I originally published this post on September 24th listing only the three posts of Food Snob, Luxeat and Chuck  as they were the most recent posts I knew of. But then I realised that I would like to dedicate this post to noma and also gather links to all the other posts talking about restaurant noma. So the idea of this post is to be a live post and update it whenever I find a new writing about noma.

In love with… Noma September 2007
A unique evening at Noma May 2008 by Gastros on Tour
Laurent has already visited noma a few times and written two posts about his experiences.

The Colors of Copenhagen by La Tartine Gourmande, January 2008
Journalist and food writer Bea wrote a post about all her nice experiences in Copenhagen and included a few words about her noma visit as well.

A Feast For All Your Senses: noma by Food & Thoughts, April 2008
My friend Zarah and I went for lunch together in January 2008 and this is a write-up of one of Zarah’s several visits to noma. I love the way Zarah writes about food and about life. This is my version of our great lunch together.

noma, Copenhagen by Wandering Epicures, August 2008
Michael and Linda kindly invited me to join them for dinner at MR when they visited Copenhagen last year. A couple of days later they went to noma and this is Michael’s experience of their dinner. It’s amazing how much Linda and Michael travel around the world and always interesting to see their view of their dining experiences.

noma: Hunter-Gatherer Haute by Up Escalator, September 2008
JC and I shared this lunch at noma during spring 2008. Check-out JC’s excellent photography!

Wonderful noma by High-End Food, March 2009
This was my German friend Ingo’s first visit to noma. Ingo likes to introduced the chef when he posts about a restaurant and most of his post has this fixed format which I very much like about his way of writing.

noma (Denmark Copenhagen) by chuck eats, July 2009
Chuck is often analytical and philosophical about his experiences. Only few (restaurant) bloggers take the review to a higher level than just summarizing the meal and the experience. But Chuck does, and that’s a real talent!

Noma by Andy Hayler’s Restaurant Guide, August 2009

noma, Copenhagen by Food Snob, September 2009
Food Snob is incredible thorough when he writes restaurants reviews and is surely the blogger who posts the loooongest write-ups. I don’t always read them through, in fact I’m not sure I ever really did it until tonight where his noma post completely captured me. Of course, it’s always more fun to read about a place where one has been, so this has obviously also something to do with it. I know Food Snob and know how he adores this restaurants, but in his review he manages not to let it overshadow the post. And, what’s also particularly interesting is the summary of how the world regard noma and René Redzepi.

Noma- the rise of Scandinavian gastronomy by Luxeat, September 2009
I’m sure you all know Aiste, who I introduced two years ago . She on the other hand, writes short reviews but is always spot on with her conclusions. Like here for example: “Going back to the beginning of the post, i used a word “revolutionary”. In fact maybe it is too bold to call Noma revolutionary as it is more likely “evolutional”. Marc Veyrat, Alain Passard or David Kinch -they all have explored or are exploring the use of various herbs, flowers and other unexpected products in their kitchens. On the other hand, René Redzepi has succeeded to put the whole region (Scandinavia)on the gastronomy map and this is definitely revolutionary.”

Noma – Copenhagen, Denmark by A Girl Has to Eat, October 2009
An impressive eating adventure of two months ends with her description of noma experience.

The setup was inspired by the COP15 – United Nations Climate Change Conference this coming December and it was organised by Alessandro Porcelli of Nordic Gourmet Tour, in collaboration with René Redzepi, Andrea Petrini of Omnivore, L’Express (France) and the Danish Ministry of Business and Economic Affairs.

The theme for the cooking was rawness as a culinary technique and a meditation on nature, rawness as an interpretation, a legacy of something lost that needs to be regained, resuscitated and purified. Creativity beyond technology – Cook it raw, cook it clean!

The sun was shining beautifully from an azure blue and serene sky. I arrived at 6:51 pm, a bit too early, and jumped out of the car right in front of the noma entrance. Fortunately, I was not the first to arrive. A few people were already waiting at the wharf, chatting and enjoying the noma beer, which was served as the drink.

Inside, I was warmly welcomed by René, wearing such a smitten smile. He explained that there was a bustle in the kitchen and that the dinner would begin about a half hour later. Alessandro Porcelli welcomed me as well and ticked my name on his list.

I talked a bit with Lau and some of the staff. It was more than 3 months since I last visited noma, and I simply just enjoyed to be back in the beautiful premises and to sense the mood and atmosphere there again. Nadine, René’s wife, was so kind to me and summarized for me what had taken place already for the past last two days and what tonight’s plan was.

Then more guests arrived: International and Danish press, representatives of the Danish Ministry of Business and Economic Affairs, wine merchants, chefs and friends of the house.

Snack of fresh shoots with terragon terroir

At the tables all the guests were mixed with different nationalities. I had the pleasure of having Andrea Petrini and Bob Noto next to me.

Sommelier Pontus served the first (white) wine in high, slender glasses.  I was blessed with not only a glass of wine but also with the warmest greeting, and a kiss on my cheek too.

We the guests were suggested to have a guess on the wine. It appeared to be Danish. I’ve never tried any Danish wine before, so I didn’t guess this one. It was a tiny bit sparkling, and the scent and the taste were dominated by flowery Sauvignon Blanc notes and had a slightly sweet Riesling touch. It was easy and delicious, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was better than what I had imagined a white wine from Denmark to be.

Then the show got kicked off and each of the chefs presented his dish and the ideas behind it.

2008 Arwen, Lilleø, Denmark

A bull rush

René Redzepi

What’s inside this white box?

Fjord shrimps – alive and kicking!

Raw vegetables/bull rush/Fjord shrimps natural
Salad of green strawberries and tree shoots

I have to say straight away that the level of the cooking was extremely high. We’re talking perfection. The dishes were consistently pure, virginal almost. They tasted very fresh and light but the flavours came through distinctly. Actually, I didn’t  find them particularly sushi-like or too Asian/Japanese inspired.

Ichiro Kubota, Umu

Langoustines with Kinome pepper and mousse of broad beans
Oyster with Japanese citric dressing
Turbot with 5 spices and venison sauce with Yuzu pepper

2007 Muscadet Sevre et Maine ‘Granite’, Domaine de l’Ecu (Guy Bossard), Loire

The dish of Ichiro Kubota from restaurant Umu in London took my breath away. He totally moved me with this serving. First of all, the beauty of this dish was just obvious. Secondly, he served my favourite kind of oyster: Limfjord Oyster which I love for its delicate meatiness and subtle sea flavour. Third, the tastes were just incredible, full of complexity, delectable and surprising. One flavour sort of took over where another one ended; it was like a wave of new savours with a mixture of known ones. The finish was so long. A truly seducing dish.

