Aero, a wee Danish island huddled in the Baltic Sea, couldn’t be more beguiling. Yet, it manages to seamlessly combine a sense of times gone by with an abundance of modern-day savviness, entrepreneurship and sustainability.

Petite beach huts bedecked in candy-colored stripes and solid hues line two different strips of sands. (Each of these simple leisure dwellings have been passed down in the family for generations.) Slim cobbled lanes weave this way and that in Aeroskobing, one of the isle’s three towns, past colorful buildings dating to the 18th century, and myriad shops selling everything from linen garments to natural body care products. One early morning, I stepped outside my charming inn, the Aero Guest House and Cafe, and found cast iron street lamps still casting an amber glow, and the air redolent with the tantalizing aroma of fresh baked goods, thanks to the next-door bakery. On this main cobbled street in Aeroskobing, residents park their bikes and load up on loaves of bread and pastries.

Elsewhere on Aero, a restored manor house and estate (Sobygaard) retains a now dry moat of the castle that had long ago occupied this land. Visitors can explore the manor’s large public spaces hosting contemporary art exhibitions that I found enticing. A network of perfect-for-bicycling, single-lane roads weave through the 20-some-mile, somewhat undulating length of Aero, beside green pastures, and thatched houses with well-tended gardens growing a multitude of roses. I stopped at the scenic, 100-foot-high Voderup Cliffs where one of several benches beckoned me to sit awhile, taking in the views of nothing but sea and sky. In the coastal town of Soby, I explored the annual summer outdoor art exhibition that’s held in and around the harbor; this past summer the theme was Re/Upcycling with established artists and art students contributing intriguing, eco-friendly works using found objects.

To say that Aero is forward thinking and bursting with creativity is an understatement. One of its several ferries — the prime way of accessing this scenic isle — is electric and emission-free. (Most of the time, wind turbines supply the energy.) Even more impressive is that the European Union recently recognized Aero for its sustainability. No surprise, considering that more than 100 percent of the island’s electricity is wind generated, while an expansive array of solar panels — among the world’s largest — as well as organic material (biomass) supply most of the energy for heating. (The island hopes to be carbon neutral by 2025.)

As luck would have it, I came face to face with Aero’s creativity and sustainability ethic almost as soon as I disembarked from the ferry in the buzzing harbor town of Marstal where shipyards are still active. After biking on another island since early morning, I was tired and hungry, hoping to find a warm and welcoming restaurant for dinner that was both simple and innovative, with a good selection of wines by the glass, and could accommodate my preference for vegetarian fare. Located on Kirkestraede, Marstal’s summertime walking street, Marstang Mad and Vin that opened in June 2022, fit the bill, and offered so much more.

Once I settled at one of the outdoor tables, I was treated to the island’s friendliness — just about every passerby greeted me as if I were a neighbor — and the magic that Camilla Sommerfelt and Ida Munter — the co-owners and multitask operators — conjured. As a foodie, I was hoping to be surprised, and Marstang Mad & Vin did not disappoint. Among the menu’s small, tapas-like dishes that I focused on were items I would ordinarily turn up my nose to: cabbage with cream cheese and grated egg yolk; and beetroot with feta cheese. I wondered why my two least favorite vegetables would be on what appeared to be a carefully crafted menu. But, I followed my instincts — and Camilla’s enthusiastic description of the menu — and ordered both of these dishes as well as freshly baked sourdough that’s served with local butter and a small dish (for dipping) of balsamic vinegar with blackberries, along with a refreshing glass of Neiss Grauburgunder, a light white wine from Germany. What arrived at my table were little works of art: The beets were ultra thinly sliced, set atop the feta cheese, and flecked with itty bitty onion flowers. And the cabbage was perfectly grilled — with lots of butter — and decorated with shredded egg yolk that resembled blossoms. I will never think of beets and cabbage the same way again. (But I had to stop myself from eating all the bread, saving room for what I expected to be a scrumptious dessert that’s referred to as “cake of the week.”) I was thrilled to dig into a slice of pistachio raspberry cake that was gloriously iced with pink hues, and dotted with pistachios and raspberries. Nothing Camilla and Ida create here can be called boring. This cake was surprising in all sorts of wonderful ways, including the boldly-colored aesthetics, which shouted out that it would be cloyingly sweet, when in fact it was anything but. The flavors were a perfect blending of my fave nut and berry.

