- Country: Denmark
- Recipe:Pickled mussels (serve cold)
- Fish: Blue mussels (North Sea aquaculture Denmark)
What the trees are for the forests, the mussels are for the sea. They clean out the oceans and they are renewable and easy to farm.
About the chef
Christian Francesco Puglisi was born in Messina in Italy in 1982. Arriving in Denmark as an immigrant in 1990 he later attended the Danish Hospitality College and graduated with honours in 2004. Amongst other experiences as a learning cook, he was a short stint at le Taillevent, Paris in '05 and El Bulli in '06.
Shortly after Christian became the sous-chef at Noma in Copenhagen and remained so for 2 1/2 year until he ventured out to open his own restaurant, Relæ in 2010.
Relæ was opened with partner Kim Rossen and soon the smaller eatery Manfreds was opened just across the street from the original restaurant thus benefitting from the synergy between the two kitchens.
Relæ was in 2011 awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin guide and that the year after was swapped for a Michelin star. Relæ was also shortlisted amongst the top 100 of the San Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants 3 years in a row and entered the list as #45 in 2015. Simultaneously, Relæ was honoured with the Sustainable Restaurant Award.
In 2013 Relæ obtained the highest Danish organic certification making it the only Michelin starred restaurant with such a certification in the world. All the restaurants have since followed.
Christian’s focus on integrating gastronomy and sustainable agricultural practices has also acquired him a nomination as the Citizen of the Year by the Danish newspaper Politiken.