Daniel Patterson, Coi

Earth and sea; new harvest potatoes and coastal greens

2006 Tocai Friulano, Roncús, Fiuli Venezia Giulia

Massimo Bottura, La Francescana

Pollution – 20.30 Modena

Claude Bosi, Hibiscous

King crab, pickled cucumber, white miso and beach herbs

2007 Riesling GG ‘Frühlingsplätzchen’, Emrich-Schönleber, Nahe

Dave Chang, Momofuku

Hawthorne, valley buttermilk, apple dashi with Dragsholms herbs

2007 Riesling GG ‘IDIG’, Christmann, Pfalz

Pascal Barbot, L’Astrance

Marinated mackerels, smoked eel and wild angelica

NV (2004) Vin de Table Tourraine ‘SauVignon’, Domaines des Maisons Brulées par B. et M. Augé

Pascal Barbot surprised me by an exceptionally high quality fish and by the composition of it as a whole. The way the dish was presented was just marvelous. It was sharp and the flavours were distinct. The texture of the green soup in the cup was thick-ish and a little piece of smoked eel underlined the theme and combined the two servings. A very strong impression with a lot of character. His serving came second on my list, after Kubota’s.

Inaki Aizpitarte, Le Chateaubriand

Lobster, pigeon liver, chicken liver, wood sorrel

2006 Grüner Veltliner ‘Spiegel’, Fred Loimer, Kamptal

Davide Scabin, Combal.0

Steak Tartar B:C:

NV (2007) Rosé Vin du Table ‘Chemin de la brune’, L’Anglore, Rhône

Joachim Wissler, Vendôme

Venison and jellified pumpernickel soup

2006 Blaufränkish ‘Necken Markter’, Moric, (Roland Velich), Burgenland – wonderful wine this one.

Albert Adrià, El Bulli

40 sec bisquit and sorbet of flowers

The noma staff was incredible this evening. Throughout the night each of the guys came to my table and asked how I liked the food and how I was feeling. All of them were extremely kind and loving. That’s how I felt it anyway.

In fact, the whole atmosphere at the event was really warm and friendly. At the end of the night it felt like we were all part of one big family. The guests were giving standing ovation to the chefs; they earned it! Everybody was happy.

Cook it Raw! was a huge success. I sincerely hope we’ll se more international culinary gatherings here in my city. Kudos to Alessandro, Andrea and René!

René, I thank you dearly for inviting me and giving me an experience of a lifetime!

Links to more articles on Cook it Raw!:

• The Independent
• Decanter
• The National (Dubai)
• Information (Danish)
• Berlingske Fri (Danish)
• Politiken (Danish)

We started out with the classic snacks I have commented here. Each of the pickled quail’s eggs were served in its own shell so each of us got the pleasure of lifting the lid off and sniff the smoke. The radishes were this time replaced by tiny baby carrots stuck into the tarragon ’soil’. We got matching wine parings mastered magnificently by talented Ulf.

Crudité of carrots, beet roots, cucumber, kohlrabi and a chicken stock

Incredibly beautiful!

The first course completely blew me away and left me gawking. This wasn’t like anything I’ve been served at noma before and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. If this was a painting in oil it would be a beautiful work of art, and I would have loved to have such colours decorating my walls. But this was food. Lovely and crispy thin cut carrots, beet roots, cucumber and kohlrabi pickled in vinegar. It was fresh and sour and balanced by the rich chicken sauce. What a marvelous way to start this meal.

Oysters from Limfjorden, cucumber, cream, sago and malt.

My plate presented three or four poached and full-flavoured oysters covered by paper-thin slices of cucumber. The sauce was made of cream, sago and malt. It was a strong visual effect to see the transparent sago sort of popping out when the sauce was ladled on to the heap and the white/black sauce sank down to the bottom. A whole new thing to me.

I love and love Limfjord’s oysters and this presentation was not only interesting in terms on appearance and texture but perfect also in taste, balance and quality. It was perfection.

Glazed leeks, birch wine, squid and ink

These leeks are proof that very simple vegetables can form a delicious dish. The secret here lies in the combination of the various types of topping: yoghurt, hazel nuts, herbs puree ashes and rye bread and mixing them with the dark green, full-flavoured birch wine and squid sauce made one bite very complex in taste. The hazel nuts were sweet and resembled caramel which gave sweetness to the dish. Acidity was added by the yoghurt and character came from the ashes. It was a really refined serving.

These first three courses were overall so sharp and distinct and somehow more advanced than ever before. I was moved. I also completely regretted ordering only 5-6 courses, because it would mean that I was already half way through the meal and I certainly didn’t want it to end too soon.

Fresh cheese, unripe elderberries, cauliflower,
black cabbage, cress and watercress sauce

I’ve had many and various very good versions of the fresh cheese with vegetables and some kind of juice or sauce, but none of them had the focus like this one. I think it was the black cabbage’s strong and bitter flavour and the fact that its taste kicked the softness and creaminess of the cheese. In November ‘08 the similar dish offered a buttery sauce and somehow it seemed too rich compared to this watercress sauce. The dish was perfect like this.

2002 Thierry et Pascale Matrot, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru,
Fleurs de Côteaux, Burgundy. I loved it.

I certainly remember the crisis of the 1980′ies. At home we ate a lot of spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner because it was cheap stuff. In 1986 the Danish government wanted to reduce private expenditure and wanted to turn the deficit on the balance of payments. This act of intervention got the nick name ‘kartoffelkuren’ (the potato diet) because it was introduced during the autumn holiday, which was when the children back in the old days used to get off from school to help the family digging up the last potatoes before the winter.

‘Kartoffelkur’ – Mashed potatoes and Gotland truffles, whey and smoked speck

Inspired by this event and the current economic recession, René had not only created a startling dish called ‘Kartoffelkur’ but also kicked the current desperate situation in an ironic way, so to say, and spoiled the mashed potatoes with a lump of truffle puree. Nothing like potatoes suit the taste of truffles and here the taste was pure and a bit restrained but lasting in the after-taste. The truffles, the soft and creamy texture, the savoury pork and the brilliant choice of dairy product made this a surprising dish. Spot-on!

Short rib of beef and roses, cep, beets and malt

After the first 3-4 course primarily presenting vegetables, my carnivore-brother started to worry that he wouldn’t get a meat dish. The rib had been braised for 8-10 hours and was so tender that I didn’t really need a knife to cut it. The flavours were intense and as a whole the dish was very rich and very enjoyable.

I was full at this point but had a little room for a dessert, of course. After all 7 courses seemed adequate at this point and this because each dish had been stimulating and rewarding.

2007  Rita & Rudolf Trossen, Riesling spätlese ‘Von der Lay’, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Trossen’s bottle labels are so pretty. The wine was full of complexity and fruit and it comprised a brilliant acidity as well which balanced the sweetness. This wine gave sweetness to the not so sweet dessert and did it marvelously without overwhelming it. The low alcohol of 8% gave a light and refreshing feeling to it.

Snowman from Lammefjorden

It seems a tradition that the noma dessert is not very sweet and this wasn’t either. A refreshing dessert was just what I needed. I love sea buckthorn for its bitterness and sour; the snowman’s head was full of it. His tummy was stuffed with carrot sorbet and the bottom part of him was made of meringue. What a great sense of humour and a fun way to complete this lunch.

Take a look again at the photos of this lunch. The strongest impression was how well the meal was composed and executed. It seemed a beautiful and perfectly orchestrated symphony. Each dish was completely unique in presentation, scent and in taste and I was forced to pay attention to comprehend all the details and nuances.

You know, I was asked last year to take a 6 months break to see how the kitchen would evolve. The break should have been for 9 months. This lunch was such a surprise and different in many ways. It was more daring, even though this might sound ridiculous because noma’s style is already innovative and unique.

