May 1, 2012
Danish Restaurant noma Named World's Best Once Again
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 3 MIN.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Noma has done it again. The restaurant of all restaurants remains on top of the gastronomic world.
For the third consecutive year, Danish restaurant noma in Copenhagen is number one on the prestigious 'San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants' list.
The excitement filled London's Guildhall as Rene Redzepi and his team received the honor of once again owning the title of World's Best Restaurant.
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But the Danish food sublimeness does not end here. This year the 'World's Best Restaurants' list even included Danish restaurants Geranium (in place number 49) and Rel� (in place number 75) and only a few weeks ago, the French Michelin Guide handed out 14 stars to 13 Danish chefs cooking up new ideas in their respective kitchens-more stars than any other city in Scandinavia and even more than Amsterdam and Rome.
The Michelin Guide also handed out an impressive 12 "Bib-Gourmands" to another fine range of "good value-for-money" restaurants in the Copenhagen area. The epicentre of Danish gastronomy, noma, leads the pack as Copenhagen's only two-star Michelin restaurant.
The name 'noma' is an abbreviation of the words "nordisk mad," which translates from Danish to "Nordic food." So don't expect olive oil or any other non-Scandinavian ingredients when visiting the coveted restaurant located in an 18th-century warehouse by the Copenhagen harbor.
Executive chef Ren� Redzepi focuses on regional produce, such as Nordic langoustine, wild salmon, seaweed, foraged berries and musk ox. All of the restaurant's prime produce is sourced from Scandinavia, primarily Denmark.
"Noma is the crown jewel of the Copenhagen culinary scene and its success has spearheaded a Danish gastronomic revolution. As a culinary destination, the Danish capital has evolved remarkably within the past few years, offering travelers a unique and sophisticated palette of food experiences which is hard to find anywhere else," said Susanne Nordenb�k, Director, VisitDenmark North America.
Overall Danish cuisine has changed radically over the past decade, blending foreign influences with the richness of Denmark's own natural produce; its excellent dairy produce, high quality, organic fruit and vegetables and, of course, the bountiful seafood from its surrounding waters. The result? A "New Nordic Cuisine" that in recent years has been recognized and has received rave reviews by top food writers, gourmets and gourmands from around the world.
More than 800 leading chefs and culinary writers worldwide are eligible to vote for their favorite restaurant in the San Pellegrino 'World's 50 Best Restaurants,' which is hosted by Restaurant Magazine.
LINKS:
www.noma.dk
www.theworlds50best.com
Click here for Michelin-rated restaurants in Denmark
For more information on New Nordic Cuisine, visit: www.visitdenmark.com/usa/en-us/menu/turist/inspiration/nydlivet/gastronomi/new-nordic
Copenhagen can be reached directly from Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. with Scandinavian Airlines, SAS, www.flysas.com/us
Comprehensive visitor travel information is available at www.visitdenmark.com/usa and www.visitcopenhagen.com
Images from "Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine" (Phaidon Press, $49.95) by Ren� Redzepi, www.phaidon.com
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A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
