Foraging My Way Through Noma

Noma is a three-Michelin-star restaurant run by chef René Redzepi, and co-founded by Claus Meyer, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Okay, so every food writer has written about Noma in the past twenty-plus years.

What more can we say about it? Well, it 's not the kind of neighborhood joint you'd drop in for a snack. Probably nobody's ever said that about it.

Opened in 2003, Noma is known for its focus on foraging, invention, and interpretation of New Nordic Cuisine. (Wow, sounds like marketing copy.)

Somehow people got the impression René was wandering around Denmark picking weeds and charging diners hundreds of dollars (Krone actually) to eat them.

Come on, that's not fair.

Why would it be ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World by RestaurantMagazine in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2021 if it wasn't amazing?

So, what's it like to dine there?

I'd rank it among the top five culinary experiences (sounds a bit posh but it wasn't) I've ever had. Even though I don't remember a lot about what I ate (no, it wasn't because of their excellent martinis).

The whole adventure just took my breath away.

Starting with the setting. We got out of the cab and wandered through a lush garden. Not one of those manicured English gardens for toffs, but a kind of rough, wild place.

When we entered the main building (it's a rustic wood structure) we walked into a high-ceiling but homey room with a massive kitchen. That's when the entire kitchen staff (at least 30 chefs and 30 interns) stopped their busy prep and greeted us in unison by name.

We sat by a window overlooking the garden and beyond there was a river and a giant sloped building on the other side. Our personable waiter explained it was an incinerator for all of the trash in Copenhagen which they burned for fuel.

The sloped roof? A ski slope of course. Why would the Danes let waste go to waste (and an opportunity for a short ski run)? So, we had a lovely view of the local dump.

Wait a minute. Elaborate plants were hanging from the ceiling. Looking closely, they were tomato plants. That made perfect sense since Noma is dedicated to urban farming and grows a lot of its produce on their own farm. Right here, inside.

I'm going to share a ton of food photos that I didn't document at the time (because come on, I'd rather eat than act like a nerdy food influencer taking notes on my phone). I'll do my best to describe some of the courses.

• A small selection of summer tomatoes with colorful flowers floating in a sweet broth.

• Cauliflower cut to appear like a stunning white flower. (Tasty and I hate cauliflower.)

• A thin-sliced beetroot (I think) that looked like a bit of prosciutto.

• Okay, I don't remember what it was but I swear it was a ladybug crawling through foliage.

• Something served on a jumble of smooth rocks, it could have been oregano and oyster leaves.

• A seafood platter which was a few slices of raw fish.

• Maybe seaweed?

• Shrimp mousse that didn't look like mousse.

• Oh, the berry salad in a warm sauce was so refreshing. 

• A generous bump of caviar piled on top of ?

• Wild blue lobster floating in delicate foam.

• A pile of tiny pie crusts and a filling of fresh raspberries.

• What came off as a yellow votive candle was presented (flaming). I ate it but don't remember what the heck it was.

I've included the menu at the time (It changes with the seasons) so see if you can match up the photos with the items on it (which I have to say considering the classy understated elegance of the restaurant, this is an extremely dull-looking menu).

A funny thing happened to us the afternoon before our dinner at Noma. Walking around downtown Copenhagen we saw several street vendors selling these special hot dogs that apparently the Danes love (which they refer to unironically, as gourmet).

They are a step up from the ones you find in the New York City streets and they come with a lot of toppings like mustard, ketchup, remoulade, chopped onions, and pickled cucumber.

Of course, we had to have one. We joked with the woman preparing the dogs, telling her we were going to Noma that night. She laughed and said Noma's guests were her best customers. After dinner, they always came around to have a hot dog or two.