Brian Mark was born in southern Jutland and was immediately immersed in the world of hospitality through the hotel run by his parents in the small town of Vojens. His father was in the kitchen, cooking classic Danish dishes, while his mother worked in the dining room. He loved the atmosphere of the kitchen. From a very early age, Brian Mark felt the urge to create. In a time before the Internet, he bought the magazine Taste and Pleasure every month to find inspiration elsewhere and come up with new dishes alongside his father.
He decided to carve out his own path, while remaining deeply grateful to his parents for everything they gave him. His time at culinary school also allowed him to build a close-knit group of friends with whom he is still in touch today. Together, they honed their skills in the famous seaside resort of Skagen. He stayed there for three years, which strengthened his love for the profession, before heading to the Danish capital with a sports bag slung over his shoulder.
It was in the suburbs of Copenhagen that he became sous-chef at Søllerød Kro. After a brief two-year detour to Klampenborg, he returned there for good, successfully maintaining the restaurant’s Michelin star. In this former inn founded in 1677, he proposed for many years a very personal cuisine, open to the world, with one primary criterion: excellence of ingredients, wherever they may come from.
In 2026, a turning point: he leaves the establishment to work on a new project — to be continued…
Very close to his children, he sometimes cooks with his son Buster, and seeing his daughter Dicte join him on the podium in January 2023 filled him with immense happiness. Rebecca also plays a very important role: as the pastry chef working alongside him, she also shares his life. Whenever possible, they enjoy traveling to find inspiration everywhere. Their destination criteria: good food and great wines!
To keep up the pace, Brian Mark follows a ritual: every morning, before heading into the kitchen, he runs several kilometers. He also tries to stick to three fitness sessions a week. In the kitchen, he values teamwork — a mindset clearly seen at the Bocuse d’Or, where his team was extremely united around him and his commis, Elisabeth Madsen. Winning the Bocuse d’Or had been a dream of his for twenty years! That didn’t stop him from quickly coming back down to earth and ‘getting his hands back into the rémoulade’ at the restaurant.
