{"id":8579,"date":"2026-07-29T08:50:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7788252\/copenhagens-famed-noma-restaurant-to-reopen-without-founder-redzepi-at-helm\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T19:01:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T02:01:48","slug":"copenhagens-famed-noma-restaurant-to-reopen-without-founder-redzepi-at-helm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/news\/8579\/copenhagens-famed-noma-restaurant-to-reopen-without-founder-redzepi-at-helm\/","title":{"rendered":"Copenhagen\u2019s famed Noma restaurant to reopen without founder Redzepi at helm"},"content":{"rendered":"

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) \u2014 Denmark\u2019s iconic Noma restaurant<\/a> is set to reopen on Aug. 5 with neither its founder and celebrity chef Ren\u00e9 Redzepi<\/a> at the helm nor its three stars in the Michelin Guide.<\/p>\n

Redzepi announced he would \u201cstep away\u201d from leading the Copenhagen institution<\/a> 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\u2019s 50 Best Restaurants List<\/a> five times for its innovative \u201cNew Nordic\u201d cuisine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But five months after Redzepi’s public downfall<\/a>, Noma says it is beginning a \u201cnew chapter\u201d with longtime chefs taking charge and a menu that will change monthly to focus even more on the seasonality of ingredients. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been crazy tough,\u201d new executive head chef Pablo Soto said in an interview Tuesday. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of media attention and questions about what we\u2019re doing, but we\u2019re still here standing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redzepi, arguably the world\u2019s 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<\/a> detailed several former employees\u2019 accounts ranging from verbal abuse to physical assault at the hands of Redzepi and his deputies between 2009 and 2017.<\/p>\n

Redzepi, 48, later apologized and announced his intention to \u201cstep away\u201d in a tearful video posted to the restaurant\u2019s 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 \u201cfresh energy\u201d come into the restaurant.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Michelin Guide, saying it didn’t meet the guide\u2019s requirements for being open long enough in 2026. <\/p>\n

The Copenhagen location shuttered in January ahead of the Los Angeles pop-up and remained closed for much of the year.<\/p>\n

Noma expected to reinvent itself<\/p>\n

Tom Sietsema, food correspondent for Washington-based news organization NOTUS, believes that Noma\u2019s dedication to innovation and reinvention since its 2003 opening will help it weather the fallout \u2014 if its founder stays in the background.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years it\u2019s been the number one restaurant in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that suddenly doesn\u2019t just vanish. I think this is a rough time for the restaurant, but people are still curious about it. People will go just to see, \u2018oh, is it really as bad or as good as people say it is,\u2019 right? I expect it to remain in the conversation for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 4,500 Danish krone (about $686 USD) per head for the menu, with 2,000 krone ($305) extra for wine pairing.<\/p>\n

Soto said the restaurant conducted an internal audit, and there are \u201cmany systems in place\u201d to make sure staff are happy and \u201ccan grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gone through a period of crisis,\u201d he said. \u201cThis means we need to be much more attentive to each individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Menu will change monthly<\/p>\n

Noma, a contraction of the Danish words for Nordic and food, opened in 2003 dedicated to \u201ca simple desire to rediscover wild local ingredients by foraging and to follow the seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

While previous offerings were shaped around three distinct seasons, the reopening will see chefs embrace constant change in the menu.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this new iteration of Noma, we are opening up our creative process to a new seasonal rhythm,\u201d the restaurant’s website says. “This is the 12 seasons of Noma. We are building a continuous flow of creative output, evolving from month to month as the year unfolds. Each month will carry its own distinct seasonal rhythm, shaped by subtle shifts in ingredients, weather and landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a visit to the Copenhagen restaurant on Tuesday, chefs practiced preparing pike perch, brown crab, shrimp, and mushrooms in Noma\u2019s open kitchen.<\/p>\n

Mette Brink S\u00f8berg, the head of research and development, delicately topped a berry gazpacho dish with colorful flower petals, recently plucked from the nearby garden, in the test kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel that now we\u2019ve done this for so many years, we\u2019ve really become experts in all the flavors, the techniques, the concepts,\u201d Brink S\u00f8berg said. \u201cI think we\u2019re ready to take one step further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Restaurant reckoning prioritizes staff<\/p>\n

Redzepi\u2019s fall from grace was hailed by some as a reckoning over when \u201cbrigade de cuisine\u201d<\/a> becomes abuse, and whether the time is up on the storied bullying and intimidation of fine-dining kitchen culture.<\/p>\n

Sietsema said he’s noticed restaurateurs and chefs focusing more on how their staffs are treated and paid to get buy-in from the ground up. They are reevaluating the conditions in their kitchens, as well as rethinking time-off allowances so that staff might get two or three days at home in a row. Noma started fully paying interns in 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll those little examples add up to a big change in the industry, I think,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are really rethinking how they want to work, how hard they want to work, and I think it\u2019s resulting in some better restaurants \u2014 better hospitality \u2014 overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Dazio reported from Berlin.<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
Chefs busily practice making dishes in fine-dining restaurant Noma’s kitchen ahead of its new season in Copenhagen, Denmark Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/James Brooks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
A chef shows a new fish dish in fine-dining restaurant Noma’s kitchen ahead of its new season in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/James Brooks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
A woman enters fine-dining restaurant Noma’s cafe and shop in Copenhagen, Denmark Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/James Brooks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
Noma’s head of R&D Mette Brink Soberg holds a new berry gazpacho dish topped with flower petals in fine-dining restaurant Noma’s test kitchen in Copenhagen, Denmark Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/James Brooks)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) \u2014 Denmark\u2019s iconic Noma restaurant is set to reopen on Aug. 5 with neither its founder and celebrity chef Ren\u00e9 Redzepi at the helm nor its three stars in the Michelin Guide. Redzepi announced he would \u201cstep away\u201d from leading the Copenhagen institution in March following allegations of abuse and assault there, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":8580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"13009fc4-017b-4a9a-9ba3-2b16c659fced","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"James Brooks And Stefanie Dazio","published":"2026-07-29 08:50:32","updated":"2026-07-29 18:58:19","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[711,1822,1815,1829],"tags":[],"region":[1816],"class_list":["post-8579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-entertainment","category-international","category-media","region-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/news\/8579\/copenhagens-famed-noma-restaurant-to-reopen-without-founder-redzepi-at-helm\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Copenhagen\u2019s famed Noma restaurant to reopen without founder Redzepi at helm","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/news\/8579\/copenhagens-famed-noma-restaurant-to-reopen-without-founder-redzepi-at-helm\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/news\/8579\/copenhagens-famed-noma-restaurant-to-reopen-without-founder-redzepi-at-helm\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/inwine-5552e362b08c48f7bfe4f8b95eba0731e6a88af446e6191e3058e8e67f36b038.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/inwine-5552e362b08c48f7bfe4f8b95eba0731e6a88af446e6191e3058e8e67f36b038.jpg"},"articleSection":"business","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwine","logo":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/logo-inwine.png"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-07-29T15:50:32Z","datePublished":"2026-07-29T15:50:32Z","dateModified":"2026-07-30T02:01:48Z"},"rendered":"