My point is that despite the fact that the world has already rewarded René Redzepi and noma for their style, innovation and uniqueness, René and his team still strive to do better. In my view it’s admirable to be able to create dishes that even after 14 visits still surprise a regular customer. René’s signature is more personal, more distinct and more confident than ever before. This is the reason why I feel it is right to rate noma a rising three-star level. We’ll know tomorrow whether the Guide agrees.

Bravo, and thanks to you all!

Anyway, on 27th November -  exactly six months and six days after my last visit (the business lunch in September doesn’t really count) – I was finally back at the restaurant which has seduced me like no other place. It’s not only about the food. It’s the experience as a whole. Each time I visit I feel like I never want to leave again.

René wasn’t in that day. He had emailed me a couple of days in advance to tell me this and to temptingly  inform me that they had prepared a ten-course surprise lunch for me.

Inspired by JC, the photos from my meal are this time shot in RAW. I hope you like them. As a new feature you can now also zoom into each photo – just click it – and use the Previous and Next buttons to flick through all images in the post.

I arrived earlier than my companion and was overwhelmed by the kind greeting at the door when I entered – almost like they had just been standing there waiting the whole time. Lau welcomed me and decided that I should have a seat and wait in the lounge and so I opted for a very nice 2004 Olivier Horiot Rosé champagne ‘En Barmont’. A lovely glass of rosé bubbles with a wonderful nose and flavour making me think of summer and sweet strawberries and carried by a fine and acidic finish. Lau was kind enough to keep me company until Daniel, pastry chef, came out from the kitchen to say hi, and even Frederik, Zarah’s and my perfect host, dropped by to say hello.

The snacks of the well-known smoked and pickled quail’s egg, smoked cheese and vegetables sandwich between a super-thin rye bread slice and ditto chicken skin remarkably balanced and clearly indicating all three elements of it. They  were served at my table which was at the corner of the room and where I have been placed so often.

I was surprised to get the radishes at this late time of the year. They were of course accompanied by the lovely terragon “dirt”. But my all-time favourite pre-appetizer, though, has to be the curvy toast with wild herbs, vinegar and egg cream. The versatile flavour combination is a small journey of delicate savours of sweet and sour following each other while the crust crackles in my mouth.

We ordered complimenting wines to go with the meal and I asked to get them blind. I didn’t do it to make the lunch into a wine quiz but to force myself to notice the scents and tastes more consciously and for being more open to what I was experiencing. It extended my enjoyment of the wines.

A few of them were (welcomed) repeats, but all were lovely. I was especially carried away by the Muscadet ‘Expression de Granite’ with an unusually powerful nose of smoke and mineral which was reflected on the palate too. The Saint-Veran ‘Chevigne’ was another pleasant surprise with more than 48 hour’s air, power and much more aromatic touch compared to a typical white Burgundy. It was oxidized but without being sherry-like, it was still crispy. And the Châteauneuf-du-Pape ’Henri Bonneau was delighting too, of course, and a most balanced wine.

Greenland shrimps, cream, chlorophyll and white currant granita

2006 Domaine de l´ Ecu (Guy Bossard), Muscadet ‘Expression de Granite’, Loire

First course presented raw shrimps and white currants and was a fresh and delicate starter. If I say the quality of them was fabulous, I will come to repeat my self a lot in this review. So, I won’t.

Gotland truffles, walnuts and birch wine

2007 Battenfeldt-Spanier, Weissburgunder, Rheinhessen

The sous chef, James, served this following course that just made me pinch myself because I really thought my eyes were deceiving me. Brown, thin and perfectly round slices of truffles decorated the centre of my plate and with little glimpses of walnuts. James poured the liquid foam over the truffles, partly on top of the leaves and partly running down in between them so the juice covered the bottom plate.

You know (by now) that truffles have a very special place in my heart and despite the fact of my at times easy access to them, I had never imagined to get a dish basically just comprising truffles. I was stunned! The very fresh and succulent Gotland slices crisped in my mouth in trying to battle the walnuts’ crunching texture. I liked the flavour of the two together and the birch softened the earthy and bitter tones. In my view though, a bit more sweetness would have improved it. Anyway, it’s for sure one of the most decadent things I have been served to date.

Norwegian sea urchin, cucumber, milk and dill

2007 Weingut Groebe, Riesling Kabinett trocken, Rheinhessen

And now to the highlight of the meal. Five little orange sea urchins amongst grilled cucumber, scurvy grass, dill and frozen milk formed the most beautiful and delighting experience. The flavours were delicate and went extremely well together from the very cold and sweetish feeling at first (the milk), followed by the bitterness of the sea urchin and tweaked by the aromatic dill to the incredibly long and delicate finish dominated by the sea urchin. It was a clever combination and a completely innovative but very harmonious dish. I simply loved it.

Søren’s vegetables, sea buckthorn, cream and garden purslane

2006 Fred Loimer, Grüner Veltliner ’Spiegel’ (magnum), Kamptal

Next was a painting in oil of summer and a vegetables garden. Well, it was such a smiling dish and offered miniature crops and made it seem more like spring time than a month to Christmas. I loved the look of the translucent roots, perfectly cooking to a slight bity texture. The fresh-made cheese was mild and gave substance to the crunchy Søren Viuff vegetables, and the sauce combined all the ingredients and added salt.

Radishes from Lammefjorden, egg yolk and seaweed

2005 Domaine Julien Meyer, Riesling ‘Muenchberg’, Alsace

This is another reason why I adore noma: The variety. From highly complex and exquisite dishes like the one above to something as simple as this: radishes, egg yolk and seaweed beautifully presented on a grey and black-dotted plate and stressing the uncompromisingly rough simplicity. The radishes were bitter, but only a little bit, and the egg was softening the taste, which was again twisted by the seaweed.

Skate wing, watercress, celeri cooked in hay, vild herbs and stems

2006 Denis Jeandeau, Saint-Veran ‘Chevigne’, Bourgogne

Next was a wonderful skate wing. So easy to comprehend and appreciate; yet another aspect of simplicity. The creamy flavours really complemented each other. The quality of the fish, I tell you, my mouth was watering by the look of the knife cutting through the delicate white and slightly reddish fish meat close to the centre. It was so full of taste.

Lobster in “red nuances”

2006 Domaine Richard Leroy, Anjou ’Les Noëls de Montbenault’, Loire

I’ve got lobster a few times at noma, but this version surely beat them all. The quality of the lobster was pure perfection! As a whole, the dish was exciting with this beautiful and red theme naming beets, redcurrant, seaweed, elderflower capers, onions and more.

Veal tongue and celeriac, veal breast and garden sorrel

2001 Henri Bonneau, Châteauneuf-du-Pape ’Henri Bonneau’, Rhône

The only meat course this afternoon was veal tongue. The first memory that always strikes me when someone mentions veal tongue, is of the one that my mum used to cook. My memory is that of a giant veal tongue lying on the kitchen table, boiled grey and flavourless. Eating it was the weirdest thing; sensing the little blisters against my own tongue. Not especially nice.

But – this veal tongue was a completely different thing. The meat was thinly sliced and rolled, and carefully cooked, so tender and with a very delicious veal taste that wasn’t like offal at all. The veal breast was the hairy thing on top. Unfortunately, after seven courses I was too full to clean the plate. If I had eaten this with my eyes closed I would never have guessed it was veal tongue.

