The mystique of Copenhagen is multifaceted, but for many, it begins with food. The Danish capital is the standard-bearer for New Nordic cuisine, a movement sustained by a society that encourages homegrown talent, in this case chefs experimenting with local ingredients. But the well-tuned city, with its network of bike paths and ample green space, supports a wide variety of creative endeavors. All around town, art galleries are surfacing in quirky spaces, such as old butcher shops; independent boutiques are filling up with distinctive Danish wares; and new cocktail bars are mixing drinks with, for example, local craft beer. So even as food trends wax and wane, Copenhagen continues to surprise.

Friday

1. Danish Design | 4 p.m.

Danish design is increasingly associated with innovative architecture firms — Bjarke Ingels Group, Henning Larsen Architects — but it’s also flourishing on a smaller scale, as evidenced in the design-minded shops clustered around Gammel Kongevej. At the boutique Black, which opened in March 2013, browse locally designed ceramic vases and bowls. A few doors away, the tiny shop Mumuland is stocked with festive tissue-paper balls and graphic art prints from Danish designers. Down a nearby lane, Dora is a new housewares shop displaying everything from cut-glass tumblers to silver key rings from Georg Jensen. And next door, a font-focused design firm opened Playtype Concept Store, which sells eye-catching typefaces printed on posters, mugs and laptop cases.

2. Culinary Royalty | 7 p.m.

The celebrated restaurant Noma is still the country’s reigning culinary king, but a likely successor is Amass Restaurant, which opened last year in a quiet, out-of-the-way location. The chef, Matt Orlando, honed his skills at Per Se, the Fat Duck and, most recently, Noma, where he was the head chef. But despite the sophisticated pedigree, Mr. Orlando’s own restaurant has a playfully laid-back vibe influenced by his Southern California roots. The cavernous dining room has colorful graffiti art scrawled on the wall and a hip-hop-heavy soundtrack, but the restaurant also impresses with crisp service and remarkably refined dishes, like pork cheek with beach greens and grass, and yeasty fermented flat bread. Adhering to the New Nordic philosophy, the menu revolves around products in their prime, some of which are grown in the backyard garden, visible through the giant windows. Six courses, 575 Danish kroner, or about $100, at 5.60 Danish kroner to the dollar.

3. Norrebro Night | 11 p.m.

Carlsberg still has the largest presence in town, but the future of beer in Copenhagen belongs to microbrews. To taste why, head to the diverse, working-class neighborhood of Norrebro, home to a pair of new craft beer bars. The two-year-old Olsnedkeren is a homey spot with charming décor — taper candles on tables, well-worn benches tucked into cozy nooks — that serves small-batch beers brewed in the building’s basement. On the opposite end of the style spectrum is Mikkeller & Friends, a sleek bar painted pale turquoise with blond-wood accents that became an instant cult favorite upon opening in 2013. The 40 taps pour an ever-changing selection of rare, outstanding craft beers, from Mikkeller’s Orange Yuzu porter to To Ol’s Panzer Grenadier.