In a statement, René Redzepi, the chef and co-owner of the Copenhagen establishment widely-considered to be among the world’s best restaurants, announced that Noma will be no more from winter 2024.
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Noma opened in the Danish capital in 2003 and quickly received acclaim for its reimagining of Scandinavian cooking (the name is a an abbreviation of the Danish ‘Nordisk mad’, meaning ‘Nordic cooking’). However, despite being named as the world’s best restaurant by numerous publications, it only received its third Michelin star in 2021. The dinner menu for the restaurant’s current ‘game & forest season’ costs DKK3,500 (£415), with an additional DKK1,800 (£214) for wine pairings or DKK1,300 (£154) for juice pairings.
The statement, titled ‘Noma 3.0’ from Redzepi and the team behind the restaurant, said: “In 2025, our restaurant is transforming into a giant lab—a pioneering test kitchen dedicated to the work of food innovation and the development of new flavours, one that will share the fruits of our efforts more widely than ever before.”
‘Noma 2.0’ was the term used when the restaurant’s test kitchen moved to new premises in 2018.
“In this next phase, we will continue to travel and search for new ways to share our work,” the statement continued. “Our goal is to create a lasting organization dedicated to groundbreaking work in food, but also to redefine the foundation for a restaurant team, a place where you can learn, you can take risks, and you can grow!”
However, when speaking to The New York Times, Redzepi disclosed: “It’s unsustainable…financially and emotionally, as an employer and as a human being, it just doesn’t work.”
Precisely what the third iteration of Noma in Copenhagen has in store is yet to be announced, and though it is not expected to be a conventional restaurant, the statement did declare that “serving guests will still be a part” of Noma 3.0.
In the immediate future, Noma will be opening a pop-up in Kyoto, Japan.
This article was originally published by the drinks business and has been shared with permission.
