Restaurant Noma: Why a final visit is worthwhile

For many years, Noma has been considered one of the best restaurants in the world. A first and last journey to the place where fine dining was revolutionized.

Monday, October 16, 2023. 2:57 PM, I'm sitting in front of the computer with tunnel vision. At exactly 3 PM, the reservation for the so-called "Ocean Season 2024" (January 16 to May 31, 2024) at Noma will be released. This time, I have to make it. I MUST get a table. A few months ago, I failed. Two minutes after the release of the reservations, all tables for the "Game & Forest Season" were already booked.

And today, the race for the spots threatens to become even more intense - after it was announced that the restaurant, which has been awarded three Michelin stars, will close by the end of 2024, at the latest by early 2025. My tactic: I will quickly choose a less popular day - a Tuesday. From 2:59 PM, I nervously keep clicking on the link that leads directly to the Tock platform.

The page is not accessible for what feels like a minute. But then, finally, I'm in and see how the tables are swiftly "unavailable." February? - Full! March? - No chance. I pick a random Tuesday in April at 5:45 PM, click for four people - and get a go! But it's still too early for feelings of triumph.

To actually secure the table, an immediate guarantee payment is required - almost 2200 euros for four people. If you want your money back, you have to cancel at least 14 days in advance. But I don't want to think about that now. First, I celebrate my Noma table conquest.

Who invented Noma?

René Redzepi is the heart and mind of Noma. His career began in the 1990s. He trained with the world's most renowned chefs: at Thomas Keller's "French Laundry" in California, with the Pourcel brothers at "Le Jardin des Sens" in Montpellier, and at "El Bulli" by Ferran Adrià. Back in Copenhagen, he opened Noma in 2003 together with Claus Meyer - the name is derived from the first syllables of the Danish words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food). Redzepi, born in Copenhagen in 1977 to a Danish mother and a Macedonian immigrant father, uncompromisingly connected region and season.

René Redzepi invented Noma.

What is special about Noma?

Its cuisine relied on local ingredients such as game, roots, herbs and berries, ferns, snails, musk ox meat, sea cucumbers, algae, and mussels, which the kitchen team collected on the beach. At Noma, there are three seasons each year - the Seafood Season in winter, the Vegetable Season in summer, and the Game & Forest Season in autumn.

Redzepi propagated the radical departure from classical haute cuisine with its luxury ingredients that have to be flown in from all over the world, combining experimental dishes with typical Nordic cuisine – and all at the highest level. At one point, ants even crawled over the plates from the in-house terrarium. Redzepi caused a worldwide sensation with his extraordinary ideas.

In 2005, the restaurant received its first star in the Michelin Guide, the second in 2007. Redzepi had to wait until 2021 for the third star. However, Noma was named the world's best restaurant five times, most recently in 2021.

The day before our visit, I become increasingly nervous by the hour. What if the airline goes on strike again? Why did I book a flight directly on the morning of our Noma dinner – and not the day before? If we don't arrive at the restaurant by 5:45 p.m. at the latest, we won't get a cent or a krone back – and never another table, as the restaurant is closing. For reasons Redzepi has his reasons.

"Game & Forest Season": Danish pancakes filled with herbs with a crispy bear bacon topping, served with bear caramel.

Why is Noma closing?

Luxury gastronomy is no longer feasible with fair wages for the roughly 100 employees, he says. And the conditions under which fine dining is created are not sustainable. Now he wants to convert his Noma into a large food lab.

The restaurant is located on a small peninsula in the Christianshavn district. Redzepi and his team moved there in 2016. The building, which once stored mines for the Royal Danish Navy, has its own garden, several greenhouses where vegetables and herbs grow, and a fermentation lab where miso, soy sauces, vinegars, kombuchas, and garum, as well as lacto-fermented and black-pickled vegetables, are made.

