Pizza may have humble wood-fired working-class roots in Napoli, but today this delicious dish has come to define Copenhagen's (hungover) culinary scene. Whether it's slow-fermented crusts or rule-breaking toppings, 'dough' not miss the six best pizzas to savour in the Danish capital, slice by cheesy slice
Once Copenhagen conquered modern Scandinavian dining, then bakeries with their innovative pastries, it turned its head to a new target: pizza. From pillowy, charcoal-puckered Neapolitan-style bases to thin, crispy Roman pies and cheesy, topping-laden slices that wouldn’t look out of place in New York City, there is no shortage of good pizza in the Danish capital.
New openings continue to abound. With a growing focus on slow pizza (organic, locally grown grains and time-intensive proving processes) and a rising trend in Copenhagen-Italian fusion that sees a range of left-field ingredients finding their way on top of dough, it’s safe to say this is one of the most exciting places to grab a slice outside of Italy. Buon appetito!
Diamond Slice
Fancy a New York slice the Copenhagen way? Set your coordinates for Diamond Slice, the city’s coolest place for a piece of pie. Sitting somewhere between a grab-and-go slice you’d get in the Big Apple, and a blackened Neapolitan-style pizza, Diamond Slice perfectly marries the two, with hard-hitting inventive toppings like like nduja, blue cheese and onion or oyster mushrooms, kale, smoked cheese and chilli on large-format slices with a bouncy, funky dough with a chewiness that’s straight outta Naples. Add in a great natural wine selection, crust dippers like tahini ranch and French black garlic, and chocolate chip cookies made from experimental not-chocolate-chocolate from Endless Food Co. and you have a quintessentially Copenhagen pizza joint.
Various locations
Mother Pizza
It’s unsurprising, given the penchant for sourdough bread in Copenhagen, that the style would take over the city’s budding pizza industry, too, and no one is doing it better or more eco-consciously than Mother. Here, it’s all about the Italian-style dough, made using wild yeasts and bacteria from the air and then woodfired until pillowy and blistered. Using the best Italian and Danish ingredients, the pizzas at Mother bridge the gap between the two countries. The recipe has obviously been a success – the much-loved Meatpacking venue has just been followed up with a second in the city.
Various locations
Bæst
Much like how René Redzepi has had superlative influence on Copenhagen’s modern dining scene, Christian Puglisi can be credited with kick-starting the city’s current love of pizza. When he opened Bæst in 2014, it was the first restaurant in the city to take pizza seriously; with thoughtful sourdough bases, housemade mozzarella, ricotta, and in-house butchery for sausages and cured meats, and a truly Copenhagen collision of Italian ideas with seasonal, local ingredients. It may be the blueprint, but more than a decade after opening its doors, Baest remains one of the leading restaurants in the city to settle in for a slice.
Guldbergsgade 29, 2200 København, Denmark
MaMeMi
MaMeMi is like a piece of Rome nestled in the heart of Vesterbro. Forget the thick, juicy, Neapolitan crusts that have swept the city, here thin and crispy reigns supreme, with toppings that range from Carbonara – yes, on a pizza – to the Guanciale which sees pork cheek, caramelised onion, provola cheese, apples and balsamic glaze piled on top of a white sauce base. Then, of course, there is the ultra classic Rossa Mediterranea – which proves that simple is sometimes best with just a tomato base, olives, capers, anchovies and oregano. Belissima.
Mysundegade 28, 1668 København, Denmark
Surt
To get a feel for Christian Puglisi’s influence on pizza in Copenhagen, head to Surt, which was opened in 2019 by Giuseppe Oliva, the man behind Bæst’s iconic pizza recipe. Unsurprisingly, there’s a huge focus on the sourdough base here, with natural fermentation giving the dough a signature depth of flavour and a lingering tang (fitting, then, that surt translates to ‘sour’). While there’s a rotating selection of seasonal, Italian-inspired small plates, at Surt it’s all about the pie, so kick things off with the simple marinara to really let Oliva’s commitment to the dough shine.
Bag Elefanterne 2, 1799 København, Denmark
Pizzeria Luca
It’s all Italian at Pizzeria Luca. While Copenhagen’s innovative food scene has gotten its grip on the pizza openings across the city, Luca remains staunchly classic, using techniques and ingredients honed over the years by their all-Italian team. It speaks to how seriously they take their pies that they are enthusiastic about sharing their processes – the dough is cold raised for 72 hours for maximum flavour and bite, before being topped with much-loved flavour combinations like quatro formaggi and parma ham with buffalo mozzarella. Italy by way of the M3 train – we’ll cheers to that.
Gammel Strand 42, 1202 København K, Denmark