When I asked Camilla what was her and Ida’s philosophy regarding food, she said, “Don’t make it too complicated; it should be local, sustainable, fun and taste good.” They’ve certainly succeeded as they collaborate on the menu, experiment with food, and divide up the culinary tasks: Ida’s a vegetarian and devises fun ideas to use produce in unexpected ways, while Camilla focuses more on things related to meats. On an island that’s the epitome of entrepreneurship and environmental friendliness, Marstang Mad and Vin is a must-visit treasure brimming with surprises.

I recently spoke with Camilla and Ida about their passion for food, sustainability and Aero Island.

1- Tell me about your focus on locally-sourced ingredients.

We know where the food we use comes from. We know the people, and we’ve seen how they treat their animals. Plus, we get to influence what we want. Also, it’s “short-traveled” (kortreist), as we say in Norway, meaning that it hasn’t traveled far, and that makes it fresher and sustainable, with a minimal carbon footprint.

If we can’t get it from this island — we use as much local produce as possible — we get it from the nearest possible location and almost never outside of Denmark. Since we are on a small island in a Nordic country, what we can get is limited, and we change our menu often. In the beginning of the year, we work together with our suppliers, Solbo Gront and Nyttehaven, to plan which vegetables we need that they will grow. They grow a variety of different vegetables and they’re able to supply us with almost everything we request (as long as they can grow in Denmark), such as beetroot, cabbage, garlic, fennel, chili, tomato, herbs (dill, thyme, parsley), elderflower, and oyster mushrooms.

The people at Solbo Gront are like family. We’ve known them for years. In fact, it’s where we go when we need a break from the “real world.” Anne, the owner, can immediately see if we had a stressful week and she puts out the good chairs for us in the garden so we can sit and just breathe. We feed the animals (pigs, cows, chickens), taste new and exciting varieties of tomatoes, and pull up our own vegetables from the ground, such as beets, pumpkins, and onions.

All the local farms send us an email every week with what they have ready for harvest or before they send the cow to slaughter, so we can request exactly what we want and, then, plan our menu. For example, we asked around if anyone could produce mushrooms and our friends at Nyttehaven started test growing oyster mushrooms in coffee. They thought it had failed and they didn’t pay much attention to it. But, all of a sudden they saw that the mushrooms had grown like crazy. They called us all excited to tell us that they now had three mushrooms that together weighed more than two pounds. (Every mushroom was the size of my head.) Thirty minutes later, we had the mushrooms in our kitchen, and then we had to create a dish with oyster mushrooms..

We also almost never throw out food, and most scraps will be used, either to make stock or to experiment with pickling and fermentation.

2- How else is your restaurant environmentally friendly?

We also chose to have wine on tap from Siefert Vine. This represents the most sustainable approach to wine sales and we love it! They import more than 43% more wine per pallet compared to conventional bottled wine, which is an equally big reduction in CO2 emissions and transportation. One keg is the equivalent of 27 bottles, therefore no glass, corks, aluminum and cardboard boxes. The kegs are made from 35 to 40% reused plastic from previously used kegs, and all the plastic is PET, which represents the easiest reusable and degradable plastic on the market. Since the wine comes in kegs, you can have more liters of wine on a pallet than if you transported the wine in bottles

3- What inspires your menu?

When planning our menus we are very inspired by nature and the changing seasons. Not only do we try to get as much as possible of our produce locally. but we also love to be inspired by what grows in the local forests and by the beaches. We want people to get inspired to cook with vegetables and seafood in new ways, and to think of a more sustainable outlook on cooking that doesn’t just revolve around the things you can buy in the supermarket.

4- Tell me about some of your other locally-sourced ingredients.

In our weekly dish, we incorporate locally-sourced produce and use it to compliment the fish or meats (lamb, beef, pork, chicken) that we use. Another time, we got hold of a whole lamb from a local supplier, and we ended up using it in a variety of dishes. We get all our fish from Aero Fisk that helps us find locally sourced fish that’s in season, such as shellfish (lobster, langoustine, mussels), cod, halibut, and flatfish.

5- Given that cabbage and beets don’t seem like ingredients that most people favor, why did you choose to put them on your menu?

