Nordic Sensibility meets Italian Taste: the Dish of the Year is an insane snack

Celery, turnip, and mussels. The Dish of the Year for our Top Italian Restaurants guide dedicated to the best Italian flavour destinations abroad is eaten with one’s hands. The protagonists are Valerio Serino and Lucia De Luca, he in the kitchen and she managing the dining area. They are the owners of Terra restaurant in Copenhagen, opened in 2017. The snack is presented at the beginning of the menu. It involves an absolute sensation of turnip, with a dual consistency, filled with a savoury mussel emulsion: a Nordic taco with an utterly Italian flavour. The bite is direct, flavourful, and enjoyable, with a sublime contrast of textures. It's light and crumbly, yet with a long-lasting taste, with the mussel's savoury trail distinctly extending the finish. Sensational.

Free and indulgent creativity

We returned to experience the tasting journey (mandatory), and once again, we left feeling that we had encountered an original, stimulating, and creative vision of cuisine. Something different. Something truly delicious. Among the most exhilarating dishes was an absolute highlight of leek, braised and glazed with its own water, chickpea popcorn, and its vegetable pil pil, as well as a succulent slice of halibut, seared on the skin, emulsified with elderflower oil: an elegant North Sea porchetta. The level was also high on the stuffed pasta, while Lucia De Luca's non-alcoholic pairings, from extracts to kombucha, were exquisite, not forgetting a brilliant selection of small artisanal vineyards from Italy and Europe. The sensitivity in pairings is deep and elaborate. Few tables and meticulous attention to detail and service — all with a focus on genuine environmental sustainability.