2005 Vigneau-Chevreau, Vouvray Moelleux, Loire

Overripe pear and whey, malt and woodruff

On to the first of two desserts, which was a refreshing cleanser. A white landscape that only missed the red woolly gnomes’ hats to resemble a miniature Christmas landscape. The slight soft, moist and sweet pears got substance from the iced whey (skyr) and sweetness from the melted brown malt sauce and the crunchy tops of anise-flavoured meringue. Excellent.

2001 Domaine Marcel Deiss, Huebuhl, Alsace

Truffle from Gotland and curd

I couldn’t believe this: Truffles for the second time this afternoon? Curd balls were rolled in truffle crumble and decorated with orange caramel branches resembling tongues of fire. The dominating taste here was the truffle, but the dish was still dessert-like because of the creamy curd and the sweet sugar combining and balancing the ingredients. Lovely.

Goodness, I was full. And little tipsy. I sashayed back to the bar for coffee, flødebolle and a fortifying Marc de Bourgogne from DRC. James even came by and kindly chatted with us.

The other guests had left, the restaurant was almost empty and the quiet winter darkness enveloped noma. My companion’s remark summed it up: It’s so wonderful here. I don’t feel like leaving at all. That is the whole point. There is something so special about the lunch at noma.

Many, many thanks James, Ulf, Jacob and Lau!

Laurent and I are again sync-posting, and this is Laurent’s revision of our noma dinner. First time we met was in Paris – lunching at extraordinary Pierre Gagnaire – and sync-posted our reviews.

Now, imagine Laurent flying off to Copenhagen to show his good friend and GOT member, Guillaume, the fabulous new Danish cuisine? Well, they did that on 21st of May.

Laurent wanted to try Geranium and The Paul and to re-visit noma. I booked the tables. Noma was for dinner and the other two were lunch. I desired to share the Geranium lunch with Laurent and Guillaume and then to join them for dinner at noma. The most decadent thing I ever did. Laurent was ambitious as always.

I went straight from work to Geranium, and walking towards the restaurant Laurent rang me to inform  that he expected that he and Guillaume would be there on time: 13:45. Precisely. So, when I arrived they were seated already.

Geranium was fabulous. Guillaume and Laurent entertained me with stories of how great cooks they both are at home and of the amazing Paco Jet machine, with which they experiment and which sounded like a mysterious thing to me. Eventually, I think they got tired of explaining me about it’s functionality and thus talked Søren and Rasmus into taking me to the kitchen and showing me theirs.

Thank you, Søren and Rasmus for a great lunch. The wine was lovely, and the food was at least as good as my first and second time, if not a bit more sharp and more distinct!

So, after a maximum two hours’ break, noma was next.

Smokesd and pickled quail’s egg

Radishes and Terragon

6:30 pm and we arrive at the restaurant which was already half full at the time. Lau was there, greeted us and escorted us to our table. Lau IS a gentleman as well as a sweetie; he was pulling out the chair for me to get me seated. While making myself comfortable, I realised that Mr. HESTON BLUMENTHAL, founder of The Fat Duck, was dining at the table across from mine and facing my direction! Oh my goodness! Wow! What an incredible thing to be dining at noma AND to meet one of the biggest rock stars from the foodie world.

NV. Marguet Père e& Fils, Brut Rosé

Bread crunch with herb cream, herb emulsion and vinegar dust

I pinched myself to ensure this wasn’t just another of my noma dreams. Yes, I do dream of noma – a bit embarrassed to say.

René had prepared the dinner for us all, and all but two dishes were known to me.

Razor clams and horseradish ”snow”, parsley and dill
2006 Domaine Févre,
Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume, Burgundy

Tartar and wood sorrel
Creamed tarragon and juniper
2004 Selbach- Oster, Riesling Kabinett, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Fresh cheese and shoots of Axel berries
Pine tree shoots and white asparagus

This dish was new. I had a similar one in April. Actually this looks like a combination of the asparagus grilled and with smoked marrow, rucola flowers and chick weed and the cow’s milk cheese with birch shoots and celery. This version of asparagus and fresh cheese seemed more harmonious and I liked the aromatic pine tree shoots.

Langoustines and ’søl’ which is Icelandic seaweed
Oysters and rye
2006 Loimer, Riesling Steinmassl, Kamptal

I love the design of Loimer’s bottle lables. I loved the langoustines. They were the highlight of the evening.

King crab and mussel stock
Ashes and leek
2006 Gresser, Brandhof, Pinot Gris, Alsace

Onions from Læsø and chick weed
Onion bouillon and thyme oil
2006 Denis Jeandeau, Viré-Clessé, Burgundy

Turbot and water cress
Cowslip and ramson onion
2004 Damien Laureau, Savenniéres Les Genets, Loire

NV Pascal Doquet, Blanc de Blanc Champagne, Le Mesnil sur Oger

Salsify and milk skin
Rape seed oil and truffle from Gotland

1988 J. B. Becker, Wallufer Walkenberg, Riesling Spätlese, Rheingau

Sweetbreads and seaweed
Stems of vegetables and fresh currant wine

Musk ox and beets
Pickled elderberries and bone marrow
2001 Domaine de la Grange des Peres, Grange des Peres, Languedoc

Laurent surprised me with this Grange des Peres who is a legendary wine maker, and the white ones especially are hard to get hold of. The red is a blend of Mourvedre, Syrah, and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. I didn’t know about this wine but Guillaume and Laurent told me about it during the Geranium lunch. Noma had originally planned for another red wine, Italian I believe, for the ox dish, but had swapped it with the  Grange des Peres on Laurent’s request. Wonderfully balanced with lots of fruit and tannins and a long, powerful yet elegant finish.

Garden sorrel and glazed sheep milk yoghurt
Anise and rape seed oil
2003 Chateau Richard, Cuvée Noble, Saussignac

Dried berries and dried cream
Walnuts and dust of walnuts
2006 Nigl, Grüner Veltliner Eiswein

While we were eating the second dessert, I saw Heston Blumenthal walk into the kitchen with René to meet the staff. Lucky ones, I thought.

Then, suddenly I heard René’s voice: ” So, you guys”. And, when I looked up, I saw Heston Blumenthal with René at our table. (Oh my goodness!). But Heston was extremely kind and sweet and talked for a few minutes with us about the food – we had had the same menu – and about the Fat Duck. Of course. Which we’re all big fans off.

Mr. Heston Blumenthal

It was fantastic and the greatest moment in my short foodie (business) life.

Rhubarb and wood ruff
Yoghurt and beet roots

After the last dessert we moved on to coffee, flødeboller and drinks in the lounge and chattered with Lau and René until very late.

Food wise this dinner at noma is the best and most distinct meal I have ever had there. All dishes but two were known to me and I think that the work in progress and the fine tuning of them is the reason behind it. The fact of Heston’s presence there that evening may also have affected my judgement, naturally. Thank you guys, you’ve surpassed yourself again!

In and out in 24 hours. Four Michelin stars and three meals later I got an SMS from Laurent at the CPH airport texting how content and happy he was and being just about to board the plane back to Paris.

