Can’t get a table at El Bulli, no worries, hop on a plane to Denmark and check out Noma instead.
El Bulli tops The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list every year, and it’s about time to let someone else take over. We were thinking chef Rene Redzepi, 32, of Noma restaurant might be able to help us with that.
When the list first included Noma in 2006, it was ranked 33rd. In 2007, Noma jumped up to the 15th spot. The restaurant became 10th in 2008, and “third last year after winning the chef’s award as the favorite among culinary masters.” Not to shabby for a small little eatery inside a converted warehouse in Copenhagen. Not too shabby at all.
Commenting on the cuisine at Noma, Redzepi said in a recent Bloomberg article, “typically, before, a good restaurant had to have the obvious luxury ingredients such as the best truffles from France, Italy or wherever and the best risotto rice, the best foie gras, pigeon from Bresse and so on.”
“Those products are out of this world. But the focus has changed in the past five to six years in Copenhagen. People are now finding their roots again: Discovering nature, discovering the product range, the diversity, and by doing that now you see the shaping of a cuisine.”
Shaping of the cuisine is evident the moment you walk through the doors and take in the aromas. Noma only features the highest quality Nordic ingredients, and foodies everywhere are dying to go to Copenhagen to experience for themselves what all the buzz is about. So, haute readers, if you have the means and the time, skip the trip to El Bulli and eat at Noma instead. You won’t be disappointed. This we promise.
An Interview with Redzepi
