Meet the Man Who Does Every Single Job at ‘Denmark’s Smallest Restaurant’

This story was originally published in Danish on MUNCHIES DK.

We recently published a story about a restaurant in the Netherlands that only has one employee. But we soon learned that the Netherlands isn’t the only place in the world with such an establishment. In Copenhagen, another one-employee restaurant has started up.

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Since September 2016, Thomas Pamperin has been chef, waiter, owner, as well as dishwasher at Restaurant Njordvest at Utterslev Torv.

“Instead of working for people who don’t appreciate my work, I’d rather have my own place where I can just be myself,” says Thomas. “You get rid of all the BS, but I do occasionally miss someone to chat with.” Njordvest can only accommodate eight guests, and on his homepage, Thomas describes the place as “probably Denmark’s smallest restaurant”. Sure, you can find a hot dog stand or three out there with fewer square feet and with only one employee, but this is a full-service restaurant with a really tiny kitchen.

The Njordvest Restaurant. Stickers from the previous restaurant that Thomas shared with a friend before he went solo are still up. All photos by Amanda Cooper.

The Njordvest Restaurant. Stickers from the previous restaurant that Thomas shared with a friend before he went solo are still up. All photos by Amanda Cooper.

That’s why there’s a system for everything, and Thomas will have to make do with the kind of cookware most people use at home—there is no room for industrial machinery. He has a small Sousvide vacuum packer and a KitchenAid-mixer, and instead of a heating cabinet, he has installed an extra oven that he bought at Ikea.

Thomas polishes the glasses, sets the tables, does the cleaning, washes the dishes, and kneads the dough so that it is ready to be baked before the service starts at 6 PM. The food needs to be chopped, placed in trays, and prepared, so that the food can leave the kitchen within just a few minutes. When the guests are gone, he washes the dishes before he goes home at 11 PM. He saves the glasses for the next day.

Read the full story on Munchies.