Noma: Ocean Season 2025. A Deep Dive Into The World’s Most Iconic Culinary Institution
“Food is never just food; it is who we are.” – René Redzepi, chef, co-owner, and legend of restaurant Noma
This singular statement made me sit down in front of my television to watch all eight episodes of Omnivore, the unique food show on Apple TV+ during the summer of 2024. Co-created with award-winning journalist and writer Matt Goulding, the documentary is narrated by Chef René himself.
First opened in 2003, Noma is a syllabic abbreviation of the two Danish words “nordisk” (Nordic) and “mad” (food), together signifying “Nordic food”. Since then, Noma has dominated the world’s best restaurant list, finally claiming the top spot in 2010, surpassing the mighty El Bulli which held the title for four consecutive years. The Michelin Guide awarded Noma the coveted two stars in 2008 and finally the top-tier three stars in 2021. The only restaurant that came close to Noma and shared the crown was El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain; which we reviewed recently. This marked the beginning of an era of gastro-tourism, with Nordic cuisine not only making a mark on the gastronomic map but also igniting a movement that the world was beginning to recognise. Unimaginable even two decades ago, it is now a celebrated reality of our times.
I have known Noma for the last eight years. It was not a love-at-first-sight kind of romance but more of a slow burn. This was the time when I had a world map on my oversized worktable, charting the most legendary restaurants on Earth. Call it obsession or pure madness – it was all a part of awakening and sharpening my innate senses.
Even while I was devouring information about such restaurants at breakneck speed, the thoughts about Noma kept simmering in my mind. “What were the chances we would even score a seat at this restaurant where at least a thousand people were on the waiting list for each day’s service?” I asked myself. Call it pure luck or divine intervention; some frantic clicking and precision timing magically worked, and the golden ticket was finally at hand. In early March of 2025, after dining at thirty-seven of the Earth’s very best restaurants, it was finally time to fly 14 hours across the Atlantic to reach Copenhagen, Denmark—the home of Noma.
Reservation: Noma offers reservations for 3 iconic seasons: Ocean, Vegetable, and Game & Forest.
Insider Tips: Pre-saving your profile information along with a payment method on Tock, the booking platform, saves valuable time when reservations go live. Reservations are booked out within the first 30-45 seconds, and it is always a smart choice to book for later dates than those upfront. It is not unusual for food lovers to try for 2 years or more before securing a spot. If you didn’t succeed, don’t give up. Joining the waitlist is always a good idea, as cancellations, though rare, do happen.
Price: 9000 Danish Krone (DKK) or 1300 USD for two, excluding wine/ juice pairing.
Atmosphere and Arrival
In 2015, restaurant Noma temporarily closed its original location, a 16th-century warehouse it had been operating out of for over a decade. Danish architect Bjarke Ingles, leading Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG), was commissioned to design and build Noma 2.0, the new home of Noma, at a historic site once used by the Royal Danish Navy. Three years of planning and collaborations led to creating one of the most fascinating spaces, befitting the stature of Noma. The new home is a collection of 11 separate yet interconnected buildings forming a village, designed like a panopticon with the kitchen at its heart.
We arrived a little before noon on a warm sunny afternoon and were welcomed into the first building—the first of a series of three greenhouses. Each greenhouse serves a specific purpose: the arrival lounge, food production, and the world’s most advanced test kitchen.
A tall gentleman with longish hair greeted us, confirming my name and ensuring he pronounced it correctly. I was pleased with this subtle gesture of generosity. “I have been practicing your name for the last one hour,” he said, sharing a laugh about long and convoluted names.
We were offered a choice of tea or coffee. The tea was delightful, but just as I was beginning to savour its aroma, we were invited to proceed to the next building, where the dining room is located. If there was one thing I wished for, it was a few more minutes to fully enjoy the beautifully brewed tea.
