Martin “Guf” Rasmussen

It is an early evening in late December. Darkness has fallen on the nearly deserted streets of Ørestaden, but behind a massive glass storefront at Kay Fiskers Plads 22, right across from Field’s shopping mall, the light shines brightly.

“KAYs” the unassuming sign on the door reads, and inside in the warm lights, Martin and his staff are busy stacking shelves with everything from natural wines over organic wine gums to Asian and Mexican sauces. Everything nice as Martin himself would say. 

“Yeah, about the sign,” Martin says with a sheepish, tired grin. “I am still waiting for the real deal to be delivered. It is going to be a giant neon sign in the shape of our logo - a cat with an animated wagging tail. It will sprawl the entire entrance area and it will hold in its tail a croissant or a bottle of wine depending on if it is upwards or downwards position.”

As he gestures at the imaginary figure of a cat several meters tall and several meters across, it becomes clear that you have entered a place a little out of the ordinary. And luckily, Martin is ready with an explanation: KAYs is a little bit of everything.

KAYs - a giant neon cat, a grocery store and a food bodega

“We call it a grocery store and a food bodega,” he laughs, pointing around the space. “In the front, we carry an array of interesting groceries from wines to spices, local vegetables, sauces and canned foods. We will bake sourdough bread, make pastries, and brew coffee. We will have space near the windows for people to hang with their Macbooks and drink coffee, while in the back we will have an eatery where I will cook reasonably priced small dishes and hopefully serve up a lot of wine and beer.”

As he talks, he walks through the spacious half-completed shop, checking on things in the kitchen, pointing out various features to come. Around him, a lot of things are still stacked in boxes and many shelves are still only half-way stocked. The space is far from ready for the January 15 opening, but in Martin’s mind, everything is in place and makes perfect sense.

“It sounds a little much, perhaps,” he offers, as if sensing a state of wonder. “We are all those things. And more But you will never feel overwhelmed. We are simply a symbiosis of all good things in life. Think of it as a New York deli. A space where you can go to buy everything from fresh food to canned delicacies, even sit down and eat a meal or have a drink if you feel like it. Anything that makes you happy.” 

“Look at me, I have become a grocer and a chef,” he beams, “and in this space, I will offer up all the things that make me happy. I had no idea this is what I wanted to do,” he grins again, “but apparently it is.” Indeed, he seems fulfilled. Like a man who has overcome many obstacles and refound his purpose in life. And he looks happy - tired but happy - as he grabs a Danish craft beer from one of his fridges in the back, and pulls up a chair to what will soon become the busy main bar area. 

“This is the first thing I have taken off the shelves,” he reveals, “I feel like you should not drink your own juice, but dammit I deserve it! I have not been in a restaurant kitchen for six years and here I am testing menus and getting ready. All while building the rest of this space around us. It is wearing on me,” he says with an honest smile, slumping slightly in his chair  and taking a large gulp of his beer. “Yet, it is doing me a lot of good. I feel like this is the new version of me. Like I am finally happy and alive again”.

The long road back to happiness

Martin has always been the sort of person to love what he does and live what he does. Everything he has done has been a quest for happiness and he has owned every place he has ever worked at. So, when suddenly for a year, he disappeared from the map, people started to wonder. What happened to the ever smiling, ever happy chef?

“Nobody needs to know what I have been doing for the past year,” he says somberly. “Suffice to say, I have never had a job where I have been so unhappy. I was in a space where I found myself physically and mentally unable to get on my bike and go to work in the morning. I knew I needed a change.”

“I called in and I quit. Then I called my friend, now partner, Rasmus Pors from Madkastellet. This past summer, we were on this major binge in the Meatpacking District and raved about how we should one day do something together in Ørestaden. Bring some life to this god-forsaken borough. At that time, I believe we were envisioning a pizza place. Anyways, I called him up and said I was out of a job.”

“At that time, I had been out of a job for like two hours,” he bursts into a contagious laugh. “What the fuck do we do, I asked, and we somehow came up with this plan that I was to be a grocer here in Ørestaden. When I showed up to see the space, he dropped the bomb: Oh, by the way, you are going to be head chef as well. Oh, okay, I said. I guess that is what I am doing. And now it just feels right. Being a grocer appeals just as much to me as being a chef.”

