Noma
Noma is a Copenhagen restaurant and food innovation laboratory founded by René Redzepi and Claus Meyer, internationally associated with New Nordic cuisine, foraging, and experimental hospitality.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Noma is a Danish restaurant and food innovation laboratory founded in Copenhagen in 2003 by chef René Redzepi and entrepreneur Claus Meyer. Its name is formed from the Danish words nordisk and mad, meaning Nordic food. The restaurant was established in a former warehouse at Strandgade 93 beside Copenhagen’s Greenlandic Trading Square, a historic North Atlantic trading site. Its original setting and culinary philosophy connected the restaurant to the landscapes, ingredients, and food traditions of Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the wider Nordic region. Noma became one of the most influential restaurants of the early twenty-first century by helping redefine contemporary Nordic cooking. Rather than reproducing classical Scandinavian dishes, its kitchen developed a highly localized and research-driven interpretation of the region’s foodways. Menus emphasized wild plants, seaweeds, mushrooms, berries, seafood, grains, fermented products, insects, and other ingredients gathered or cultivated in Nordic environments. Seasonality was central, and the restaurant divided its menus into broad seasonal themes, including seafood, vegetables, and game and forest ingredients. Dishes were often designed as conceptual experiences rather than conventional courses, with diners sometimes participating in preparation or encountering ingredients in unfamiliar forms. The restaurant’s influence was reinforced by a series of international accolades. Restaurant magazine’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list ranked Noma first in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2021. It also received two Michelin stars from 2008 through 2020 and three stars from 2021 through 2025. These distinctions made Noma a global reference point for New Nordic cuisine and contributed to Copenhagen’s reputation as an international culinary destination. Noma’s development included repeated changes of location and format. After a planned closure and redevelopment period, it reopened in February 2018 at Refshalevej 96, where the restaurant was integrated into a larger garden, fermentation, and research-oriented environment. During the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, it temporarily operated as a wine and burger bar with takeaway service, a period sometimes described in food media as Noma 3.0. The restaurant also created temporary international versions of its experience, including residencies in London, Tokyo, Tulum, Brooklyn, and Kyoto. In January 2023, Redzepi announced that Noma would move away from continuous traditional restaurant service. He cited the financial, emotional, and organizational pressures of the fine-dining model and described the future Noma primarily as a food innovation laboratory developing products, techniques, and ideas. Periodic pop-ups would continue to provide a restaurant-facing expression of the brand. The final announced period of regular dinner service was a ten-week Kyoto residency that ended on 18 December 2024. In 2025, Redzepi announced plans for a months-long Los Angeles residency tentatively planned for spring 2026. Noma’s legacy is also complicated by criticism of its labor model. Investigations reported extensive use of unpaid stagiaires, long working hours, and a large ratio of unpaid interns to paid kitchen staff. Noma began paying its interns in October 2022, increasing labor costs substantially. Later reporting in 2026 alleged that Redzepi had physically abused and publicly humiliated employees over a prolonged period. Redzepi accepted responsibility for harmful past conduct and resigned in March 2026, according to the supplied reference material. These labor controversies have become an important part of the brand’s contemporary history and of broader debates about sustainability, hierarchy, and working conditions in elite restaurants.
History
Noma opened in 2003 in a converted warehouse at Strandgade 93 in Copenhagen’s Christianshavn district. The site formed part of North Atlantic House and stood beside the Greenlandic Trading Square, a historic center for trade involving Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Finnmark, and the Faroe Islands. The building’s history helped provide a physical and symbolic setting for the restaurant’s ambition to reinterpret food from the Nordic region. The restaurant was founded by chef René Redzepi and food entrepreneur Claus Meyer. Their project sought to develop a distinct Nordic culinary identity rather than imitate French, Spanish, or Italian fine-dining traditions. Redzepi’s cooking emphasized ingredients found in Nordic ecosystems, including seafood, herbs, flowers, berries, mushrooms, seaweed, grains, game, insects, and fermented preparations. Foraging and close relationships with producers became central to the restaurant’s identity. The resulting cuisine was inventive and highly seasonal, but it was presented as an interpretation of Nordic food rather than a straightforward reconstruction of historical dishes. Noma’s international reputation grew rapidly. It appeared in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants rankings from the mid-2000s and reached first place in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2021. It also earned two Michelin stars from 2008 to 2020 and three stars from 2021 through 2025. The restaurant’s success helped turn New Nordic cuisine into a global movement and strengthened Copenhagen’s position in international gastronomy. Its approach influenced chefs, restaurants, food researchers, design studios, and hospitality businesses well beyond Denmark. Noma also developed a strategy of temporary relocation. In 2012, it operated a ten-day residency at Claridge’s in London. It announced a Japan relocation in 2014 for the beginning of 2015 and an Australian