New ambitions: Restaurant manager puts cocktails in the spotlight

The popcorn machine keeps popping away in the window facing the street — and so does the new mind behind Restaurant Pincho Nation.

26-year-old Emilie Daugaard Kristensen has just stepped into the role as the new restaurant manager, and she has clear ambitions for the place: The restaurant should increasingly attract young people and adults — without losing the families with children.

And it should also be a great place to work.

With colorful mocktails, popcorn, and circus-inspired décor, families with children are naturally drawn to the restaurant. And that’s a good thing.

But few people know that the restaurant also has a wide selection of delicious cocktails on the menu — and stays open late every weekend.

“We’re not just a children’s restaurant. We absolutely want families with kids to visit, but we are more than that,” she emphasizes.

It Started as a Student Job

Emilie has worked at Pincho Nation on the corner of Jomfru Ane Gade and Ved Stranden for almost three years.

It started as a student job alongside her studies at UCN, but after graduating as a Graphic Design Technologist, she felt the need to step away from the computer.

So she took a “gap year” working full-time — and ended up staying.

Since the beginning of February, she has been the restaurant manager.

“I’ve worked in the kitchen. I know the restaurant, the colleagues, and the daily operations in detail, and when the opportunity came up, I was ready,” she says.

Now she wants to run the restaurant with respect for the concept and her colleagues — and with the ambition of attracting even more adult guests in the evenings and on weekends.

Wild Drinks on the Menu

The restaurant’s concept is simple.

You order through an app directly at the table and can choose from a wide range of small tapas-style dishes.

Everything is then served together on a board.

Alongside the food, you can order beautiful, fun, and colorful children’s drinks topped with candy floss, glitter, and whipped cream.

But the menu also features cocktails that are definitely not for kids.

Among them are drinks such as “Golden Meringue” with vodka and “Pitch Pearfect” with gin.

“We have a very well-equipped bar, and we can make a wide range of colorful and delicious cocktails.

And the atmosphere in here is perfect for a night out,” she says.

Wants to Be More Than a Family Restaurant: New Restaurant Manager Focuses on Cocktails

This summer, the restaurant’s outdoor areas will be renovated so guests can enjoy a cold drink or a snack outside in the sun.

In that way, she hopes that even more people will discover the great cocktails at the end of Jomfru Ane Gade.

Before that, she plans to reorganize the indoor space to make room for even more guests inside.

And even though she stays away from mixing the drinks herself, she still knows exactly what’s going on behind the bar.

That’s because her boyfriend, Pattric, is the bar manager at the restaurant.

Each of them spends many hours at the restaurant — both during opening hours and outside of them.

Together with the kitchen manager, Alejandro, Restaurant Pincho Nation is stronger than ever, and Emilie Daugaard Kristensen is ready to welcome both families with children and party-loving young guests as the restaurant’s new manager.