Why is Noma closing down? World's Best Restaurant set to shut shop with expected fight for reservations

After nearly 20 years and several awards for being the best restaurant in the world, fine dining restaurant Noma will be shutting its doors by the end of 2024.

The restaurant was launched in Copenhagen in 2003 by the famed Danish chef Rene Redzepi and is known for its tasting menu that costs a whopping $500 per person. It is famous for its own interpretation of Nordic cuisine, as well as its innovative eco-conscious menu based on foraging seasonal ingredients.

The restaurant has over 100 staff members (Image via Instagram/@nomacph)

Since the restaurant opened in 2003 it has been named the world’s best restaurant a total of five times and earned its third Michelin star in the autumn of 2021. It will remain open for the remainder of 2023 and in 2024, business shifts will take place.

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Noma expected to become a food lab

The chef responsible for Noma, Rene Redzepi, told The New York Times that the world-famous restaurant will be shutting down by 2024. He mentioned that there have been several hardships, both financially and emotionally, that have led to this decision. He said the high standards required to produce the restaurant’s labor-intensive cuisine were just not workable anymore.

He said:

“We have to completely rethink the industry. This is simply too hard, and we have to work in a different way. Financially and emotionally, as an employer and as a human being, it just doesn’t work."

Rene Redzepi started the famous spot nearly 30 years ago (Image via Getty/Yuya Shino)

Redzepi, 45, said that the space will become a full-time food laboratory that will be developing new dishes and products for their e-commerce operation called Noma Projects. The dining rooms, however, will open periodically for pop-ups. In a post on Instagram, the restaurant shared the news with its 1 million followers.

The post was captioned with information stating that the newest iteration of the restaurant will be introduced in 2024 as Noma 3.0. They also left a note asking customers to continue to support and join in on the new venture.

Previously, the restaurant was under scrutiny for its treatment of foreign workers and its heavy reliance on unpaid interns. The toxic environment claim came from a former intern who alleged that she was required to work in silence by the junior chefs she assisted and was specifically forbidden to laugh.

Chef Rene Redzepi claimed that the allegations were not a factor in the decision to change the business model. He also mentioned that his role will be along the lines of a chief executive officer rather than a chef.

Reservations at Noma, which is currently serving its Game and Forest Season menu until 18 February 2023, at a cost of 3,500 Danish crowns ($505) per person, were hard to come by even before the announcement about its revamping. The usual 3-month waiting period is projected to increase.