Preserving food using old, traditional techniques is an important pillar of Noma's cuisine, and many other top restaurants have since adopted it. When we arrive, we are greeted by an employee who has been working with Redzepi for 20 years, as he tells us while leading us to one of the greenhouses where we are served tea by a fireplace.

Afterwards, we are taken past meadows and water to the modern main building. Through a door covered with shells, we finally enter the restaurant. An intoxicating feeling. As we walk past the open, modern kitchen on our way to our table, about 20 employees clap happily and greet us. The casual, easy-going atmosphere is surprising – you immediately feel at home.

At Noma: Table and chairs from the "Arv" series by Danish designer David Thulstrup

The dining room is simple yet stylishly furnished. Floors and ceilings made of light oak wood, lots of plants and huge windows with a view of the greenery dominate the room. No tablecloths on the wooden tables, it's best to drink natural wine, homemade juices or teas with dinner here.

When we order from the sommelier – one of the cheaper wines – I hold my breath for a moment. Because in many high-priced star restaurants, this moment decides the rest of the evening. Expensive wine: We will treat you like royalty – cheap wine: Not worth the effort, probably can't afford a decent tip. Then it starts with the first course – out of 14. A whole cooked langoustine, deconstructed into its parts and draped like a work of art on the plate. Accompanied by an aromatic clam broth with bergamot, hidden under dense seaweed – while drinking it, you can smell the scent of seawater in your nose.

An incredible pleasure experience that involves all the senses. This is followed by a dish of different types of seaweed with fermented barley oil in a spicy, light sauce that melts on the tongue. Each course is explained by one of the very attentive, professional and at the same time relaxed and friendly service staff – my fear that we would be treated worse because of the cheap wine we chose disappears into thin air.

Lots of Sea: Clam Soup with Seaweed from the "Ocean Season" Menu

What dishes are served at Noma?

Then: mussel with beetroot – a brilliant combination. Two courses later follows one of my highlights: Paper-thin sliced raw squid on grilled koji. Absolute perfection and love for unusual details are demonstrated by the successive cod dishes: The tongue of the fish is served on the bone, which is taken from the head of the fish, along with an "eye" pie.

The waitress explained to us that it wasn't the entire eyeball of the animal, but just the white part – squid ink would have been used for the pupil. I still don't eat the pie and remember what I've read about Redzepi's penchant for experimentation: that he likes to work with fermented blood and that he once served warm duck brain, which had to be spooned out of the opened duck head. I probably would have left that too.

The next course: Cod collar and jaw are incredibly tender and spicy. And the grilled burbot is a fireworks display for the taste buds. The desserts are worlds away from what I would normally order in a restaurant, for example hazelnut milk foam with seaweed oil and caviar. Or snobrød (Danish twisted bun) on a seaweed skewer with yuzu syrup and mussel gel. But anyone who has dealt with Redzepi's cuisine knows that you can't expect Kaiserschmarrn.

After almost three hours the dinner is over and we end the evening in the lounge: dimmed light from vintage lamps, chairs from Nikari, the sofas are upholstered with sand-colored wool fabrics from Pierre Frey – the perfect place to slowly come back down to earth after this fulminant taste experience.

Our conclusion: The dinner was really worth it. Noma is a total work of art that inspires, saturates, and makes you a little bit happier.

"Game & Forest Season": Deer tartare hiding between the two halves of the mushroom.

What's next for Noma?

But what's next for Noma now? Among other things, with pop-up concepts. Redzepi has already moved several times with Noma team members and their families to other cities for a few months: for example, to Sydney (2016), Tulum/Mexico (2017), and Kyoto (2023). This year, they are returning to the Japanese imperial city for 10 weeks, from October 8 to December 8, 2024.

In the winter of 2024, the regular restaurant operation will be closed, according to their Instagram page: "To continue being Noma, we must change." However, this is not the end, but rather the starting signal for the Noma 3.0 project, which, among other things, aims to develop new foods. It will once again give us a taste of the future.