residency for early 2016. In 2017, Noma Mexico operated in Tulum for several weeks, working with Traspatio Maya and sourcing ingredients from Yucatecan and other Mexican communities. A Brooklyn pop-up was announced for 2022, and Kyoto residencies followed in 2023 and 2024. These projects allowed the kitchen to work with unfamiliar ecological and cultural contexts while creating limited, destination-based versions of the Noma experience. Redzepi had originally planned to close the Copenhagen restaurant after 2016 and rebuild it as an urban farm. Noma reopened on 15 February 2018 at Refshalevej 96 after a year-long hiatus. The new site was designed around a more integrated ecosystem of gardens, kitchens, research, and hospitality. During the COVID-19 crisis in May 2020, the restaurant temporarily shifted to a wine and burger bar with takeaway service. This change demonstrated the brand’s willingness to alter its format in response to external conditions. Noma’s labor practices became increasingly controversial. The restaurant relied heavily on stagiaires, or unpaid interns, a practice common in elite restaurants but criticized for transferring the costs of training onto workers. A 2022 Financial Times investigation reported approximately 30 unpaid interns alongside 34 paid chefs, with some interns working as many as 70 hours per week. A 2023 report by Vice stated that about half of the kitchen staff had been unpaid. In October 2022, Noma began paying interns, a decision reported to add approximately $50,000 to $70,000 in monthly labor costs. The precise figures are retained here only as reported estimates and are not independently verified in this dossier. In January 2023, Redzepi announced that Noma would no longer operate as a conventional full-time restaurant after 2024. He described the traditional fine-dining model as financially and emotionally unsustainable and said that Noma would instead concentrate on food innovation, product development, and periodic pop-up restaurants. The final announced regular service was the Kyoto residency ending on 18 December 2024. The future model was intended to preserve Noma’s experimental work while reducing dependence on continuous restaurant operations. In March 2026, The New York Times published an investigation based on interviews with former employees alleging that Redzepi had physically abused and ridiculed subordinates. The allegations added a serious leadership and workplace-conduct dimension to previous criticism of Noma’s labor culture. Redzepi stated that he recognized harmful aspects of his past behavior, apologized, and resigned later that month. Noma’s subsequent governance and operating arrangements require further verification.
- 2026
Redzepi resigns after abuse allegations
[2]Following a New York Times investigation into alleged physical abuse and humiliation of employees, Redzepi apologizes and resigns.
- 2024
Final announced regular dinner service
[1]The Kyoto residency ends on 18 December, completing Noma’s announced transition away from continuous restaurant service.
- 2023
Transition to food laboratory announced
[1]Redzepi announces an end to regular restaurant service after 2024 and a shift toward food innovation.
- 2022
Intern compensation changes
[3]Noma begins paying interns after sustained scrutiny of unpaid stagiaire labor.
- 2021
Noma returns to first place
[1]Noma is again ranked the World’s Best Restaurant and receives a third Michelin star.
- 2020
Temporary wine and burger format
[1]Noma responds to the pandemic by operating as a wine and burger bar with takeaway options.
- 2018
Noma reopens at Refshalevej
[1]Following a planned hiatus, Noma reopens at its current Copenhagen location.
- 2017
Noma Mexico opens
[1]A temporary Noma restaurant opens in Tulum, using Mexican ingredients and collaborating with Maya communities.
- 2016
Australian residency
[1]Noma operates a ten-week residency in Australia.
- 2015
Japan residency
[1]Noma temporarily relocates its restaurant experience to Japan.
Products and positioning
An elite, research-led culinary institution positioned around New Nordic cuisine, radical seasonality, foraging, fermentation, hospitality design, and food innovation.
Restaurant service · 2003
Seasonal tasting menus
Noma’s principal offering was a highly structured, seasonal tasting menu built around local and regional ingredients. Menus changed according to the restaurant’s working seasons and commonly emphasized seafood, vegetables, or game and forest ingredients. Courses frequently used foraged plants, seaweed, mushrooms, berries, fermentation, preservation, and unusual textures. The experience prioritized discovery and narrative over conventional distinctions between appetizer, main course, and dessert.
Casual restaurant format · 2020
Noma 3.0 wine and burger bar
During the COVID-19 crisis, Noma temporarily operated as a wine and burger bar, with takeaway options. The format provided a more accessible and operationally flexible alternative to the restaurant’s usual tasting menus. Food media sometimes used the label Noma 3.0 for this phase, although it was a temporary adaptation rather than a separate permanent brand.
Pop-up restaurant · 2012
Noma residencies
Noma’s residencies temporarily transfer its team and creative system to another city, where menus are rebuilt around local ingredients, producers, landscapes, and culinary traditions. Examples include London, Japan, Australia, Tulum, Brooklyn, and Kyoto. These residencies function as both hospitality events and research projects, allowing the restaurant to test how its methods translate across different ecosystems.
Food research and development · 2023
Food innovation laboratory
The post-2024 Noma model centers on culinary research, product development, preservation, fermentation, new techniques, and experiments with ingredients. Rather than depending on daily dining-room service, the laboratory model is intended to generate food products, ideas, and methods that can be developed over longer periods and expressed through occasional pop-ups.
