Serious fun.

At Restaurant Ensemble, there's no question that Morten Schou is focusing entirely on the food. In a city where minimal is the norm in modern design, Ensemble stands out as the essence of simplicity. The small room is a study in neutrals, and adorned with white tablecloths and white candles--the plainest of backdrops to highlight Schou's dishes.

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Schou's sensibility comes from a lifelong relationship with restaurants that taught him early what is important in the business. It began when as a child he watched his aunt cook alongside some of Copenhagen's best chefs. Her long daily commute to and from their hometown in southern Zeeland instilled in him the meaning of dedication. Many nights Schou went with his uncle to the city to visit her while she worked. "I sat there as a little kid in the kitchen and watched all the chefs prepare the food while I was eating ice cream," he recalls. "That's when I realized this looks like fun. When it looks like fun, I have to try it."

He got his first chance when his aunt opened her own restaurant. "I was up there every day after school, preparing, peeling and cutting carrots and potatoes, and just watching all this--the way to be in a restaurant," he says. He soon took an apprenticeship, eventually completing his training in Copenhagen in 2000. In 2003 he took the position of sous-chef at Ensemble, which had two Michelin stars at the time. Two years later he took the helm as chef-owner. "When the old owners wanted to sell, my passion for this place was very big, so I found some money and bought it," he explains.

Michelin stars, of course, are not included in the conditions of sale. In September, about a month after Schou began running the kitchen, a Michelin inspector informed Schou that he would have to earn his own stars. Although disappointed, Schou continued preparing the food on his own terms. The following March he was quickly awarded a star of his own. He hopes a second will soon follow.

Whether that star comes or not, Schou continues to meet the high standard he's set for his restaurant. "There are some days when I think, 'Just give me room for fifteen people more, and a new stove,'" he admits. But Schou doesn't let any obstacle deter him. He's still having fun, drawing inspiration from experience. "I think the primary route now is just to do what I feel like and make the food that makes me happy." Right now in the fine-dining land-scape of Copenhagen, it's making a lot of other people happy too.

MORTEN SCHOU Chef/Owner, Restaurant Ensemble, Copenhagen