Bread crunch with herb cream, herb emulsion and vinegar dust

Lumpfish roes with cream and pressed by
rye bread and chicken skin

Organic radishes with a cream comprising turbot roes
and topped with grated dried turbot roes

Fresh cow’s milk cheese with birch shoots, celery (I believe), fresh leaves and sauce of grass and birch bark

This creation was very refined a delicate but at the same time it offered a rich milk taste that was balanced with the herbs’ and the leaves’ acidity and a bit of salt from the croutons. An excellent and new take-off.

The famous signature dish of the ox tartar

I’ve had this dish a few times now but this serving was incredibly good, better than previous visits. I think it’s related to the fact that the herbs were at their first and the fact that the meat seemed a little more fatty.

7-year-old king crab from Norway, leeks, crispy rye bread, garden sorrel

Superb creation and even better than the king crab leeks rolled in ashes I got in October last year. By the way, how do they know how old the crab is anyway?

The year’s first lovely green and white asparagus grilled and with smoked marrow, beautiful rucola flowers, juice of asparagus and chick weed.

Razor clams, celeriac, cauliflower stems, two types of Icelandic seaweed, parsley puree, razor clam and oyster sauce.

Imagine you are walking along the beach a chilly day of spring. Think of the salt nip in the air and the smell of seaweed. Sense the first warm sunbeam sweetly on your cheek. This is what the dish was like. Heavenly clear and pure with remarkable distinction. The sense of the sea.

Turbot, ramson leaves and stems, celeriac cooked in hay, cowslip and watercress emulsion

The lamb shank for the main course was presented to us before plating. The lamb was cooked at 64 C for 24 hours.

Lamb shank, Indian cress, yellow beets two ways, herb sauce

First time I have lamb there. This was a beautiful and delicious dish, but it seemed to miss out something, which I think could a bit of sour or acidity in some way.

The Classic: Buttermilk gel, reduced sugar beet juice,
raisins in akvavit, tuile of sugar beets

Gel of beet and rhubarb underneath,
beet sorbet, yogurt snow and green woodruff

This is what marks out noma from any restaurant experience I have had in my life. Utmost innovation and perfection. Look at these beautiful green flowery leaves and notice how precisely the stems have been removed to complete the image. Not too much and not too less.

It’s difficult for me to put my experience of this into words because it became an emotional experience of enjoying the sweet/sour balanced dessert. I was impressed by the excellency of this whole new the dish.

According to the website, Noma’s intention is to create and to prepare a distinctly advanced kind of cuisine, while nonetheless conjoining the patently Nordic approach with a manner of purity and simplicity in the approach. Congratulations – you have reached your goal! I can’t wait to experience what will follow.

Thank you.

Mum and me like to meet for a mother-daughter day once or twice a year, and for our date set to 13 March 2008 I had decided that I would invite my mum to noma for lunch. Not the biggest surprise, I know, but anyway. My first revisit to noma was actually with my baby brother and my mum, where she tried the small menu. The day’s agenda was therefore to spoil my mum, as she really deserved it. I knew that it would be possible at noma. What I didn’t realise though, was that the lunch would turn out much more different from what I expected and from what I had planned.

Grey skies covered Copenhagen, sadly. It was raining several kinds of domestic animals and my mum hadn’t thought of bringing an umbrella, so the two of us clung on to mine and a rough storm made it hard even to hold the umbrella and not to let it slip out of my hands and fly away with the inside out.

We both wanted to see the new Skuespilhuset from the inside, and for some very odd reason or naivety, we insisted on walking the whole way down from Nørreport Station to the canal side.

The Royal Danish Playhouse is built upon a platform and lies half the way into the water. A part from the horrible and inevitable stage tower, I really like the design of it. I believe it’s the repeated theme of the vertical black stripes, which decorates the house both on the inside and on the outside that I find appealing.

Bread crust to dip in Jerusalem artichokes cream with dried cod roes

A very nice and delicate first snack, where the sweetness of the Jerusalem artichokes cream matched the salty granules.

After the sightseeing and on our way to the restaurant my mum told me that my dad had suggested to join the lunch, but that he couldn’t be there until an hour later, and so she thought it was a bad idea and had told him not to come.

Snack of Smoked and pickled quails egg

Anyway, after the tour that was more like an autumn day than spring, we arrived wet and messy to noma and was welcomed by Pontus, the sommelier and one of the owners of the establishment.

Radishes with a cream of… something

It was great to eat fresh, new, crunchy and lovely radishes and to be reminded of the forth coming spring.

Lump fish roes sandwiches

These little sandwiches were a whole new thing to me. The taste was creamy and slightly salty from the lump fish roes and the paper-thin bread slices. I enjoyed the popping and crunchy feeling of this mini packed lunch.

We got seated and my mum marvelled at all the snacks we were spoilt with and that I have described above. We were also offered birch wine. In the early spring the birch trees absorb a lot of water and the birch wine is quite simply the juice extract from the tree. Danish water contains a very high amount of chalk. I don’t usually think about it, until I sense the water from other sources that’s much softer. The birch wine had such a soft feeling to it and drinking it was a like the feeling of velour. I wasn’t able to taste any flavour with it at all.

Amuse of Löjrom, cucumber and grain sticks

I didn’t mind at all that this was the second roe experience, because I love fish roes when they are of the high quality that noma provides. In this amuse the flavour of the little balls were subdued by the white cream. The cucumber added some acidity, which gave the dish more character and balance.

Anyway, back to the story. We had just taken our first bite of this course and then all of a sudden my dad entered the restaurant! Oh my goodness!

The background story is that I have wished to bring him to noma for a very long time, but there hasn’t been a good occasion yet. He’s not able to join for lunch on weekdays (or so I thought) and my weekends have been packed. I therefore didn’t think of offering him to accompany us.

My dad is very food savy (he’s in the fine food business), quality-conscious, and EXTREMELY critical about almost anything and especially about food. He also enjoys to state his opinions without considering what other people may think of it. But he is always honest, and I actually admire him for that.

I had speculated about brining him to noma, and the risk for me would be if he would not appreciate or comprehend the Nordic ‘Nouvelle Cuisine’ that noma serves and is the founder of, in my opinion. I was willing to take that risk though – I would invite him when I would feel that the right moment had come. So, was this the right moment then?

Rene had planned a set menu for me and my mum and hadn’t budget for my dad also. My table was booked and confirmed for two people and that a third person should join us wasn’t at all what I had planned – and certainly not my dad, the master critic!

Now there I was, and in between my parents and felt like a teenager again, grumping over their behaviour and feeling embarrassed, because he jumped in just like that and without providing noma (or me) with an opportunity to be prepared. I like to be on top of things and feeling in control, so I guess that my grumpiness was more about that, and it really tells you a lot more about me than my parents. Of course the staff was surprised too, but they handled it totally professionally.

Okay, that was a digression.

Crudité

Is this really eatable? I am asking because the beauty of it is so evident that it hardly looks like food. What I mean is, it doesn’t get any better for me, when a dish is pleasuring my eye the minute before I get to entertain my palate. Very thin cut and crunchy vegetables and a poached egg in the middle. I liked the taste of this dish a lot, but comparing it to the other courses I got that day, this was the least interesting for me, taste-wise that is.

