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The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Where Copenhagen's Beer History Meets the Plate

Restaurant Paula occupies the historic square metres in Carlsberg Byen where the Carlsberg spring once flowed — the very ground on which Denmark's brewing culture was founded. Today that same site hosts something quite different: a luxury bistro where classic French craftsmanship, Nordic purity, and Japanese precision converge into what the kitchen calls green hedonism.

The phrase is precise. Extravagance here means lobster alongside organic vegetables, oysters next to seasonal roots, caviar and potatoes given equal billing — all enriched, unapologetically, with butter, cream, and genuine pleasure in eating well.

Chef and Team

Head chef Stefan Hansen brings experience from Michelin-starred kitchens including Kong Hans Kælder and Frederiksminde, channelled here into a more informal register where flavour, ingredient quality, and technique remain the fixed points. At the front of house, restaurant manager Nils Sonne Andersen draws on more than eleven years in the industry — as a trained waiter and a graduate in service management — selecting wines from the cellar to complete each evening.

The White Guide awarded Paula its Global Masters level recognition in 2026, singling out the cooking's rare combination of quiet humility and resounding flavour. The judges described a pigeon dish — butter-tender breast with lightly smoked tsukemono, beet sticks, quince, morels, and an intense sauce built from the bird's carcass with gizzard, heart, and discreet Sichuan pepper — as the embodiment of how this kitchen composes dishes: harmonious, edged, and outstanding.

The Format

Paula has deliberately set aside long tasting menus and ceremonial atmospheres. An ever-changing à la carte of 10–12 dishes in varying sizes lets guests build their own evening — three courses or the full spread, the choice entirely theirs. The dining bar is the place to pull up a stool, watch the cooks work, and linger over a glass and a couple of smaller plates. When the weather holds, the terrace opens with views over Carl Jacobsen's garden.

Sourcing and Responsibility

The Nordic-Japanese kitchen is grounded in specific sourcing commitments: Danish wild game rather than farmed meat, sustainably caught seafood from Fiskerikajen, and mostly organic Danish seasonal vegetables. Most suppliers are small and local. Paula is part of the LOCA group — the team behind DOLORES, AMÉLIE, RADIO, and KILDEN at Tivoli — whose guiding principle, every meal matters, runs through every supplier relationship and purchasing decision. Organic and biodynamic wines, selected through long-term partnerships with value-driven importers, complete the picture.

The result is a restaurant where the Nordic-Japanese kitchen feels neither trend-chasing nor austere — just honest, considered, and very good to eat.