Meet your hosts at Out of Denmark


From left, famed restaurateur Jorgen Moller, chef Christian Moller, and Karin

Biography: Christian Moller

Although he was born in California, Christian Moller grew up in his father Jorgen's Miami restaurant, Prince Hamlet. He worked for his spending money, washing dishes and peeling vegetables. He also cooked with his mom, Monica, who he says is a very good cook. He has always wanted to be a chef. Christian graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1994.The oldest and most prestigious culinary college in the United States, the school features an internationally acclaimed faculty of more than 120 instructors from 15 countries including the largest concentration of American Culinary Federation-certified master chefs. It is the only residential college in the world devoted entirely to culinary education.

Like Father, Like Son

Karin and Aime'e Moller

During his three-year program at the Culinary Institute of America, Christian completed a year long externship at Spago in Beverly Hills, Calif. He has also worked at Mark's in Miami, Bistro L'Europe, Boca Raton, Fla. and Beakman Arms in New York. At 31, Christian is now the Chef de Cuisine at Out of Denmark, the Moller-owned Delray Beach, Florida restaurant where his signature dish is rack of lamb, which he serves herb marinated with roasted garlic and bearnaise sauce. May 1999 Christian earned his first four star review at the restaurant. At home, he likes pasta, and makes pasta "in every way you can imagine." He loves Florida, noting "the hotter it gets, the better it is for me."

Christian is also an active community supporter, having recently cooked dinner for 50 for a local charity.

Biography: Jorgen Moller

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1937, Jorgen Moller was the son of a coal and oil salesman and a Danish housewife. He had his first chef's apprenticeship at the Institute of Technology Hotel & Restaurant School in Denmark at age 15. Jorgen, who spoke no English, came to the United States in 1960 with $50 and one pair of shoes. He got a job as an assistant chef at Chicago's Kungholm Restaurant where his cousin was the manager. He become one of the youngest head chefs in America for Kungholm's at age 22. By 1968, he was one of the highest paid chefs in Los Angeles at the exclusive Friars Club in Beverly Hills.

50 Years as European Chef and Loveing it...

In 1968, Jorgen opened Prince Hamlet Restaurant in Miami, Florida. At the time, according to Jorgen, Miami was the only major city in the United States that didn't have a Danish chef. He grew the restaurant to 500 customers a night, sometimes twice that on weekends, and a four million-dollar business until he was forced to close it in 1984 due to the Miami riots and deterioration of the surrounding neighborhood. Jorgen was awarded the Ivy Award, the restaurant industry's "Oscar" in 1979 for Prince Hamlet. Restaurants & Institutions magazine's Restaurateur of Distinction Award, aka the Ivy Award, is the foodservice industry's original accolade and has been awarded since 1970. The Ivy Awards are judged by 160,000 foodservice professionals, past winners of the award. Other winners of the Ivy are Emeril Lagasse, Charlie Trotter, and Wolfgang Puck. He also received four stars from the Mobil Travel Guide, and the Golden Spoon Award from Florida Trend Magazine four times. The Moller family also owned and operated Cafe Danica in Margate, Florida and Danica Bistro in Greenacres, Florida in the 1990s. They opened Out of Denmark in Delray Beach in 1993. The restaurant features fine Northern European Cuisine in a cozy, romantic atmosphere. Jorgen has been a guest lecturer at Miami-Dade Community College and the College of Boca Raton. In addition, Jorgen was recently invited to participate on an advisory board for Lynn University's new culinary program. He has also developed an in-house database and referral marketing system. Jorgen has been an active community supporter. He estimates he has helped raise approximately $2 million for charitable causes in his 31 years as a South Florida restaurateur. Jorgen's wife Monica, originally from Sweden, is a very good cook herself and has played an active role in decorating and running the restaurants. Jorgen and Monica have two sons, Jorgen, Jr. and Christian, who is the Chef de Cuisine at Out of Denmark. "From his commitment to quality to an impeccable guest experience to the dedication he has to our industry, I've never met a more complete Restaurateur than Jorgen Moller." --Michael Hurst, Professor, Hospitality Management, Florida International University, Past president of National Restaurant Association