Noma's original location was in an old warehouse on the waterfront in the Christianshavn neighbourhood in central Copenhagen. The building is situated by the Greenlandic Trading Square, which for 200 years was a centre for trade to and from the Faroe Islands, Finnmark, Iceland, and in particular, Greenland. Dry fish, salted herring, whale oil and skins are among the goods that were stored in and around the warehouse before being sold off to European markets. In 2003, the warehouse was turned into North Atlantic House, a centre for the art and culture of the North Atlantic region. Noma was opened at the same time by Redzepi and Claus Meyer. The restaurant's interior is designed by Space Copenhagen. Between 12 and 16 February 2013, 63 of 435 diners became ill after eating at Noma, according to a Danish Food Administration report. The symptoms were attributed to norovirus, which was believed to have been unintentionally spread by an infected kitchen employee. Redzepi planned to close Noma after 31 December 2016 and reopen it in 2017 as an urban farm near Copenhagen. Noma reopened on 15 February 2018 after a year hiatus. The restaurant itself also moved from its previous Strandgade location, now housing Restaurant Barr, to its current location on Refshalevej. In May 2020, during the COVID-19 crisis, Noma re-opened as a wine and burger bar, with takeaway options. It is sometimes referred as "Noma 3.0" by the food media. Redzepi plans to keep this open for at least a part of the summer 2020.
Food
The cuisine of Noma is Nordic/Scandinavian; the restaurant's founders René Redzepi and Claus Meyer have attempted to redefine this Nordic cuisine. Its cuisine can be considered more an interpretation of Nordic food than classical Nordic food itself, according to Meyer in the book Noma – Nordic Cuisine. Famous dishes include 'The Hen and the Egg', a meal cooked by the diners themselves which consists of potato chips, a wild duck egg, slightly wet hay, salt, herbs, wild forest plants, hay oil, thyme, butter, and wild ransoms sauce.
From 28 July to 6 August 2012, Noma decamped to London for a 10-day pop-up restaurant hosted by Claridge's hotel in Mayfair, while the restaurant in Copenhagen was closed from 22 July to 13 August for refurbishment. Redzepi, along with head chef Matt Orlando and staff from the restaurant, served up a £195-per-head nine-course menu that included their versions of scones and clotted cream, Lancashire hotpot with British ingredients, as well as live ants foraged in Denmark and flown to London. On 29 March 2014, Noma announced that the restaurant would be relocating to Japan for two months in the beginning of 2015. On 24 July 2015, Noma announced that the restaurant would be relocating to Australia for 10 weeks in the beginning of 2016. On 12 April 2017, Noma Mexico was opened in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Each multi-course dinner costs US$600. Noma partnered with Traspatio Maya, a nonprofit network of 15 Maya communities to provide Yucatecan ingredients such as white Naal Teel corn, Ixil onions, Xtop pepita, bee larva, and Melipona honey from the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Products from the rest of the country are also included, such as Baja California wine, Chiapas coffee and Oaxaca artisanal plateware. The pop-up closed on 28 May.
2009: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 3rd Best Restaurant in the World
2009: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Chefs' Choice
2010: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World
2011: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World
2012: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World
2013: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 2nd Best Restaurant in the World
2014: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World
2015: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 3rd Best Restaurant in the World
2016: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 5th Best Restaurant in the World
2019: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 2nd Best Restaurant in the World
In 2010, the restaurant, as a relative newcomer, startlingly stole the crown that El Bulli had held for four consecutive years. This came soon after previous first and second place chefs Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal announced that they would be temporarily closing their restaurants. At the time, Noma was viewed as the head of a new movement to spread New Nordic cuisine. In 2011, with El Bulli having withdrawn from the competition because they would be permanently closing, Noma was easily named the Best Restaurant for the second straight year. It was selected by a worldwide panel of journalists, chefs, restaurateurs, and food lovers. The restaurant continued its dominance without having earned a third Michelin Star. In 2012, Redzepi won the award for Noma yet again, being praised by Restaurant as being "the standard bearer for the New Nordic movement" and winning respect for his attention to detail and innovative approach. His use of local and seasonal ingredients foraged from the seashore and forest was also recognized. In 2013, Noma was voted the second best restaurant in the world, having lost the first-place position to El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. In 2014, Noma regained the title.
