A local couple is aiming to bring a piece of Copenhagen to Atlanta. Lifestyle marketer Freddy Adkins and his husband and Copenhagen native Mikkel Jensen are looking to recapture the magic of European cafe culture with The Danish ATL, which they are planning to bring to Midtown in January. Adkins told What Now Atlanta that they currently have a letter of intent at The Juniper on the corner of Juniper Street and 11th Street and are aiming to add some additional investors in the home stretch.
Adkins and Jensen drew inspiration from their own experiences in Copenhagen, where cafes and bakeries are daily staples. Danish cafe culture has inspired plenty of pastries people in the U.S. enjoy, including danishes and cinnamon rolls (known as cinnamon snails in Denmark). Adkins, who has lived in Atlanta since 2010, seized the opportunity to bring some of the Copenhagen staples currently absent from the Atlanta market to customers here.
“It’s a really great concept, and it will be the first and only cafe/bakery of its kind, really in the entire United States, but mainly here in Atlanta,” Adkins said. ”There’s nothing like it.”
For Adkins and Jensen, authenticity is central to the goal of The Danish ATL. The design will aim to recapture a Scandinavian bakery with herringbone wood floors, subway tiles, plants, wooden furniture and Royal Copenhagen porcelain. Alongside coffee beverages and hot chocolate, the menu will feature Danish pastries such as Tebirkes (a poppy seed breakfast pastry), Kanelsnegl (the cinnamon snail) and Romkugler (rum balls in coconut). There will also be open-face sandwiches and fresh bread. Adkins hopes the menu, which will display Danish names for each item along with the phonetic spelling, will introduce Atlantans to more of the Danish language. They also plan to train their chef with Copenhagen baking techniques to ensure the pastries are made with an authentic touch.
“It’s going to feel like one of the cafes in Copenhagen. That’s what we’re trying to do, is bring Copenhagen to Atlanta,” Adkins said. “It’s one of my favorite cities ever.”
In Midtown, Adkins hopes they can pull in some of the lunch crowd by offering an upscale, healthy option to the food and beverage landscape. Adkins has also connected with the local Danish-American Chamber of Commerce and hopes to provide a welcoming new business for people from Denmark who now live in Atlanta.
“We’re really excited to bring the cafe culture that is all over Europe, especially in Copenhagen, to Atlanta,” Adkins said. “Atlanta is such a foodie city and the concept is very exciting.”
