Due to the intense competition in the restaurant industry, he has decided to close Noma by the end of 2024. Neither did the financial statements.
René Redzepi lives in a former smithy in Christianshavn (number 45), a part of Copenhagen that was constructed in the 17th century to evoke the Dutch architectural style. The interior is a shining example of clean, Nordic simplicity. There are oak floors and dark oak kitchen cabinets to match; land stone in the bathroom; exposed wooden beams; CH46 and Y chairs by Hans D. Wegner; and an open fireplace in the center of the old forge.

He must have questioned why he was willing to put up with the stress in the first place after experiencing the peace and harmony that such a setting provides. Chef-owner René Redzepi has just revealed that Noma will close at the end of 2024. The story of Noma is one of enormous success, unimaginable when it was founded in 2003, but also that of a permanent feeling of being overwhelmed: the constant reinvention, the fights with partners, the constant desire for perfection, the daily exposure to critics and clients, the economic dizziness.

Redzepi announced the closure while on holiday in Mexico with his family of five (Nadine, their three children, and two dogs). “There aren’t enough customers, sales, or profit to justify having over a hundred people on staff at these prices. Everything needs to be reevaluated. There’s just too much effort involved. It isn’t sustainable monetarily or psychologically for us as workers or people.”

The Danish chef has stated that Noma will be transformed into a food lab where he and his staff may create new items and ideas for the Noma Projects online store. Yes, the resolution is permanent. As of now, you can expect to wait until 2025 for it to take effect. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope that will help you make it to the other side.

Redzepi elaborated on his thoughts in an interview with the Berlingske newspaper: “Operating a fine dining restaurant in today’s climate is akin to competing in an Olympic sport with unprecedented levels of difficulty and stiff competition. It’s possible because we care deeply about what we do, but we could benefit from seeing things from a different perspective. If this doesn’t happen, I’m scared that the owners of many similar restaurants will be bought up by wealthy individuals who will treat them like Premier League clubs. Having a partner isn’t necessarily a terrible thing, but I’d rather preserve my freedom.”

Keeping Noma under control has been a constant source of frustration for him. In fact, one could argue that he stole it from chef and businessman Claus Meyer, who recruited him in the first place to carry out Meyer’s plan to reimagine North Atlantic cuisine from an ecological and hyperlocal vantage point.

Redzepi forced Meyer into a corner until the founder sold his interests to the American group Ouverture, when he became suspicious that Meyer was more interested in marketing his eponymous brand of gourmet products. “René gradually moved me away from creative work,” Meyer said after he quit the company.

“He insisted on getting all the glory for building Noma and began referring to me as a “investor” instead of a co-founder. I could either dismiss him for his mutiny and try to locate a cheap replacement chef to acquire his shares, or I could let him stay at Noma. I knew from the start that he should be allowed to carry on.”

The Wall Street Journal questioned back then if this relatively peaceful divorce was really as amicable as it seemed. Redzepi was referenced, but he denied that the writer had discovered anything: “He had just eaten an entire menu with a complete wine list, so I am not surprised that he misread what was truly a dialogue extremely casual.”

Eventually, the property settled into its current configuration, where Redzepi owns 65% of the shares. Nonetheless, the struggle for dominance has been driven more by a desire for creative autonomy than by a desire for financial gain. Noma may have a lot of cache and cash on hand, but it doesn’t bring in much money. There aren’t many profitable Michelin-starred Danish restaurants, and Noma isn’t even in the top three.

It’s even less so now that he’s hired interns. Despite the lower income, that’s a sizable increase in outgoings. Although it had been stated earlier, the policy didn’t take effect until a few months after a story from the Financial Times published last summer threatened to slash workers’ rights in Copenhagen’s high-end dining establishments. They weren’t worse than in other cities, but they did contradict Denmark’s marketed image as a utopia for working people.

In fact, Redzepi stated that he agreed with most of the article’s claims. The rumored presence of a Noma mafia in the Danish capital was not a topic of conversation, though. As reported by one of the Financial Times’s anonymous sources: “When you cross the Noma family, you cross the city. If you make even one of them angry, you’re done. They have connections in every possible location, from the most inconsequential to the most prominent, from the most outdated to the most cutting-edge. There is no way to separate things.”

Toxic cook

Large eateries often have interns work for free. René Redzepi, in fact, experienced El Bulli in this capacity. In the past, Noma did not compensate its stagiaires either. Stories of the Danish chef’s internship woes have been circulating the media for years, thanks to the aforementioned acclaim and the chef’s infamous anger. From the group who went to the restroom and never came back because they were too cold to move to the group that went to the bathroom and never came back because they were never found dead in the snow. Although Redzepi acknowledged his “toxic” cooking style, he has since finished what appears to be effective therapy to change his ways.