The New Noma In Copenhagen
The second generation of René Redzepi's Copenhagen restaurant is here
It may have opened a day late, but Noma 2.0, the second generation of René Redzepi's dining destination that's been frequently called the best restaurant in the world, opened its doors last month.
For the redesign, Redzepi turned to Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels and interior architect David Thulstrup, along with 120-year-old wood manufacturer Dinesen. The resulting space is filled with carefully sourced wood and natural materials that took longer than a year to install. "Our task was first and foremost to transform the natural tranquillity and balance of the forest into a harmonious feeling of well-being and ease and bring that into the new Noma," Dinesen tells Architectural Digest.
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And as The Wall Street Journal reports, the new Noma isn't necessarily a single restaurant per se, versus a sprawling complex connected by a series of glass-ceilinged corridors: There are now 11 buildings, which aside from the dining room and main kitchen, include a separate test kitchen, a fermentation lab, a meat-processing kitchen and a 7,500-square-foot wine storage unit. A canteen, a separate area with workout equipment and a sauna are also available for staff members to utilize.
Noma 2.0's dining room, which seats up to 40 diners.
It took over a year to curate and install the materials used in the restaurant.
René Redzepi in the new space.
For the redesign, Redzepi turned to Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels and interior architect David Thulstrup.
A dish of stuffed clams on the seafood-focused menu.
Sea snail meat with horseradish butter served in a beeswax cup.
Sea snails also make an appearance in a savory broth flavored with kelp.
In terms of the food, Redzepi is breaking the restaurant's menu into three distinct seasons, with a current focus on seafood. Diners are being served dishes like giant squid barely cooked in hot seaweed butter, fresh sea urchin covered in peeled pumpkin seeds and a sea snail broth fortified with maitake mushroom oil and kelp dashi.
If you missed your chance to snag tickets last November, you're going to be playing a long waiting game: Reservations for the entire seafood season sold out in less than 14 hours, while seats for the upcoming vegetable season (starting in June) appear to also be mostly filled.