We all travel for different reasons.  Some to see a natural wonder such as the artic lights or others a manmade sight such as the canals of Venice. Some travel for cultural pursuits. But is it rare that one would travel for the singular purpose to have dinner one evening in a restaurant. The city of Copenhagen has many attractive qualities to offer visitors, such as the aesthetic Tivoli Gardens, the pristine Amalienborg Palace, and the Copenhagen Opera House. But for an exclusive few, their only desire to visit this destination is to undergo a luxury culinary experience and dine at the world’s best restaurant, Noma.

The most discerning gourmand will experience a level of euphoria when they are taken off the waiting list at the Noma Restaurant, and their reservation is confirmed for the following evening, and with good reason. In 2021, Noma, the three Michelin star restaurant, is based in Copenhagen,  was awarded “World’s Best Restaurant” by a prestigious panel of 1,000 food critics, chefs, and restaurateurs of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Noma has previously been given this title four times before, cherishing the distinguished accolade in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.

The founder of Noma and its head chef is René Redzepi. With his mastering of the culinary arts, the chef and his team strive to discover new and exciting ingredients to create exceptional dishes to serve their ever-growing list of guests. This means that very few diners experience the same exact food, and each guest has a bespoke culinary experience.

Noma was initially opened in 2003 and gave birth to a New Nordic culinary movement, inspiring chefs to forage and ferment their ingredients. Yet, in February 2017, the restaurant served its last dish in the 17th century quayside warehouse in the city center of Copenhagen. Instead of being tied down to one place, Noma traveled the globe, producing successful pop-up restaurants in Tokyo, Sydney, and Tulum. However, after a gap year, Noma decided to settle and put down roots in Copenhagen again within the enchanting Refshalevej Island, opening Noma 2.0 in February 2018.

Noma’s new location space was overseen by the talented architect Bjarke Ingels. The team inhabited a derelict military building and created an eleven-building complex that features greenhouses to grow fresh produce, fermentation rooms, private dining rooms, an on-site bakery, research kitchens, and live seafood tanks.

Noma’s focus and philosophies are about local and hyper-seasonal ingredients. René Redzepi, famed for his foraging and fermenting techniques, has sourced ingredients such as cloudberries and local shellfish, which are then united with striking additions such as wild reindeer blood, ants, and cricket paste.

Walking up to the restaurant, guests move through an aisle of greenery, surrounded by bright flowers and plants. Guests feel even more relaxed and welcome as the sounds of Copenhagen’s wildlife greet them from a tranquil moat adjacent to Noma. The charming scenery continues as diner’s experience at Noma begins with an entrance marked by two tree trunk logs, a symbol for the culinary transformation and nourishment they are about to receive.

Once inside, diners are greeted by an all-surrounding oak wood structure in a classic minimal Danish interior style. With low-hanging ceiling lights that illuminate the restaurant in soft mood lighting and small amounts of greenery on each table, Noma offers a relaxed, welcoming, and warm environment in line with the country’s love of all things hygge.

While dining at Noma, guests enjoy a 16-course meal with artisanal dishes that are sculpturally shaped according to each meal’s ingredients. However, no visit to Noma is ever the same since the restaurant offers three menus at different times each year. From January to June, guests enjoy the restaurant’s seafood season, then a vegetable season in the summer, and game and forest season during the winter.  The restaurant closes before each season, so the culinary team can source a new menu from whatever the country’s landscape and coastline can provide.

Some highlights from the previous seasons include succulent vegetarian celeriac shawarma, and sweet crab meat served upon smooth flatbread cut into the shape of a crab. During the vegetable season of summer 2021, some exception dishes were fried cod collar with crème fraiche and caviar.

Not many people who visit Copenhagen can say that they have dined at Noma, the world’s best restaurant. That they’ve had the privilege to taste unusual but delicious food, such as a dish garnished with ants. Noma is a luxury culinary experience that enhances a guest’s taste buds and is an occasion they are unlikely to forget.