“Vegetable field” from Lammefjorden

This one, however, is one of my favourites dishes of all time. The mashed potatoes underneath made it gentle, and the malt crumble added salt and a bit of character to the pure taste of the lovely and softly cooked vegetables and herbs like new beautiful rucola flowers. I loved the look of it, which seemed to me a wonderful landscape with hills and valleys I could easily dig into.

Enjoying this dish my dad suddenly said: “Normally art is decorating the walls…” Can you imagine how good that made me feel? He liked it, he was impressed. And I felt happy.

Ramson onion and onions from Læsø, onion-cress and onion bouillon

Another wonderful and new invention of René’s brilliant mind and also one of the highlights that day. An onion bouillon in the centre of the plate with a creamy texture that resembled melted cheese, but without the taste. There was a nip of sweetness to it also. Small and fresh Læsø onions added spice and a crispy texture to it and gave balance to the sweet- and creamy-ness. The small, brown enjoyable balls are grains, but I forgot to note which kind.

At this point we asked for a glass of white wine and Pontus brought us a 2006 Riesling Nahe Spätlese trocken ‘Winninger Uhlen’ which was fantastic. It was intense as nectar, flowery, fruity, acidic, and sophisticated on both the nose and palate. But what I enjoyed the most about the wine was to see how much my parents liked it and was surprised by its excellence.

Sweetbread, cauliflower, seaweed and rose hips

I do like sweetbread a lot. It’s a bit odd that I do, because I’m not too fond of fatty meat and especially not where I need to dissect the fat – because the fat is too jelly-like and gives me nausea.

This piece of sweetbread was quite big, but it was delicious and not too much. The cauliflower purée macerated the delicate meat flavour and bridged the seaweed and the astoundingly flavoured rose hips. I mean, think of a summer day as you pass by a beautiful rose bush in full bloom that emits a refined feminine perfume. Well, that was what this subtle and little leaf smelled and tasted like. The rose hips just took the dish to another level.

Pork and wood sorrel, ramson onion and truffle emulsion

A six years old pig, how about that? The colour is more like that of veal and the taste was like nothing I would ever had guessed of being pork. It was great. I regret not taking note of what my mum thought of this dish and how my truffle-crazed dad liked the truffle emulsion. He got a different dish by the way, for as René said: ‘We didn’t gather any herbs for you today’.

I know that this review is very positive. So to state two things I was less impressed by then it was the champagne and the 1999 Chateauneuf-du-Pape which I think was Le Vieux Donjon (Lucien), but I’m not sure. The red lacked personality and expression. It was either fizzling out or didn’t get time enough to evolve.

Toasted jerusalem artichokes and seabuck-thorn, malt and vinegar

This new dish presented a stunning harmonie of the Jerusalem artichokes (hidden) and the seabuck-thorn. The acidity like sprinted in my mouth and changed the taste of the Jerusalem artichokes. and the white meringue and the malt-brown ones lightly crunched and sparkles with the orange granité. Wonderful.

Dried berries and dried cream, walnuts and dust of walnuts

Yummy. I know this dish looks like it will give you the same dry feeling in your mouth as if you had eaten 10 biscuits with no tea or any kind of liquid. I can assure you, it was not at all like that. The taste of the walnuts was refined and delicate and the dried berries and the berries ice-cream were pure in taste.

So, was this a good day for my dad to discover noma? Yes, indeed. Both for the food and the great service from Kim, Jonas and Pontus.

Please forgive me for repeating myself, but I have to say this… again: Noma is sharp. The picturesque and pretty images which comprise only a few ingredients in a very transparent way and it still interesting and balanced in taste. The beautiful simplicity. That’s remarkable and that’s why I am so hopelessly in love with noma.

Thank you, guys! I can’t wait till my next visit.

However, the intention of this lunch was not to let myself be lulled into yet another epicurean ego trip. The purpose was to meet up with Zarah - and to enjoy a very good meal. noma seemed the obvious choice. Wouldn’t you say so?

When I arrived at precisely 12:15 on 31.01.2008, Zarah was already sitting at our table and waved to me from the other end of the restaurant. This was the first time Zarah and I met each other and hello-hugged. We laughed at the whole set-up and then put our big cameras on the table. This verygoodfoodthoughts sitting was definitely to be documented.

Frederik, our host of the day, poured champagne into high slim glasses and after a spilt second of consideration we agreed to go for the set of courses cooked especially for the two of us and with accompanying wines selected by him.

Crisps of root crops, egg cream
Jacques Lassaigne, NV Champagne
Brut Blanc de Blanc de Montgueux

Batter balls stuffed with pork
and rolled in vinegar dust

The Jacques Lassaigne champagne was new to me, and I remember thinking that I liked better the Agrapart one, which I’ve got a few times. I didn’t note down why though.

A refreshing change of the snacks soon arrived comprising very nice and very paper thin root crisps of what I could identify as parsnip, scorzonera and Jerusalem artichokes. The yellow yolk cream for dipping the crisps was somehow anonymous to me and not as good as the various dips I’ve had before like for example the smoked cream cheese, the green boiled pig fat or the cep mayonnaise. We were also blessed with the pickled and smoked quails egg, and when Zarah took the lid off, smoke fizzled up, tickled my nose and revealed the two yellow delicacies.

For the first time I got batter balls, a traditional sweet and often eaten at Christmas in Denmark. Zarah actually has a very nice recipe on her blog and a hands-on description for how to make them. Anyway, noma’s were a salty interpretation with pork breast inside and white dust of vinegar on the outside. I liked them and the idea, but must admit that I prefer the traditional sweet ones. Too much pasty for the amount of pork.

Beetroot raisins, pearl sago
Horseradish snow

This was interesting. The small pieces of beet root were soft like when you cook them in the oven for a long time but moist at the same time. At noma horseradish is one of the basic spices that’s often combining the food products like the extensive and lovely use of herbs, and in this picture the horseradish’s job was to provide grit and to stabilise the sweet taste of the vegetable. Good.

Tartar and wood sorrel
Creamed tarragon and juniper
2006 Becker-Landgraf, Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen

Although, there is already a photo of this dish on by blog, I have only had a tiny taster of it, when I celebrated my birthday at noma. Although the dish wasn’t mine, it was so lovely that I had to show it here. It’s amongst my favourite dishes.

I never imagined, though, my finger nails would be this green after eating this wonderful dish having it all to myself this time. You don’t get fork and knife but clutch the meat by holding the wood sorrel leaves and then lick up the green cream with the tartar. We were instructed to do it this way and got nice wet and warm cloths to clean our fingers when we were done. The quality of this ox tartar, the wood sorrel and the delectable creamed tarragon and juniper is just beyond the highest level, I tell you, this is more than candy to me and as good as …

The colour of the Becker-Landgraf Riesling was very bright and almost transparent. The nose offered crispiness, flowers and sweet fruit. The bitterness and acidity was elegantly balancing the after-taste and the smell from the creamed tarragon and juniper melted with the Riesling scent in a stunning way. Fantastic.

