The Prince of Denmark Comes to New York. (No, Not Hamlet.)

Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, made a special appearance last night at SoHo's Culinary Loft to add a touch of royal glamour to a dinner designed to change the way the world perceives Scandinavian cuisine. Thanks to the creativity of chef Claus Meyer, host of New Scandinavian Cooking, there wasn't a shred of smoked herring in sight. (Much to my relief.) "I'm not here to do pizza better than the Italians or sushi better than the Japanese," said Meyer, but to show off the potential of Scandinavian dishes and to add them to the "beautiful chorus of world cuisine." Meyer's tasty courses got progressively more interesting as the dinner wore on, aided in no small part by the beers of Carlsberg, including that company's newest entry, an organic ale called Jacobsen. Meyer's show debuts this Saturday on PBS. %%showphotos [setid=72157602640478850]%%