Morten Magh on Service, Stars, and Staying Curious
Morten Magh at Udtryk. Photo Ronja Bo Gustavsson
When I visited Udtryk, it was “full on” getting ready for service.The small courtyard with a big maple tree confirms you have arrived. Even if it’s central Copenhagen the courtyard helps you with the transition into the restaurant, that gives a warm feeling when you enter.
Morten Magh at Udtryk. Photo Ronja Bo Gustavsson
Inside the pre-service is in full swing. Vacuum cleaning, someone unpacking deliveries, carpenters, and maybe it is not so strange. The restaurant has only been open for a few month ago and already gained its first Michelin star just a few days ago. The restaurant is already fully booked until Christmas and beyond.
As there is too much noise upstairs to talk, Morten suggests we go downstairs to the private dining area next to the wine cellar.
Morten strikes me as forward driven, detail oriented and has the ability to quickly hyper focus.
From Helsinge to Manhattan (and Back)
Morten Magh has built a strong career shaped by both international and local experience. Before returning to Denmark, he worked in New York as wine director at the two-star Michelin restaurant Atera. "I got headhunted for my position. The head chef thought I was just going to come over as a waiter. Then they came to dinner, and the way I interacted with them and talked about wine made them offer me the job as wine director straight away," he says.
"Moving to New York at the age I had, this job, the opportunity, everything was like being in a movie," he adds. "It was a really good thing for my resume, but I also think I brought a lot there. I had the best wine pairing in New York by a food blog."
After visa complications, he returned to Denmark. "It was probably fine for me to go back. I always loved Copenhagen more than I loved New York."
Back home, he returned to Studio and later helped open Det Røde Cottage with a friend. He also spent time at Le Sommelier, gaining further experience in one of Copenhagen's established wine-focused restaurants. Today, he is head sommelier at Udtryk.
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“Starting out using the Oxford Dictionary is probably the worst way you can learn about wine, because whenever you read something, you have to look up something new.”
Finding His Place in Service
Morten got his start in the restaurant world at just 14 years old, working as a dishwasher at Tinggården in Asserbo, not far from his hometown of Helsinge.
"I actually got the job through one of my parents’ friends," he recalls. "I didn’t even realize at first that the restaurant was owned by Jan Friis-Mikkelsen. I just remembered seeing him on TV and thinking it looked like a fun place to work. It wasn’t until I started that I made the connection.
He quickly moved from the dishwashing station to the floor. "After the first night, everything went really well. Apparently, I had a natural talent for serving food and being a host," he says. Wine came later, but once it did, it stuck. "I'm a real geek. My interests are always all over the place, but when I find something I like, I really geek out. And wine was one of those things."
He describes sitting with the The Oxford Companion to Wine Dictionary, looking up words like "assemblage," getting lost in the definitions. "Starting out using the Oxford Dictionary is probably the worst way you can learn about wine, because whenever you read something, you have to look up something new," he laughs. Still, he kept going.
“The best time in my day is from six to ten. That’s what I love. I always try to enjoy wine and dumb it down a little.”
"I read more about wine during high school than anything else. When we went on holiday, I would bring three or four wine books. If I ever read a book since high school, it's been about wine."
Morten Magh at Udtryk. Photo Ronja Bo Gustavsson
Young Sommelier in the Making
At 18, he was already creating pairings. "We would get the new dish in the bar, taste it, talk about what could be fun, go into the cellar, open and try. Already back then, I was doing food and wine pairing."
That experience led him further. He studied Chinese and economics at CBS but soon realized it wasn’t for him. I started to think maybe I hadn’t found my full potential yet. I loved being on the floor, but I wanted to grow, so I went for the sommelier exam.
The journey to passing the Danish Sommelier Association's exam wasn’t immediate. "I failed the first year, then I tried again. Next year I failed again, then I tried again. I actually think I failed three times and I passed the fourth time."
"My biggest problem was the blind tasting and writing in time. It had to be handwritten back then. It was three wines and you had 30 minutes. That’s a lot of writing in 10 minutes per wine."
He trained by writing out tasting notes from known wines. "I had the grid in my hand, so I just needed to fill in buzzwords. That helped me realise that my problem wasn’t blind tasting. My problem was finishing the writing. So I just trained for that specifically."
Eventually he did pass and began competing. "I’ve done a few competitions, but I’m not very good at them. My theory is not the best, and I'm not very interested in studying theory too much. That’s not really what I love about wine."
Service Is the Point
Instead, he loves service. "The best time in my day is from six to ten. That’s what I love. I always try to enjoy wine and dumb it down a little. I try not to educate people. I speak to them. I just use words and stuff that people understand."
