Celebrated Copenhagen restaurant ‘Noma’ set to close down in Winter 2024
- Featured Food & Beverage
Schenelle Dsouza- 11 minutes read
Schenelle Dsouza
If you thought getting a reservation at the world-famous Copenhagen restaurant, Noma was a difficult task, it might be your last chance to do so. The restaurant announced on Monday evening, via Instagram, its decision to shut down the restaurant and turn into a test kitchen starting in 2025.
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That’s right, Winter 2024 will be the last season of Noma. And while aspiring chefs and food enthusiasts across the globe wallow at the tragic news, here’s everything we know so far. But first, let’s take a look at the beginning of Noma’s culinary journey.
Inception
Launched in 2003, Noma was the brainchild of Chef Rene Redzepi and Danish entrepreneur Claus Meyer; the name is an interesting play of the Danish words Nordisk (Nordic) and Mad (food). Since its inception, Noma has played an important role in popularising Nordic cuisine while establishing Copenhagen as a global dining destination. Their use of native ingredients such as foraged herbs, cloudberries and local shellfish combined with exotic additions such as wild reindeer blood, ants and cricket paste, caused a wave of inspiration for restaurants worldwide to experiment with local cuisine to develop new flavours and textures.
Post its launch, Redzepi and Meyer along with 10 other Nordic chefs published a 10-point manifesto titled “The New Nordic Food Manifesto” whose main focus is developing the region’s authentic cuisine.
The manifesto emphasised “purity, simplicity and freshness”, while promoting Nordic culture and hyperlocal ingredients and flavours. Some of the points in the manifesto include promoting animal welfare and a sound production process, reflecting the changes in the seasons in every meal, encouraging restaurants to develop traditional Nordic fish and meat recipes, reviving and adapting to older techniques such as marinating, smoking and salting etc.
The page also includes a Nordic Children’s Kitchen Manifesto promoting healthy and nutritious food for children, helping them learn different skills and obtain knowledge about Nordic food and activating all the senses through food, among other aspects.
Noma through the years
A three Michelin Star restaurant, Noma’s popularity stems from the fact that it has been continually ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World by the British magazine – Restaurant, in the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Outdoing itself, Noma bagged the first spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards in 2021.
Talking about Noma’s presence in the culinary world, William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants had initially stated that, “Noma has arguably been the most influential restaurant of its generation, setting new standards in terms of research and ingredient sourcing, dish development, and presentation. It has become one of the most sought-after dining destinations by consumers from all over the world. It is also wonderful to see eight new restaurants making their debut as well as two re-entries after one of the most challenging periods the sector has seen. It has been an honour to witness the resilience and community spirit of so many restaurants on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and beyond.”
Aside from its exceptional menu, what set Noma aside from other restaurants was its strict focus on Nordic ingredients. Right from the beginning Redzepi worked towards producing dishes made strictly from Nordic ingredients; this decision came from his desire to step away and stand out from the highly-regarded French and Italian restaurants in the area. And so, he began working with unique ingredients like foraged mushrooms, reindeer, lichens, scurvy grass, sea cucumbers, cockscombs, and rhubarb roots to curate unique but flavourful creations.
Another interesting fact is the arrangement of the menu, the winter menu features ingredients used from the frigid seas while the summer menu features plates with fresh vegetables and seasonal produce.
Noma 3.0
“We are beginning a new chapter; noma 3.0,” says the Noma team on the restaurant’s website.
Noma’s closing might come as a shock to very few. Those following the restaurant closely might already know about its struggles to keep up over the years. In fact, Noma was forced to close repeatedly for more than six months during the pandemic and was even transformed into a burger and wine bar for about a month during the summer of 2020. And now, the restaurant will be swapping out the dining space for a test kitchen where the team will continue to experiment with food and ingredients.
“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 flavors, one that will share the fruits of our efforts more widely than ever before.”