It’s what naturally grows in Denmark and we like to challenge people. Our food is all about really good produce that is well prepared, but honest. I love serving our cabbage dish to people who say they don’t normally like cabbage because then we have the opportunity to show them that it’s all about the right preparation and pairings. We have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like the cabbage — all it consists of is well prepared cabbage and cheese. We want people to be inspired to make it at home, and if anyone asks, we will always be happy to share our recipes.

Mostly people have been very intrigued to try all of our different small dishes and we have had great feedback from people finding it interesting to come back and try something new every time.

5- What are some of the more popular items on the menu?

Our most popular items this summer had been our beetroot carpaccio with feta cheese, and our grilled cabbage with cream cheese and cured egg yolk. Our weekly dish was also popular.

These are examples of our weekly dish:

6- How often does the menu change in the summer and winter?

Over the summer we had a set menu of small dishes, a charcuterie and cheese board, and then a main dish and cake, that changes every week. During the winter we have a three-course menu that changes weekly. The reason it changes so often is both to constantly challenge ourselves creatively, but also to keep in line with the seasons.

These are examples of our three-course menu:

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7- Can you tell me about those creative desserts of yours?

A number of things can inspire our desserts: local fruit or flowers, a picture we see online, a recipe we once tried, or something that comes to us while in the shower.

These are some examples of our desserts:

8- How did you compose your wine list?

Our wine list has been developed with the help of Gourmet Wine in Svendborg; he made it possible for our vision to come to life. (Most of our wines come from Italy, France, Spain and Germany.) We have a lot of young wines, since both of us enjoy wines that are pretty fresh and light. We also chose to have about 30 different wines by the glass because we want people to be able to experience a good glass of wine without having to buy a whole bottle. and also be able to drink multiple different wines throughout their meal. Since we have a variety of small dishes, it's necessary to have a variety of wines.

9- What do you love about living on Aero?

Both of us grew up in big cities, so we have found the small town charm very comforting, and both of us really enjoy nature, so being closely surrounded by it has been a big selling point for us. We love everything from the local gossip to knowing the person behind the counter in the supermarket. From a food and restaurant perspective. it’s also wonderful to have so much great locally produced food all around us and to be able to draw so much inspiration from it.

10- What are some of your favorite activities on Aero?

Our sanctuary exists at our supplier, Solbo Gront. They are open for visits throughout the year, as long as you call first. They have everything from a beautiful garden to the sweetest farm animals (pigs, cows, chickens) — and it doesn’t hurt that the owners are the most wonderful people too. We also love going on long walks, Camilla has a dog, Nemo, who enjoys running around in the Egehoved forest, and going to Voderup Klint (Cliff). Lastly we are both big foodies and social individuals, so we spend a lot of time going out to eat and experiencing all the local restaurants Aero has to offer. (Our favorites are Landbogaarden, Købmandsgården, Kraut and Koala and Arnfeldt hotel.) Lastly, one of our favorite activities is going to the old bars in Marstal, having a beer with the locals and playing billiards with friends. Our favorite bar is Minde Bar, but we also enjoy going to the Old Irish Pub. We also love going to events at Motorfabrikken (Marstel Motor Factory). One of these is Ohavet, a mini music festival with up and coming Danish artists.

11- What are some must-do sights and activities on the island for visitors?

When you come to Aero, our first and best recommendation is taking your time to explore. Everything from the small towns with old and beautiful architecture to the amazing beaches and forests all make for a lot of great experiences.

Aero contains both lots of luxury options as well as great natural surroundings. We can recommend doing a mix of both; for instance staying at some of the beautiful shelters on the island or in a glamping hut at Teglvaerkspladsen, and going for walks in the surrounding nature. See Aero Bryggerim (brewery) and the only cigar plantation (Aero Cigar) in the country. Pass Sobygaard, and continue the lovely walk up to Vester Molle with a beautiful view of the island. Go golfing at Aero Golf Club, and climb in the Skjoldnaes Lighthouse. Then end the trip with a warm shower at Arnfeldt Hotel or Hotel The Monica. Explore Aeroskobing: see the Aero Whiskey distillery, drink coffee at Kobmandsgaarden, and explore all the small stores in the town. Obviously, we also have a big love for Marstal, where we are located. Marstal is full of soul and good stories. Walk along the piers and look at all the old industrial sights as well as Marstal Sofartsmseum is a great experience, too. Be sure to have time to stop and listen to the good stories when one of the locals says “hi.”