That includes being honest when guests describe contradictory preferences. "I say, just so you know, what you said now is completely contradicting. Then I explain, and they go, 'Oh, thank you so much.' That’s about guiding them."
He is passionate about finding value in wines rather than chasing names. "There are a lot of wines today that have a perceived value that is completely unreal compared to the quality. I think you have to be completely BS if you think a wine is worth six times more than another wine all the time."
Instead, he focuses on tasting and choosing with care. "For this project, I literally went out and tasted every bottle I put on the list. Maybe 10 percent I couldn't taste, but I tried to choose everything with heart and not just pick off a list."
There are wines he always brings with him, producers he returns to, but he also pushes himself. "I really try to push into new areas. There are some Danish importers I hadn’t worked with before that I wanted to explore."
“Food matching, that’s very, very hard. That literally only comes with experience. You need to taste the dish, and you need to taste the wine. And you can never, ever, ever think that it works in theory. You need to test it.”
Tea Based Pairings, Clean Like Wine
His creativity extends to non-alcoholic pairings, which he builds from tea. "We make a tea base, cold infused for 24 hours, and then we add the flavors. Tea brings a lot of bitterness and flavor without having to add anything else."
He gives an example. "We do a white tea with yuzu cordial and carbonated water. The tea brings depth to the flavor you wouldn’t get otherwise."
His process is about clarity and restraint. "I try not to add too many different things. I want it to be more clean, like wine."
Udtryk. Photo Ronja Bo Gustavsson
On Pairing vs Matching
When we get into the subject of wine pairing, Morten lights up and has strong opinions. “If you do wine pairing, that’s very easy,” he says. “Food pairing is very interchangeable. Pinot Noir can pair with thousands of things.”
But then comes the real challenge.
“Food matching, that’s very, very hard,” Morten explains. “That literally only comes with experience. You need to taste the dish, and you need to taste the wine. And you can never, ever, ever think that it works in theory. You need to test it.”
He draws a sharp line between theory and practice.
When talking about what holds sommeliers back from deeper matching work, Morten doesn’t hold back:
“Some sommeliers are super afraid to use anything other than white wine, so they end up doing white wine, white wine, white wine, Chardonnay, and a Pinot Noir.”
He thinks it's partly because of perceived guest expectations, and partly because of outdated ideas. Whoever said that red wine and fish doesn’t work together?”
He shares an example to challenge that thinking. “Lobster bisque and Pinot Noir. Crazy pairing. Like, really good pairing, actually.”
His advice to young sommeliers is clear:
“Stop using Pinot Noir as a default. Find something else. Cabernet Franc is insanely good with pork, any kind of pork and also really good with poultry, especially game poultry like quail.”
For Morten, matching is a craft that starts with bold curiosity and is refined through repetition and real-world experience. “What you’re going to do 90 percent of the time is food pairing that’s what guests come for. But in food matching, you really have to test things and be willing to fail.”
When asked who influenced him the most, Morten doesn't hesitate:
"Two of the people who inspired me the most are Ronny Emborg and Torsten Vildgaard," he says. (Editor’s note: Torsten Vildgaard is the renowned chef behind the Michelin-starred restaurant Studio in Copenhagen.)
"They taught me the Michelin way. The chefs were doing so much and I wanted to match that."
He speaks honestly about the pressure. "People don’t always understand the pressure. Two tables come early, one wants a bottle of something specific, deliveries are late. You just have to manage."
"Guests are paying the same as going to the opera or theatre. Everything has to be meticulously thought through and perfectly served."
Despite all the pressure, the long hours, and the intensity of the job, he remains motivated by one thing: "Wine is fun. Wine is interesting. And wine can always surprise you."
Outside of work, he leads a more quiet life. "Most of the time I don't really drink wine with my food at home. I drink a beer," he says. “I taste so much during the week. I work so much with it”.
Wine at home becomes something more intentional. "Then it's more like I bring home a special bottle and then I share it with my girlfriend, because we want to drink something nice and special. Doesn't have to be expensive, just good, you know."
“Guests are paying the same as going to the opera or theatre. Everything has to be meticulously thought through and perfectly served.”
Morten Magh at Udtryk. Photo Ronja Bo Gustavsson
He’s also a geek at heart.
"I'm really into computer games," Morten admits with a smile. "I used to play a lot of World of Warcraft and all those kinds of games, but not so much anymore. These days, I mostly play Magic cards."
Outside of work, he spends time with his dog and his son. "Family is the most important thing – also at work," he adds.
That mix of curiosity, honesty, and committed is what seems to define Morten Magh the most.
