WORLD’S BEST RESTAURANT CLOSING

One of the best restaurants in the world is closing next year. (* [gasp] Not Cheesecake Factory!) Noma, in Copenhagen, Denmark, opened 20 years ago, created a style called “New Nordic Cuisine,” and topped the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants five times, most recently in 2021. Dinners can cost more than $1,000, and that’s without a side salad. Noma is famous for serving dishes based on locally foraged ingredients, like:
– Reindeer brain custard with bee pollen, served inside a reindeer skull (* $1,000 and you can’t give it to me in a nice clean bowl?)
– Hipberry Stuffed with Pollen + Plum
– Wild Boar Speck and Chestnut Paste
– Spoonable Duck Brain served in an actual Duck Bill (* A duck brain? Great – $1,000 for something the size of a walnut.)
– Quince and fermented rice ice cream with an Oyster Caramel
– Bear Dumpling in Bear Caramel (* I’m sensing a theme.)
– Reindeer Marrow Caramel (* Yep. Theme. Big surprise: you cover anything in caramel, it’s gonna be delicious.)
Chef René Redzepi is bringing this wonderful menu to a close at the end of 2024. The following year, Noma will be reborn as a test kitchen dedicated to the work of food innovation and the development of new flavors. The chef says it will be “a place where you can learn, you can take risks, and you can grow!”
* You know what he’s thinking: “If I have to make one more reindeer brain custard, I’ll kill myself.”
* Brains must taste pretty good. That’s probably why you see them on so many menus.
* Well, the bears will certainly be glad to see it go.
* Noma: their slogan is “We give pretentiousness a new moniker.”
* I don’t suppose they do take-out.
* Let me guess: At this restaurant, diners are taken by boat to a special island where they are ordered not to take pictures of the food. I’ve seen this movie. Don’t get reservations on the last day.