Controversies
2026
Allegations of physical abuse by René Redzepi
The New York Times reported allegations from former employees that Redzepi physically abused and publicly ridiculed subordinates. Redzepi said that he recognized harmful aspects of his past behavior, apologized, accepted responsibility, and resigned later that month.
2022
Criticism of unpaid interns and working conditions
Investigations reported that Noma relied extensively on unpaid stagiaires, with long working hours and a substantial unpaid workforce. Noma began paying interns in October 2022, but the reporting prompted wider criticism of labor practices in elite restaurants.
2013
Norovirus outbreak among diners
According to a Danish Food Administration report, 63 of 435 diners became ill during February 2013. The outbreak was attributed to norovirus believed to have been unintentionally spread by an infected employee.
Marketing campaigns
- 2026Planned Los Angeles residency
United States
Redzepi announced a prospective five- or six-month Los Angeles residency, intended to begin in spring 2026 and involve collaboration with local creative and culinary communities.
Outcome. The final status and operating arrangements require verification following Redzepi’s reported resignation.
- 2024Final Kyoto residency
Japan
Noma returned to Kyoto from 8 October through 18 December 2024. The residency was announced as the final period of regular restaurant service.
Outcome. It marked the public transition from continuous restaurant operations toward the food-laboratory model.
- 2023Noma Kyoto
Japan
Noma operated a ten-week Kyoto residency in spring 2023, working with Japanese ingredients and culinary contexts.
Outcome. The residency preceded the final announced Kyoto service period in 2024.
- 2022Noma Brooklyn
United States
Noma announced a short Brooklyn pop-up scheduled for 16–20 May.
Outcome. The project continued the brand’s limited-duration international residency strategy.
- 2017Noma Mexico
Mexico
The Tulum residency collaborated with Traspatio Maya and used ingredients including Yucatecan corn, Ixil onions, pepita, Maya bee larva, Melipona honey, Mexican coffee, wine, and artisanal tableware.
Outcome. The pop-up ran from 12 April to 28 May and localized Noma’s approach through partnerships with regional communities.
- 2016Noma Australia
Australia
Noma operated a ten-week Australian residency, exploring local produce, native ingredients, and regional food culture.
Outcome. The residency broadened the restaurant’s international culinary network.
- 2015Noma Japan
Japan
Noma relocated its restaurant team to Japan for a temporary residency, using the country’s ingredients and culinary traditions as the basis for a new menu.
Outcome. The project demonstrated Noma’s research-led international residency format.
- 2012Noma at Claridge’s
United Kingdom
Noma moved temporarily to Claridge’s in London for a ten-day residency while the Copenhagen restaurant was closed for refurbishment. The menu reinterpreted British ingredients through Noma’s experimental approach.
Outcome. The residency extended Noma’s international profile and established a model for later destination pop-ups.
Brand decisions
2026
Redzepi resigns after workplace-abuse allegationsOtherBackground
A New York Times investigation reported allegations by former employees that Redzepi physically abused and humiliated subordinates.
Action taken
Redzepi apologized, accepted responsibility for harmful past conduct, and resigned later that month.
Aftermath
The effect on Noma’s governance, laboratory activities, planned residencies, and ownership is not established in the supplied material.
2023
Transition from restaurant to food laboratoryStrategyBackground
Redzepi said that the conventional fine-dining model was financially and emotionally unsustainable for the employer and employees.
Action taken
Noma announced that it would end regular restaurant service after 2024 and concentrate on food innovation, product development, and periodic pop-up residencies.
Aftermath
The Kyoto residency ending in December 2024 became the final announced period of regular dinner service. Noma’s future operating structure remains subject to verification.
2022
Interns begin receiving payStrategyBackground
External reporting criticized Noma’s reliance on unpaid stagiaires and demanding working conditions.
Action taken
Noma began paying all interns in October 2022.
Aftermath
The change increased labor costs and became part of a broader reconsideration of the economics and ethics of the restaurant’s operating model.
Estimated additional monthly labor cost. $50,000–$70,000 per month (Reported estimate following the October 2022 change)
2020
Temporary pivot to burgers and wineStrategyBackground
The COVID-19 crisis disrupted fine-dining operations and made Noma’s normal tasting-menu service impractical.
Action taken
Noma reopened as a wine and burger bar with takeaway options.
Aftermath
The temporary format allowed the brand to continue serving customers during the crisis and demonstrated its operational flexibility.
2016
Planned closure and urban-farm redevelopmentStrategyBackground
Redzepi planned to close the original Noma after 31 December 2016 and develop a new concept connected to an urban farm near Copenhagen.
Action taken
The restaurant closed for a hiatus and subsequently reopened at a new Refshalevej location in 2018.
Aftermath
The move created a more integrated setting for gardens, research, production, and restaurant service.
Recent events
Noma named the world’s best restaurant[5]
Reported:
Noma was voted the number one restaurant in the world in the 2021 World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
Sources5 sources
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