Restaurant Noma was recently named the Best Restaurant for the second year in a row back in April and in honour of this amazing restaurant I am going to write a post about it. I consider myself a foodie and really enjoy seeking out the most interesting and unique dining experiences and I have to say, Restaurant Noma takes the cake for the most out of control dining I have ever heard of. I heard of it a couple years ago when I read an article in a cooking magazine and have had my eye on it since theen. It is located in Copanhagen, Denmark which just so happens to be on the way to... nowhere. It seems like an extremely random location for a restaurant that is now so widely acclaimed.
What is it that makes this restaurant so unique and sought out? It all lies in Rene Redezpi, the head chef and owner's, uber-organic philosophy. He has a small army of foragers that collect all over the plush Danish countryside and seafood-rich ocean and utilizes his findings in some of the most creative dishes I have ever heard of.
Read this mouthwatering excerpt from The Wall Street Journal Magazine that describes Restaurant Noma's signature dish, The Hen & The Egg:
"A plate of damp hay appears, smoldering under the empty, superheated pan that rests atop it. A squeeze bottle is produced: You are directed to squirt a few drops of hay-infused oil into the pan, and then crack a speckled wild-duck egg into the oil. A timer is set. The egg white bubbles and spits. When two minutes have elapsed, you are instructed to swirl a knob of goat butter into the pan and briefly sauté a few fragile leaves of spinach and of ramson, a kind of wild garlic that may have been gathered that morning in a nearby city park. The chef brings over a tiny saucepan of forest-green ramson oil, which he spoons over the cooked white. You scatter herbs and wildflowers, and break off whorls from a potato-chip helix. The fragrance of Nordic spring drifts from the pan: the distant smoke, the dampness of thawed earth, the secret pungency of the forest floor. You have discovered what it might be like to fry an egg in the spring woods if you had perfect ingredients and the resources of one of the world's great kitchens. A hundred tiny things have been orchestrated to ensure that you will be eating the best fried egg of your life."
It is this meticulous attention to detail that amazes me and how Redezpi manages to create winning dishes again and again is nothing short of genius in my eyes. I highly recommend reading the rest of the article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304186404576388162157376414.html?mod=WSJ_Food_LeadStory (photo credit goes to them as well). It really is an amazing article going more into depth about Noma and how it operates which is quite fascinating. For other foodies out there, it also talks about Alinea (located in Chicago) and their amazing gastronomical techniques.
If you are studying abroad in Copenhagen next semester I suggest you make a reservation now! They are not accepting any reservations earlier then September 30th, 2011 and they are sure to fill up as more and more people hear of it.
-K