Our annual search for the world’s most thrilling restaurants took us to Copenhagen recently, where we dined at noma, considered by many as the world’s finest. Here is a summary of our experience.
We arrived by cab and were greeted in front of the restaurant by our primary server, by name. He escorted us in, and the owner and head chef, as well as the entire wait staff, was there to greet us by name.
Lunch and dinner are identical 14 course meals, unless they run out of something late in the evening. Everything is grown locally and sustainably produced. They picked the produce for our meal that morning, often after letting it ferment for a year. A bee hive outside our window provides fresh honey.
They have only 12 tables. For those, they have 15 head waiters, 50 chefs, and another 10-15 in support.
After a spectacular meal, we were given a tour of the kitchens, BBQ area, fermenting areas, and their business center. The feeling you get is that every employee is passionate about every customer.
They are moving locations at the end of the year, to a farm where they can grow more local food. They also plan to adjust their menu to accommodate the seasons in Scandinavia.
noma met all of our expectations, and then some. It’s hard to get in to (they had a wait list of 200 names the day we went), but worth it.
You can discover more about thrilling restaurants at stevengjackson.com.