There’s no time like summer in Copenhagen, and no place like Copenhagen in summer. The best part of a Copenhagen summer is the endless hours of daylight that make even a 9pm dinner feel early. A close second is ice cream. Like many non-locals, I have only ever experienced Copenhagen in the summer months. Which means I have only ever known the city with Østerberg ice cream. And its become a bit of a habit. A little detour after dinner, sky still light.

At surface level Østerberg looks like any other artisanal ice cream shop. A clean minimalist aesthetic and wafts of sweet waffle drawing you in. But upon closer look, you get to see what makes this place special. Their flavors draw from produce around the world, artfully blended with herbs and spices to uniquely complementary combinations that you would hardly be able to guess from looking at it. It’s understated, compared to places with dollops of gelato piled high, or the (perhaps American?) habit of leaning on the mix-ins for variety. Here, it’s about the fruit or botanicals as heroes, and the flavors are constantly changing. From elderflower to cucumber mint lime, licorice white chocolate to matcha coconut yuzu, there’s always something new to try.

And as of last winter, they also opened a location in Ho Chi Minh City (pretty ideal place to escape a Danish winter if you’re asking me).