Lessons from the World Kitchen - what to expect from the menu at KAYs?

Indeed, as he talks, the until now so confusing lines between the grocer and the restaurant become blurred and eventually invisible. As if, to Martin, the entire food space is one single organism, working in unison.

“KAYs is the grown up version of me. A restaurant, bar, liquor store and more. Yet, I do not envision myself sitting here getting drunk after work. I have been there,” he says honestly. “Corona has shown me that I am no bar rat, that I have no desire to get drunk every evening. I am a family man now and I want to make a grown-up restaurant. It will be the sort of place to come to have a great evening. Or buy the ingredients for a great evening.”

“We envisioned this concept of KAY being a sailor. He has traveled the seven seas, he has seen the world. Now he has returned home with all these stories to tell, and he wants you to drop by for a bite to eat and hear tales from around the world.”

The restaurant will feature classics like NYC style Reuben Sandwiches - perhaps the only in Copenhagen, he reveals. There will eventually be burgers and sandwiches, he promises. But best of all, there will be an ever-changing array of small dishes from around the world, priced at a very reasonable 80 DKK.

Bright, vibrant and full of punch and attitude, the menu will be a playful remix and twist on the world kitchen, he promises. yummy food, he calls it. Recognizable dishes from the world seen through the eyes of a sailor with a beanie, he calls them, all of them served with a playful twist. 

”You will not find a single product on the shelves or in the kitchen that puts ideology over flavor, he promises. Nor will you find only luxury products. Affordable sliced cheese will be sold next to gourmet cheese. And organic rice crackers alongside chips with truffle and Iberico ham.

“We are not a feinschmecker business,” he argues, “We are a business that has put thought into what goes onto the shelves and into my food. I want to showcase flavorful products. Local vegetables, locally roasted coffee, local beef, even wine from the local wine importer down the street' - I am big on sustainability, locality and social aspects and I want to pay support and tribute to local quality products.“

There is strange beauty to the thought that every product has thought and purpose, and while not strictly local and dogmatically sustainable, KAYs is still envisioned to be a full-circle concept and to even introduce a unique zero-waste policy. 

Anything that is not sold in the grocers section or the bakery will be repurposed for new dishes or new products. “Even our stale bread,” Martin promises. “Whatever we cannot use, we freeze and ship it to Herslev Brewery or GAMMA - for use in brewing beer. Our approach to zero-waste does not simply involve giving away left-over products for animal feed. We want to upcycle and create value. If a product has to die, it should be transformed into something better - or at least equally good.”

Martin - Hipster Sailor and Family Man

As he sits there talking about social responsibility, conscious choices, locality and zero-waste. He seems suddenly older than his 38 years of age. Like he himself has been around the world before finally settling in place. And maybe he has, physically and metaphorically.

“Yes, I am KAY,” he reveals with a smile when pressed. “The hipster sailor of the world that has come home. I am the good uncle, the one who shows up with a good bottle of wine or a six pack of craft beer. Not the creepy, bad uncle who makes you sit on his lap and listen to stories,” he says with a joking grin”. I am KAY and I want KAYs to be me.”

“And I want to end on the subject of the grown-up me,” he pleads. “I want this to be a family place. We are open from 8 AM - 6 PM on weekdays. Weekends we are open to 10 or 11 PM. This offers so much flexibility for myself and my staff alike. I live five minutes from here, so on weeknights I can be home for dinner and on weekends, I am home by midnight.”

“I will probably be working 50-60 hours a week. But that is okay because I am close to my family. I live right around the corner, and they can always swing by,” he says with content. “My youngest son will be attending kindergarten right down the street. My oldest son is 13, he can always pop down here and eat the dish of the day with me if I am working late.”

“Our chefs, on the other hand, work five days one week and two days the next. That gives them almost an entire week at home with their families every other week. And for my employees, this means the world. They can actually live a real, meaningful life with their families. I think this is so important and so overlooked in this business,” he finishes his line of thought and his beer.