They say life is not about reaching the destination but rather about the journey. So it must have felt ironic for René Redzepi and his team to clinch a third Michelin star that has been eluding them for the past years in what was probably been the most difficult year for the restaurant.
Social media was on fire as the food world applauded a decision that for many has come way too late. Noma’s photo of the three Michelin stars had over 100,000 likes and over 4,000 comments congratulating the restaurant. Instagram stories were on fire as was my Facebook feed.
Rarely has there been such accolades and genuine celebration for a chef and restaurant. The last one that comes to mind was Mauro Colagreco of Restaurant Mirazur in France.
Every year, pundits awaited the announcement thinking this would be Noma and Redzepi’s year only to be left wondering what the restaurant needed to change to finally clinch the most important accolade in the world of gastronomy.
Not that Redzepi and the restaurant needed the accolade for all the work they’ve done over the past 18 years. Today, it is probably safe to say that Michelin needed Noma and Redzepi more than the restaurant and Redzepi needed the three stars.
As I wrote in a previous article, Michelin works in mysterious ways. Because if the Michelin definition of three Michelin stars is that of exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey, it is hard to think how Noma could not fit into this definition for many of the past years. If there was a destination restaurant par excellence, it was certainly Noma.
There was a reason, however, as to why Noma and Redzepi were snobbed by the Red guide for so long. For many years, Redzepi played outside Michelin’s comfort zone. He removed table cloths long before it was fashionable to do so, he looked for umami not in luxurious ingredients like truffle and caviar but from experimentation and a fermentation lab that today has become a staple in many restaurants around the world.
The restaurant and the style was way to unconventional for Michelin’s liking. You could say it stood out (in a good way) but clearly it did not fit with the norm and hence Michelin’s reluctance to take the plunge.
Having been ranked Best restaurant in the World in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 and 2nd in 2019, the restaurant has been in constant evolution. There was the closure of the old site, the move to the new Noma 2.0. There have been pop-up restaurants in Mexico and Japan and staff where about to start taking sabbaticals just before COVID-19 struck. There has been a move to seasonal menus, a vegetable based menu in summer, prepaid bookings and so much more.
What Redzepi and his team have created is a legacy that will last for generations. Just like Redzepi and many of today’s most influential chefs have all been influenced in one way or another by Ferran Adria and el Bulli, so will tomorrow’s most influential chefs be the ones that will have been influenced by Redzepi (and a few others).
For 18 years, the restaurant has been at the forefront of gastronomy. No one had heard of Nordic cuisine before Noma opened in Copenhagen and if they did, it would never have been associated with fine dining. If today the Nordic has become a foodie destination, it is because Rene and a group of other chefs have created a narrative that today brings thousands of visits to this part of the world for the food.
What Redzepi and his team have created is a legacy that will last for generations. Just like Redzepi and many of today’s most influential chefs have all been influenced in one way or another by Ferran Adria and el Bulli, so will tomorrow’s most influential chefs be the ones that will have been influenced by Redzepi (and a few others).
Recently I was speaking to one of the upcoming chefs of the world and it was pointed out to me that Redzepi’s greatness is not just in his cooking but in the way he supports those who have been part of Noma’s story, even if they left many years ago. The Danish chef has no qualms with going to Instagram to push his alumni to the fore. On the day he clinched the three Michelin stars, there were no photos of him on Instagram stories. Instead he portrayed all the team. When he finally put a photo of himself it was a hilarious juxtaposition of himself and the Michelin man with a caption “Many are asking me how to feels to have 3 Michelin stars.”
Redzepi’s strength has been not just his ability to create a team that is greater than the sum of its parts, he has also had the foresight to anticipate and create lasting trends. When he started the MAD event 10 years ago, he created a debate around gastronomy. Gone was the show-cooking (which today looks more tired than ever as a format but still remains a staple of many food congresses) and instead he asked chefs, producers and speakers to tell their story in a ‘TED’ talk format.
Before the pandemic struck, he was thinking of a sabbatical not just for himself (he was the first to go just before COVID-19 struck) but for his staff as a way to disconnect and rest. He was speaking of well-being in the kitchen already a few years ago way before it has become so difficult to recruit people in restaurants because the pandemic shifted the way people think about how they want to work and the importance of work-life balance.
I’ve had the opportunity to see him work up close a few times but maybe the most significant was in Upper Austria for a GELINAZ! event in 2017. There, what impressed me most was his work ethic. Here was one of the most influential chefs in the world getting his hands dirty. Among his team, he was the last to leave the stoves because he was not satisfied with the early tests. He was the first to get back up to work in the morning. He would document every ingredient and herb himself and post on social media without any help or prompting. He mastered Instagram before many others had even signed up.
What changed at Noma to make it worthy of three stars today and not last year, two years or three years ago? That’s a question maybe not even Rene Redzepi and his team can answer
Ironically, the restaurant has reached its pinnacle at a time when it was hardest to judge it. It reopened after the first lockdown as a burger bar but before that (and now) it is working with three different seasons making it very difficult for a guide like Michelin to ‘judge it’ given it needs reference points and signature dishes to recommend.
What changed at Noma to make it worthy of three stars today and not last year, two years or three years ago? That’s a question maybe not even Rene Redzepi and his team can answer. For many food critics and food observers Noma was already worthy of the three stars many years ago. The greatest tectonic shift is for the Michelin guide. By awarding Noma three stars this year, it has shown that it is changing, adapting to the times. By taking this decision albeit too little too late, it might end up coming out of the pandemic stronger because it portrays itself to be more nimble and agile than it was before. It is a small step in the right direction. Of course there are others waiting in the corridors for the same acclaim. The next one that comes to mind is Spain’s Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz. But that’s another story.
What’s for sure is that today, 18 years after the restaurant opened you could say Redzepi has reached his first destination. But the next expedition has already started.
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