Kalle Holm - 19 years old. Studying jewellery design
My favourite place in Copenhagen is Cafe Granola. Not only the cafe, but also the life surrounding it in Værnedamsvej. It’s a perfect mix of crazy folks, modern looking people, the agency crowd, photographers, families. Everyone from Thorkild Thyrring to school kids use the street for meetings or just for hanging out.
Granola opened it’s doors eight years ago. My dad is the owner, and he took over the lease from an old greengrocer. He rebuilt everything. From the mosaic in the floor to the details on the doors, nothing is original and nothing was here before he moved in. There’s a lot of vintage stuff in here, but he picked or built everything himself.
It’s hard to define what makes Værnedamsvej a great place, but you sense the vibe instantly. I love the contrast between Gl. Kongevej and Vesterbrogade. Vesterbro can be a bit grey and raw, Frederiksberg is usually cozy, and Værnedamsvej is the perfect synthesis of the two.
Værnedamsvej has bookstores, furniture, restaurants, cafes, greengrocers and florists. It just works because people, both locals and others, are using the street and the shops. People from outside instantly feel that there’s a good vibe here. The municipality likes the idea of Værnedamsvej and would like to develop other streets to be the same, but I don’t think there’s a formula. Good things take time.
There has to be a certain amount of chaos to make a street interesting. Værnedamsvej is a chaos of cyclists, cars, pedestrians crammed into a narrow two-way street with parking. It’s a fight to get through the street, but somehow it works. If it doesn’t, the shop keepers come out on the street and direct the traffic.
Elmegade in Nørrebro is a nice street as well, but it works terribly in terms of bikes and cars. It has become a one-way street due to the car-free zone on Nørrebrogade, and with that the spirit of the street has vanished completely. It’s nice, good looking and there’s a good vibe, but I miss the chaos. People just pass by, it gets a bit too sterile and boring for my taste.
I live in Nørrebro, in Rådmandsgade, but I’m visiting Cafe Granola 3-4 times every week. It used to be every day. It feels weird if I haven’t been here for a couple of days. Last Sunday, I was hanging out with a friend and she said that it was clear that I was irritated because I hadn’t been there. It’s like a part of me missing.
Visit Granola HERE.
