11-02-2019
The complete team at René Redzepi’s Noma
Copenhagen, Denmark. Early January. Everyone is back to work after the Christmas holidays. Even here, in the middle of the icy wind blowing over Jutland, the warmth of Danish hospitality warms up the spirits… and the body too.
Copenhagen. One of the world capitals of design. And one of the world capitals of food and restaurants, like Paris, Milan, the Basque Country. This was not the case in the past. Nobody would have dared to compare Copenhagen to Bilbao or Paris, foodwise.
The private dining room at Noma
So here we are now at Noma 2.0, the brand new restaurant of Redzepi, on the first day after its opening, with the punctuality of a pupil. And the new location certainly does not disappoint our expectations: a series of greenhouses, one after the other, surrounded by cabbages planted on one side of the sea in front of the Danish capital, but outside the town, in the middle of nowhere.
Between dining room and kitchen at Noma
Sea urchin on barley
Cod tongue Schnitzel
So what’s new about this, you might wonder. There’s plenty of novelty in the way you are served. The service is warm, friendly, almost tender, smiling, close. No more formal elegance. No more dining room hierarchies. No more icy rigour and service rules. Smiles and a warm kindness have replaced the cold etiquette.
Let’s be clear: it’s not like they’re patting on your back or making fun with food, but there’s warmth, warmth, warmth and again more warmth. Of course, you might think this restaurant has always been a “warm” place.
The dining room and kitchen team at Geranium
Of course, the dishes in this case were more "designed", the chinaware and the interior design had a higher standard, but the "tone" of the service was the same, compared to the place: warmth, attention and dedication. And even in this case, an extraordinary menu, a Northern three-star. From Dried mussels, celery, sol and juice of smoked yogurt, to Roasted winter vegetables, smoked eggs and melted cheese, to Wild duck, blueberry leaves, juniper and aromatic herbs.
The preparation of Dried mussels, celery, sol and juice of smoked yogurt
And the finished dish
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Born in Trieste, he first worked for advertising agency Armando Testa, then in the communication management of companies such as Michelin, Honda, Telecom Italia. Today he’s a business and political marketing and communication consultant for clients such as Autogrill, Thevision.com. He teaches at Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo and Università di Genova, as well as at Niko Romito Formazione, Intrecci Scuola di Sala and In-Cibum. He’s the president of Associazione "Le cose cambiano", fighting against homophobic bullying