A Walk Through Nature to the Dining Room
The path to the main dining room winds through a permaculture garden conceptualised and planted by renowned Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. With the flora still hibernating from the freezing Danish late winter, you see Copenhill, an iconic building in Copenhagen rising in the distance with a tall chimney billowing white smoke over the clear lake.
The main entrance to the dining building, like an artist’s canvas, changes with the seasons. For the Ocean Season, the exterior featured shells, seaweed, and dried marine vegetation.
The interior architecture, often a missed-out aspect for a lot of restaurants, forms a significant part of Noma’s dining experience. Danish architect David Thulstrup’s mastery of materiality and light outpours into the artfully selected oak for the warm-toned walls and the ceiling. The space is designed to feel more like a residence than a restaurant. “Do you like our home?” one of the staff members asked as we entered. “Postcard perfect!” we replied, marvelling at the way nature seamlessly blended into the glass-roofed dining space.
Food is Who We Are
Western cuisine often focusses on addition, while Japanese cuisine is primarily about subtraction—removing unnecessary elements to highlight purity. Noma masterfully strikes a balance between removing the obvious and adding the unthinkable. Nordic Kaiseki, as one author aptly described, is Noma’s approach to food.
Foraging has been central to Chef René’s life during long summers in North Macedonia. His team ensures that the connection between each ingredient’s origin and its plate presentation remains unbroken, preserving flavours as if they were just picked. Hyperlocal, Nordic ingredients shine throughout the meal.
Each dish follows a poetic rhythm, beginning the culinary affair with flirtatious, courtship-sized doses of kohlrabi shawarma, maitake broth, and cauliflower waffle. The kitchen, a symphony of precision with its rows of bustling cooking stations, hums quietly as chefs deftly plate each course, while front-of-house staff glide effortlessly to deliver them with seamless grace.
Swift Resolution to a Culinary Confusion
A minor mix-up with my food allergies, which they had been informed about in advance, was promptly handled when a dish containing an allergen was served. Thankfully, I was still engrossed in photographing the beautiful seaweed-and-truffle-sauce creation, as the staff swiftly rectified the mistake, apologised, and kept the feast going.
Where Art and Alchemy Come Together
What is not evident on the first look at the dishes, like the scallop steak or the squid and poppy, is the years of research that lurks under it. Stealthy and potent, the complex umami of the jellied king oyster mushroom or the blue mussel and cheese are fully capable of unsettling a well-fortified palate. One of my personal favourites from the Ocean Season menu would be the maitake broth. It encourages the guests to smell the moss that covers the broth while drinking it. A fusion of rich, smoky, and earthy aromas is subtly laced with mineral undertones, creating a complex yet captivating olfactory sensation.
A conversation with head chef Pablo Soto and a kitchen tour were equally fulfilling as the food. Chef Pablo’s humour, deep knowledge, and respect for raw ingredients sourced by the Nordic foragers is exceptionally inspiring. I now have a newfound love for foraging and gathering ingredients directly from nature like our ancestors. A meal at a place like this is, to an extent, life altering; leaving you better than when it found you.
Overall
If there is one restaurant that has consistently taken bold risks in defining what belongs on a plate, it is unequivocally Noma. Duck brains, ants, reindeer brains, and fjord shrimp all make appearances on its elaborate menu.
Four hours and sixteen courses after first stepping into Noma’s meticulously designed world, I realised this was far more than a meal—it was a transformative culinary journey. Each carefully crafted dish was not just sustenance, but a narrative of place, tradition, and innovation. From the moment of arrival through the permaculture garden to the final bite, Noma transcends the conventional boundaries of dining, redefining gastronomy as an immersive art form that speaks to our deepest connections with nature, culture, and human creativity. As I gathered my sensory memories—the smoky maitake broth, the intricate plating, the rhythmic precision of the kitchen—I understood that this experience would forever alter my perception of food as a profound expression of identity, craftsmanship, and the endless possibilities of human imagination.