Burnt Scorzonera and milkskin
Rape seed oil and truffle from Gotland
2006 Denis Jeandeau, Pouilly-Fuissé, Burgundy

I had a dish very like this one, when I lunched with my grandmother last autumn, but this time the leek was replaced by a piece of scorzonera, which added more bite and character to it. The fresh truffles had also been swapped with a lavish truffle paste. We had passed the Swedish truffle season. The scent of these truffles were striking and just as powerful as fresh truffles. Wow. If my eyes had been closed, when the plate was placed in front of me, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. I admire and venerate Rene and his team for their outstanding technique and notion. Excellent.

The Pouilly-Fuissé was dark golden in colour and smelled of pure Chardonnay and the taste was nice. It missed, however, the sophistication I love so much about white Burgundies and sometimes am lucky to find in them.

I do like halibut very much and this was a fine piece, mild in taste with a delicate garniture of green herbs tops and celery with a slight bite to it. I was told the white foam was oysters, but the flavour was weak. I don’t think I would have guessed, if I didn’t know. Good. (Maybe even very good. I have only a fuzzy image of this in my memory).

Zarah has a lot of experience from the restaurant business and I learned from her that the crust turbot was extraordinary. Again, this was the finest fish quality and served with the season’s first fresh ramson onion, mind you.

How do they do this? I mean, to take note what white Burgundies I chose from last time I went to noma, what I selected and then what I had missed out on? This Château de Puligny Montrachet was one of them and now it was accompanying my turbot. Yes, I was in heaven. The scent was dark and powerful with a touch of sour. I found wood too and the nose was a bit closed at the beginning. After a while, it opened and was more recognisable. It evolved smell of turpentine and medicine cupboard, which may sound strange but nevertheless was a hit for me. The taste was dominated by citrous and oak. Very nice indeed.

Bouillion of birch wine and mushrooms
Chickweed and egg yolk
2000 Pierre-Bourré, Justice, Gevrey-Chambertin, Bourgogne

Another repetitive course but one of my favourites, so I didn’t complain. I still the remember the rich flavour of the soup and how well the poached yolk is matched also with the mushrooms. This time Læsø onions (I believe) were sprinkled and made the whole dish more pronounced and more sharp. Stunning.

Yum-yum-yum. These guys really knew how to please me. The colour of the wine had an edge of orange and brown tones and what gorgeous scents of cowshed, smoke, lots of fruit and character. I love it so much, when the wine has a powerful and expressive nose. The taste was great too, balanced and lasting.

I must say that it’s incredible how tender Rene and chefs are able to cook the meat so it’s full of flavour and moist at the same time. The reindeer was very intense in taste with a light game taste to it. The accompanying round and decorative vegetables were a fine match. Very good.

Frederik teased me because I focused on the G-C rather than the Barolo, which was absolutely nice as well, erect and with this characteristic after-taste heavy on tannins. The Gevrey-Chambertin was only more seductive.

The first dessert was, another theme of a traditional Danish dish with variations. It reminded me of an apple charlotte but with pear instead. I love, love apple charlotte. There were hazelnuts at the bottom of the plate, then a layer of yoghurt and on the top thin white slices of pear surrounded and by the meed sauce which had a bit of pear taste to it too. This was a lovely dish, gentle and creamy in taste, not so sweet but with a slight subacidity to balance it. Very good.

We were offered two different Rieslings with the first of two desserts, and there was no doubt that the Georg Breuer was the one I liked most, because it offered a more nuanced palate than just the sweetness of the Knebel one.

‘Yolk’ potato and cumin ice cream
Dried berries and akvavit
2000 Chateau Derezla, Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos
Tokaji

Okay, I think is one of the noma desserts I least like. No matter how sweet and caramel-ish you prepared them, potatoes will always be potatoes and not particularly dessert-like. I very much enjoyed the cumin (which I’m very keen on) ice cream, the caramel and the crisp and sweet string on the top. The Tokaji was excellent with the caramel and the cumin flavours which both had a bitter-sweet feeling to it.

I was really stuffed. I think we both were at this point. We therefore (almost) rolled back to the lounge area for a cup of tea and a coffee a flødebolle and one more glass of the lovely Gevrey-Chambertin for spending the rest of the afternoon chatting girl-ishly about… you know. Girls’ talk.

When it was dark and rainy outside, after almost six hours in the wonderful noma cave we frivolous moved the curtain aside and stepped into the staff’s briefing on tasks and tables for the evenings guests who would soon arrive.

Saying goodbye and thank you for a marvellous experience, it was great to see Rene’s enthusiasm, when he asked if we had taken note of one of the dishes comprising the fresh ramson onions already a month earlier than last year. Of course we had. We had also taken note of the recurring round theme that also characterised this lunch.

A great, great afternoon. Thanks to you, Zarah! And to everyone at noma!

My grandmother grew up in a working-class Østerbro (Copenhagen) flat during the thirties and the 2. world war and she had no brothers or sisters. Both her mum and dad were working all day, my great granddad at De Danske Bomuldsspinderier (cotton spinning factory) although he really was a butcher, and my great grandmother was employed by a big department store (Wessel & Vett). My grandmother had her own key to lock herself in, when she got home from school. They were not rich, but the impression I have, from what she tells me, is that they were happy all the same. The home was rich on love. When grandma was a child, my great granddad took her out by bicycle and showed her the city of Copenhagen and its cultural life. It seems to me that the two were very close.

When I was a kid my grandma did the same thing to me. Every once a year we would go to the theatre and watch a musical, which she adores. She also took me to the museums like the working class museum or to the Open Air Museum with more than 50 farms, mills and houses from the period 1650-1950. I love that old place because the history is so visible to you there, the fact that you can go directly inside such an old house, see with your own eyes and very easily imagine how life was like for the Danes at that time. I don’t think that I would have ever seen a cow being milked nor tasted the fresh milk if my grandmother hadn’t taken me to this museum. I’m so grateful for all these experiences full of cultural impulses and history that she gave me, and I am grateful for the wonderful time we’ve spend together. Maybe she understood me in a way, being an only child, which I was too for the first 12 years of my life.

Grandma is also a great cook and she has always created wonderful tasty courses for me, traditional Danish dishes like “frikadeller”, “krebinetter” (meat balls), delicious and tasty soups and pork roast with crispy cracklings. One of the best things about sleeping over at her place was the waking up early in the morning, the chilly room and my nose cold, and then to step into the warm living room, getting breakfast and drinking tea, warming me. It made me feel loved.

Anyway, I desired to give her something back and to give her a piece of the culture from my world, so to speak. My gastronomical interest, my kind of having a good time. She is a food lover like me, so I was certain that she would love Rene Redzepi’s amazing food. I wanted her to try the absolute best for once. Best in my view, of course. So for her birthday, my present for her was a lunch at noma with me.

When the great day arose, to my great surprise Rene and his team had prepared a whole set menu just for me ensuring I would not get something I had tried before. Preparing me for this event I had in advance decided what food and wine I would have liked to order, but now not knowing what I would be eating I needed a piece of advice one the wine. I asked for White Burgundy and Frederik offered me three choices: A 2004 Remi Jobard, Bourgogne Blanc, 2002 Puligny-Montrachet by Châteaux Puligny-Montrachet and a 2000 Maison Leroy, Meursault. When I saw the combination of my favourite Burgundy area with the producer I was dying to try out, the choice was easy.

