It is the time of the year again to head back to the mother ship.
This time round, instead of opting to fly into Billund through a connecting flight, I opted to disembark at Copenhagen and drove my way west to Jutland (since cost wise it works out to be the same).
It was slightly challenging to be driving alone, on the ‘wrong’ side of the road straight out of a 13-hour flight having sat next to a rowdy kid. However, the very beautiful scenery along the way really helped - too often I found myself wanting to stop by the side, get out of the car and breathe in the sight. However, this wasn’t quite possible as I either had to drive very fast (along the highways) or drive along (so as not to obstruct the one lane roads).
With the car, I quickly realised I could fulfil my wish of visiting this particular restaurant I had wanted to exactly 1 year back. So upon reaching Billund and completing a power nap, I headed towards the coastal town of Fredericia.
Arriving at 6pm sharp outside the restaurant – Ti Trin Ned is his name.
The restaurant is located at the basement of the building – took me by surprise given the Dane’s love for anything/anywhere with daylight.
Ti Trin Ned literally means ‘Ten Steps Down’ in English. However, if one does a count – one would realise it is really 12 and not 10. But I guess ‘Tolv’ Trin Ned wouldn’t sound nearly as pleasant.
But of course, the basement was anything but dark. Decor and furniture – every bit scandinavian in my opinion (just look at that chair!)
The meal started off with a real teaser – a FISHBOWL.
In it, contains fried snacks (‘corals’), crispy fish skin, oyster cream. Loved the presentation of this dish! I would imagine the intention of this dish is more skewed towards aesthetics over taste.
DEEP FRIED WHITE FISH, oyster leaf, tartare of scallop. Another good looker and a palette pleaser at the same time.
Next, I was served a black package with a block of organic sour butter – no prizes for guessing what’s in the package 
These little babies reinforced my belief that the Danes take their bread very seriously.
3 types of bread: Oat & Buttermilk, Sunflower, Dark Rye. All 3 came in different shapes and had varying texture – but all were so delightful I have never found myself so incapable of identifying a favourite (not even at Joel Robuchon!).
PAN FRIED COD, Scallop brooth, powdered fish and scallop, sour apple, potato, leek. To me, this dish screams Scandinavia. Fish was good although I think my palette is more attuned to cod that is slightly more done (too used to the way the mom overcooks her cod, I suppose). The scallop broth was so flavourful it accentuates the sea note and the sour apple added some welcomed contrast.
VEAL FILLET wrapped around minced veal, mushroom jus, smoken mushroom, morels, pickled shallots, potato puree. My relationship with the veal fillet goes a long way back to my LCB days. I enjoyed working with veal – it is not difficult to handle (no endless sinew or fats to trim) but to get it right is not simple, either.
This was done perfectly and how I like the twist added by wrapping minced – in doing so, it added flavour and texture and at the same time displayed the fine technique required to execute that.
BUTTERMILK SORBET, SEA BUKTHORN CREAM – My ideal kinda palette cleanser. When eaten together, the tartness of the cream is balanced by the mildly sweet buttermilk sorbet; also, the colours were such a delight to watch as you mix the yellow with the white – it almost looked like a hard-boil egg!
The dessert looks like a garden!
Inside, you can see the plate was lined with first a layer of sauce (green), followed by dollops of sorbet and cream and sealed with a sheet of apple gel. The flavours of the sorbet/cream were anise & tarragon, lime & thyme – very refreshing. And speaking of freshness, my guess is the herbs still had its roots in soil and basked its final sunshine that very morning at the backyard of the restaurant.
My oh my. This first attempt at fine nordic cuisine was nothing but fantastic and flawless down to the final moment (even the bathroom managed to impress with its interesting supply of ‘female napkins’, in a stylish manner.)
Ti Trid Ned is a husband and wife team by the Gassners. It is interesting to note Ti Trin Ned does not pride itself as a nordic kitchen but as a ‘personal kitchen’ where every dish is painstakingly well-thought and prepared. To quote the Gassners, “The personal kitchen; because every menu is personal. We use a lot of time and effort to create a dish with the goal to give an experiense to our guests. We choose every ingredients, every bottle of wine, every plate, it is very personal.”
Well, this level of intimacy was definitely achieved throughout my experience that evening.
Well done, Gassners…till the next time.
Ti Trin Ned
Address: Norgesgade 3 · 7000 Fredericia
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 6 p.m. till midnight
