Famed restaurant set to reopen
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Denmark's iconic Noma restaurant is set to reopen on Aug. 5 with neither its founder and celebrity chef Rene Redzepi at the helm nor its three stars in the Michelin Guide.
Redzepi announced he would "step away" from leading the Copenhagen institution in March following allegations of abuse and assault there, many from more than a decade ago. During his 23 years at Noma, the restaurant collected numerous international accolades, topping the World's 50 Best Restaurants List five times for its innovative "New Nordic" cuisine.
But five months after Redzepi's public downfall, Noma says it is beginning a "new chapter" with longtime chefs taking charge and a menu that will change monthly to focus even more on the seasonality of ingredients.
"It's been crazy tough," new executive head chef Pablo Soto said in an interview Tuesday. "There's been a lot of media attention and questions about what we're doing, but we're still here standing."
Redzepi, arguably the world's top chef, had for years been dogged by reports of mistreatment of his staff, as well as his yearslong use of unpaid interns to staff the pricey restaurant. Criticism came to a head just days before the opening of a Noma pop-up in Los Angeles, and an article in The New York Times detailed several former employees' accounts ranging from verbal abuse to physical assault at the hands of Redzepi and his deputies between 2009 and 2017.
Redzepi, 48, later apologized and announced his intention to "step away" in a tearful video posted to the restaurant's Instagram page. The restaurant declined to make Redzepi, who is now in a creative director role, available for an interview. In an Instagram video he said he was excited to see "fresh energy" come into the restaurant.
Aside from Redzepi in the open kitchen, another notable absence next week will be the restaurant's three Michelin stars. The third was awarded in 2021. In May, the restaurant said it would not be part of this year's Michelin Guide, saying it didn't meet the guide's requirements for being open long enough in 2026.
The Copenhagen location shuttered in January ahead of the Los Angeles pop-up and remained closed for much of the year.
Soto said the restaurant is almost fully booked for its first three months, up until the end of October. Guests will pay a set price of about $686 USD per head for the menu, with $305 extra for wine pairing.
Soto said the restaurant conducted an internal audit, and there are "many systems in place" to make sure staff are happy and "can grow."
"We've gone through a period of crisis," he said. "This means we need to be much more attentive to each individual."