Foraging superstar and chef René Redzepi is closing his famed Copenhagen restaurant Noma, which has been named the best restaurant in the world multiple times. According to the New York Times, he plans to reopen Noma in 2017 "with a new menu and a new mission." A major pillar of the new business will be an urban farm with the restaurant at its center, much like chef Dan Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. Redzepi notes, "It makes sense to have your own farm at a restaurant of this caliber." The new Noma will relocate to Copenhagen's "freewheeling Christiania neighborhood," to an abandoned lot where empty warehouses and plenty of graffiti decorate the landscape.
Unsurprisingly, Redzepi's plans are ambitious: He wants to build a greenhouse on the roof of the new Noma, he will "dig out the dank old asphalt lot and truck in fresh soil, and he wants a portion of the farm "to float." Plus, he plans to hire a full-time farmer to lead a team.
So why make such drastic changes? The original restaurant's rent has not increased and "business remains brisk." Redzepi says that the time is right for a "dramatic evolution" of a restaurant that he has led for 12 years. He wants to continue to progress and shake things up.
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