Copenhagen night-life impresario Rasmus Shepherd-Lomborg recently unveiled Lidkoeb, a bar that spans three floors of an 18th-century apothecary brick building, with original wooden beams and thick walls in place. Tucked inside a courtyard off Vesterbrogade, Lidkoeb is kitted out with Børge Mogensen's midcentury Danish leather seating, a private smoking balcony, and a stage large enough to fit a piano and a small jazzband. When in Copenhagen, it'll be one of our first stops.
Photography via Lidkoeb and Visit Copenhagen.
Above: The bar opens to blazing fire in a beamed hearth. Note the inset stacked firewood.
Above: Danish designer Børge Mogensen's Spanish Chair, a 1958 classic still in production, are lined up on the herringbone brick hearth.
Above: Menus on wooden clipboards are lined up between the beer taps. Lidkoeb's logo is a pair of shaking hands.
Above: The ground floor has leather banquettes and Spine Barstools designed by Space CPH for Frederica. "The cocktail world, in Copenhagen anyway, has been characterized by the bar looking like something from an airport—stylistically stringent and slightly cold," Shepherd-Lomborg told Issuu, by way of explaining his insistence on supreme warmth and comfort.
Above: The banquettes are slung with shaggy fur throws.
Above: Shepherd-Lomborg selected a warm wood for the bar so that it's a place where people want to linger.
Above: The bar backdrop is tiled in a black-cross pattern.
Above: Choose your perch—an equally inviting bar with gray walls, black tables, backed wooden stools, and old medicine cabinets awaits on another floor.
Above: Libkoeb entrance is hidden in an unmarked courtyard and can be hard to find. Look for stately red doors and a subtle sign. See Lidkoeb for more details.
Check out our City Guide of Copenhagen for more visit-worthy bars. A favorite of ours is the Mikkeller Bar.