TRIBECA — Better brush up on your pronunciation of "smørrebrød" — a new Danish restaurant is coming to TriBeCa this fall.
Copenhagen/Aamann, a 45-seat restaurant that's a spinoff of Danish chef Adam Aamann's eponymous Copenhagen cafe, will tout fresh ingredients and traditional dishes like "smørrebrød," a Danish open-faced sandwich (pronounced, roughly, shmer-brood.)
"Each little sandwich is a piece of art," said Sanne Ytting, founder of TriBeCa's Copenhagen/Aamann cafe. "It's healthy, organic and beautiful to look at."
The 1,200-square-foot cafe, at 13 Laight St. in the Tribeca Cinemas building, will be a "modern, funky yet classic, and warm" space offering a seasonally rotating selection of 12 smørrebrød sandwiches each day, Ytting said.
Varieties at the Copenhagen restaurant include homemade whole-grain rye bread topped with shrimp, eggs, mayo and peppery cress, or piled high with roast beef, pickles, fried onion rings and horseradish.
Aamann, describing his inspiration, said on his website that he found sandwiches had become "excessively fatty and meaty [with] few quality products, few vegetables, no herbs, too little fish and maybe a little general sloppiness — too little craftsmanship and too many pre-prepared ingredients."
His goal is to showcase high-quality fixings in unusual combinations, with small enough portions that customers can try three to five different sandwiches at one meal.
Other prospective menu items at Copenhagen/Aamann include green asparagus soup with nettle, poached egg and home-baked organic bread, and a tartare of beef with crisp potatoes, mustard cream, tarragon, capers and shallots, according to a preliminary menu.
Copenhagen/Aamann will also feature Danish beers and wines, along with a house-made aquavit, a traditional herb-infused spirit.
Aamann will come to New York to train the restaurant's staff and may bring the new cooks to Denmark to see his restaurant in action, Ytting said.
Ytting, 44, who is originally from Denmark but now lives in Chelsea, said she has long missed the familiar foods of her homeland, and sees the cafe as a way to bring Danes in New York State together, as well as a way to introduce Americans to the unique cuisine.
"I thought it would be really cool to have a cafe in Manhattan where we can go," Ytting said. "You can't really get it anywhere else."
The cafe will be open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch and will close by 8 p.m. An average meal will cost about $15.
Ytting plans to open by the beginning of October and is inviting the Queen of Denmark to the festivities.
Members of Community Board 1's Tribeca Committee unanimously supported Copenhagen/Aamann's liquor license at a meeting Wednesday night.
"Open it soon!" board member Bruce Ehrmann said.
