a young film-maker with a wonderful touch when it comes to editing and grading.

The piece above is the first result. Filmed last month over the course of an evening at Paté Paté using a Canon 5D. Hope you enjoy it.

#canon 5d #cph meal #pate pate

The little project I run with my friend Chris is humming along. We held another event last month (pics here) and we’ve been getting a little press. Lately, we’ve been asking ourselves how it can develop. We have a half-articulated vision – occasional food events backed by a more traditional presence, perhaps some consultancy for fledgling food and boutique enterprises, maybe some film. Doing the stuff we love to do everyday instead of occasionally. We’ll see.

#cph meal

Chris and I started CPH Meal last year with the goal of putting on occasional food events in the city. It’s been a lot of fun, and for two people that work in advertising, also a great learning experience. The purpose of this post is to share some personal reflections on the process of building our little brand.

Learn From Others – While almost by definition every new venture is unique, the experiences of others can serve as inspiration. I’ve watched closely as the guys at Inventory have built their brand from square one. In just a couple of years they’ve gone from being just another men’s style blog to a full-on player in the men’s fashion scene with their own magazine, online retail venture and, most recently, an actual shop.

Most impressively, they’ve not made any obvious missteps along the way. They’ve kept their visuals nice and clean, they’ve put their own personalities and vision at the core of the brand and they’ve been gracious. Put simply, they’ve been clear-sighted, dedicated and genuine.

I should also mention that Hugh MacLeod’s evolving thoughts on what he’s termed the ‘Global Microbrand‘ have also been an influence, as has Monocle magazine. Its consistent focus on small-scale enterprises undertaken with passion and verve is always a good reminder that it can be done. You just need to do it.

Define the Why – When we recently relaunched our site, the section that caused us most soul-searching was the About page. Chris and I had lots of conversations about what CPH Meal was all about. We both had our own ideas and our attempts to come up with a unified text led to a lot of over-intellectualization. But looking back, I think it was a necessary process – by defining what we weren’t, we started getting closer to what we were.

We went back to basics and set down some of the principles we shared and then Chris went away and wrote a text that nailed it. It taught us that coherency for a brand (even one as miniscule as ours) is not easy – you have to graft, you have to tweak and hone, and you have to be prepared to evolve.

Be Personable – This basically means be pleasant. It applies to most things in life and branding is no different. Chris and I are not trying to build a cult of our personalities (we’re far too straight-laced for that), but we’re trying to forge the brand in an open, honest and transparent way. What that means in practice is signing our names at the end of blog posts, linking to our own Twitter accounts on our bio page, and making sure that we host our events graciously.

Pay Attention to Detail – John Foster Dulles wrote that a man’s accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail (thank you Google). This is so obvious, but so important. When you’re working with chefs of the level of Rob Martin and Ben Greeno, you know that the food is going to be something special. The job Chris and I have is to make sure that everything else is too. That means anything from making sure toilets are clean and fully stocked with paper and our menus are accurate, to checking that our punctuation is spot-on (still a work in progress).

I was hoping to make this a list of ten or five but these four seem to me to be a good start. It all comes down to doing something you believe in and doing it well.

#aaron bateman #ben greeno #chris calvert #Copenhagen #cph meal #rob martin

I made it to the Friday parties at this year’s Distortion Festival here in Copenhagen. It was a lot of fun, hanging out with some great friends, drinking some beers, people-watching. They describe it as a ‘loosely orchestrated street and club festival’ and that sums it up perfectly.

One friend noted that the festival shows Copenhagen at its relaxed, accepting best. Indie kids, white kids, club kids, Asian kids, families – anyone and everyone happily mingling on the streets. No aggression, no bad vibes.

The rest of my pics from the night are here.

Copenhagen’s one and only shop dedicated to fixed gear riding moved into new premises on Saturday and I popped along to say hi.

#Copenhagen #fixed wheel #fixie #rantzausgade #track bike shop

I left England four years ago today. Like most things in my life, my memories of the months immediately before and after I moved to Copenhagen feel like fragments of a bigger picture I can’t yet make out.

I remember resigning from my reporter’s job. A bland meeting room in an inconsequential building in an industrial estate at the arse-end of town where I went through the motions with the deputy editor, an officious jobsworth only a year or two older than me. She accepted my resignation with dead eyes and we went back to preparing that week’s edition.

I had wanted it to feel like a withering condemnation of the publisher and its inconsiderate treatment of editorial staff. Ultimately it was irrelevant. But it was a beginning of sorts, at a time when I was more accustomed to endings. I was 27.

Now I am 31. I am an advertising copywriter and I have recently bought my first apartment with my girlfriend. But the story of these past four years is less to do with achievements and acquisitions than with the sensory awakening that’s come from simply being here. Copenhagen has given me purpose. There are still unkind days, but they are fewer, and beginnings outnumber endings.

The pictures that follow are a kind of photo-essay to try and give an impression of my life here. Friends, strangers, girlfriends, places, streets and buildings. Thanks for sticking with me!

#Copenhagen