Ole & Steen

Why it is renowned

Lagkagehuset runs more than 140 bakeries in Denmark, England and New York City, and trades as Ole & Steen in English-speaking countries.¹ Its first bakery outside Denmark opened in London, in St James's Market, in 2016, and its first in New York, at Union Square, in 2019.²³ Its arrival was covered by The Times and The Week in London and by The New York Times.¹³⁴

The story

Ole Kristoffersen and Jane Borup opened the first bakery in 1991 on the ground floor of a 1930 block on Torvegade at Christianshavns Torv in Copenhagen; its cream-coloured bands look like a layer cake, and the bakery took its name from it, Lagkagehuset, the layer-cake house.² At the same time Steen Skallebæk opened Skallebæk's Bageri on Teaterstien in Haderslev, in South Jutland.²⁵ The two bakeries merged in 2008 under the Lagkagehuset name.² In 2017 the chain was sold to the private equity fund Nordic Capital, and the founders left; it is run from Copenhagen.²¹

What to know it by

• Lagkagehuset, Christianshavns Torv²1991Ole Kristoffersen, Jane BorupThe first shop, in Copenhagen
• Ole & Steen, London²2016The first bakery outside Denmark