Mangholm: High-end farm-to-table dining in the heart of Danish nature

By Nicolai Lisberg | Photos: Mangholm

At Mangholm, the unforgettable food and surroundings give guests a holistic experience, where all five senses come into play.

Imagine driving half an hour from Copenhagen. Away from the stress and noise of the city into a world of peace and tranquillity. Upon entering Mangholm you are greeted with a long drive lined with old, tall, trees that have stood up to the test of time. Suddenly it is just quiet, the only sounds are birds chirping, cows mooing in the distance and bees humming in the grass. The air also smells different – like dry hay, wild roses, wet soil. You are about to enter a gastronomic journey beyond the unusual. This is Mangholm: an organic farm, a restaurant, a holistic experience.

“Some of our guests say it is like entering Narnia when they drive down the avenue. It is a truly unique place and experience we offer, and you sense it the moment you exit the main road and enter our premises,” says Tine Hage, who bought the farm Mangholm together with her husband Torben in 2013.

The farm has been organic since 2001, but Tine had higher visions for the place. A year after acquiring the farm, they opened a small farm shop selling Mangholm’s produce as well as locally sourced produce. Within a few years Mangholm began providing several renowned Copenhagen gourmet restaurants with fresh and unique vegetables, fruits, berries and herbs, and in summer 2022, Mangholm opened a restaurant on the farm to showcase all the marvellous products it has to offer.

Mangholm: High-end farm-to-table dining in the heart of Danish nature

A unique food journey, based on nature’s own processes

“We stand out from most restaurants because you will eat the fresh produce from Mangholm right on the farm and in surroundings that are equal to none. You’ll experience the landscape formed in the last ice age and mineral-rich soil that feeds Magnholm’s fresh ingredients. The vegetables are harvested and served on a plate of carefully prepared food at Mangholm’s restaurant that same day. Your taste buds will experience an unimaginable burst of flavour, while your are entertained by the beauty of nature,” says Tine

Guests tend to show up before their booking to walk around the farm and enjoy the landscape, the animals, and see what’s currently growing in the vegetable garden. After dinner, some guests linger to see the sunset, and some will stay overnight in the fully-equipped, eco-friendly wooden cottages placed nestled in the forest around the farm.

Mangholm: High-end farm-to-table dining in the heart of Danish nature

Our waiters also work in the garden and provide guests with in-depth knowledge about the vegetables and how they are grown organically and sustainably. This fulfils Tine and Torben’s vision of the farm-to-table concept of Mangholm.

“It is a big part of our ‘reason to be’: to inspire our guests, show and tell, explain what we do and why we do it. From our experience, people are increasingly interested in understanding climate and environmental issues and what they can do to help. But often they are lacking knowledge and guidelines, so we try to provide them with this by showing how you can run a farm and produce high-quality food in a climate friendly way. We want to show that farming at Mangholm is part of the solution,” explains Tine.

Mangholm: High-end farm-to-table dining in the heart of Danish nature

Our most important resource: it is all about the soil

To grow extraordinarily high-quality food, the soil at Manghom needs to be taken care of properly. The produce thrives in the microorganism-rich soil, which has been nourished over time. The depth of soil at which plants grow is comparable to the thickness of the human skin – this is how fragile it is. After years of conventional and industrial farming, parts of this living layer are being destroyed gradually, globally. But with knowledge, effort, time and care, the soil can recover.

Tine and Torben believe in the all-natural process at Mangholm. The farm animals live a natural life where they reproduce naturally and take care of their offspring. They graze in the fields all summer and are fed only hay from the fields in winter.

Compost derived from these animals provides the basic components for healthy and nourishing soil. “We stopped digging and ploughing five years ago and we use our natural compost to follow nature’s own processes. These holistic processes are very much in line with what is going on in nature itself: building up carbon in the soil and eliminating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. “No pesticides are used anywhere on the farm because the natural soil is the most important resource we have” says Tine.

“What supports Mangholm’s farming project is our restaurant, run by head chef Jakob Kierecki. Here, we showcase our good intentions on divine plates of healthy and tasty food, at reasonable prices. So why not come spend some time with us and have this experience of a lifetime at Mangholm? Whether it be a for a romantic getaway or a day out with the family to share this corner of paradise.”