2000 Leroy, Meursault, Burgundy

I just had to try that Leroy - and what an excellent choice! If I were French, I would probably have heard the Marseillaise singing in my head – OOH MY GOD (said like Janice from Friends) what a magnificent wine. It was alive! The vivid way that it swirled around in my mouth was amazing, stunning, and made me think of champagne, but without the bubbles. The very full taste of fruit and oak, mineral, clear and powerful Chardonnay taste amazed me. At the same time it was elegant and sophisticated. I should have counted the seconds how long the finish stayed in my gums. My grandmother said that she wasn’t able to gargle it the way that I did and to let the wine stay in the mouth, but that didn’t matter, because the flavours were there anyway for almost minutes. It was weak on tannins and superbly balanced with acidity which made the wine appear crispy and not too acidic in the rich after-taste. Naturally, the wine matched all the dishes. The colour was dark golden And the nose – I tell you, full of fruit, very clear and pure. Trine loves Leroy. No question about that.

Chest nuts, walnuts, Löjrom, milk skin and cress

We were told to eat this thing in small bites, and that completely made sense. The dish was very delicate and fine in taste, like almost just hints of flavours instead of the real thing. The chest nuts were raw and crispy and mild like the milk skin and not too salty orange rows. It was only the bits of walnut and the cress that had a distinct taste. They fired up the dish and made it sophisticated. The crispiness of the nuts and the popping feeling of the Löjrom rows entertained my mouth in a funny and delighting way.

My dearest grandma “Momsemor”

A marvellous start for this lunch, which I was thrilled about. After all it was the first noma course my grandma got and I wanted her to be impressed. And luckily she was.

Before the first course she had dwelled on the fish and chicken skin snacks, the baked porridge and popped sago, and excitedly guzzled the delicious, pickled and smoked quail’s egg. She marvelled at at the appetizers – as she did with the warm bread inside the felt basket I had let her open.

Razor clams and horseradish ”snow”, parsley and dill

The clams had a slight sweet taste that was kicked by the parsley jelly around it and by the dill juice as well as the spicy horseradish. I just love it when such a simple dish can appear delighting in both sight and taste. With this dish I experience something that moved me the same way I got moved, when I dined at noma the first time. It’s how pure the food tastes. Untouched like if I had found the products at and in the sea by a dessert island.

Grandma’s comment on this was, quote: “This is a tasting experience!”

Langoustines, Oyster emulsion and sea weed

If this isn’t the highlight of all that I have eaten at noma, it certainly is within top three. You know it’s so hard to mark out which one of noma’s dishes is the best. I have become especially keen on oysters lately, the rich and meaty ones, and the small green creamy tops on this stone had the most delicious and full oyster taste, exactly like fresh raw ones. We got no cutlery to eat with and used our fingers to suck up the most moist, delicate and huge langoustine dipped in the green oyster emulsion. Roasted sea weed had been sprinkled about and balanced the flavours. I was moved. A wonderful plate – or stone more likely.

Leeks and milk skin, Rape seed oil and truffle from Gotland

I have been eating truffles for nearly twenty years, all kinds, the black Norcia ones, the white Alba diamonds and the summer truffles. Being the month of November I kinda hoped I would get the chance of tasting Gotland truffles, which would be a first time. I can honestly say that the quality of these Swedish summer truffles hit me right in my eyes, nose and palate. Many and thin slices gave evidence of a big truffle, which could impossibly be more than a couple of days old, considering the still light moist interior with the hard and rocky peel. And the smell, my goodness, so good and very powerful, much more than I had imagined. Trust me.

The leek was very delicate and tender, the croutons added salt and fatness like the rape seed oil. A flawless course.

Icelandic lobster and sea weed, stems and roots of vegetables

The lobster was just lovely, and it was generously served with crispy and tasty vegetables of a head of celery, celery root and viper’s grass. The lobster was cooked to perfection and was moist and delicious and enhanced the freshness in the wine. The sea weed gave a full flavour to the completeness of the dish’s taste as a whole.

A few of the vegetables were a bit too crispy to my taste, especially the viper’s grass, which should have been cooked a little bit more. I’ve been arguing with myself whether or not it’s fair to judge the vegetables as being too hard in texture. I have come to the conclusion that the fact of even questioning whether the vegetables were too raw-ish and making me think that, that alone justifies my critique. If the vegetables had been perfectly cooked I would only have thought how divine this dish would be.

Pheasant, apples and beetroot, chickweed and capers of elderberries

The main – or last salty course comprised pheasant that was seasoned with smoked marrow, chickweed and capers made from elderberries. The beetroots were both cooked and thus soft and also raw and sliced in thin leaves, and they were both a good match for the very nice and tender peasant meat. The chickweed added bitterness to the dish and balanced the full and slight sweetness of it.

Going back to the fabulous wine, which had now aired for a couple of hours. I was amazed how even more powerful and fruity the nose was and how extremely full and oily the taste was without being fuss, or too oaked in flavour. It was really perfectly balanced with acidity and tannins, and the after-taste was deep and lasting. By all means a seducing wine.

Cloud berries sorbet and meringues, carrot cake crumpling and herbs granite

This is one of the very best desserts noma has ever made me. You can almost see how well composed it is. I found myself in heaven again. What made it remarkable was the citrus taste balanced with the sweetness, and the cold granite making it fresh. The carrot’s crumple and the meringues provided completeness to the flavour – a whole new tasting experience.

Grandma was a little bit sceptical, when she heard about the meringues, which she’d imagine would be crunchy and crispy. Frederik ensured her that this wasn’t the case. And when she tasted the dessert she must capitulate. It was simply a divine dessert.

We finished up in the lounge with a very strong cup of coffee and a doubled set of the fantastic beetroots fødeboller and a nice chat with Lau, who started his evening shift by that time. But that coffee? I had certainly met my match there, could almost see that the black fluid was thicker than ever; it was great. I quickly ate my two flødeboller and grandma asked how on earth that was possible – after all this very good food, how could I possibly have room for even more. Well… I wouldn’t know when I would another chance again. Then also she snatched the second one.

I wanted to take grandma to noma for a very special reason. First of all to please her like she had pleased me when I was a kid. Another reason was that I wanted to see the to different styles of Danish cooking meeting each other. I was brimful of curiosity to know how the master of traditional, solid Danish cuisine would find noma’s new fine and sophisticated dining. What was the result? They loved each other – well grandma certainly loved noma.

I was happy to see that grandma was able to comprehend and appreciate the innovative style of Rene Redzepi’s interpretation of the Nordic products and Nordic cuisine.

I felt proud, and funnily my grandma looked proud too.

Thank you Frederik for a perfect waiting, Lau for being a sweetie and to you, Rene, for the food which is making me float heavenly for days.

I love the autumn. The colourful trees in bright yellow and powerful red coats, the blue water peeping out between the naked branches at the far end of my garden, the brown leaf on the lawn of my cottage. The autumn is my favourite season, the scents so earthy of moist decay, the red squirrel collecting acorns for its winter storeroom at the feet of the old oak in middle of the garden, the mild damp smell of nuts and mushrooms. Cold mornings, regretting not wearing my gloves cycling to work; to be greeted by the most stunning sun rises colouring the sky decorated with clouds. That is something. After my splendid evening at noma in early August, I was floating. But after a fortnight, withdrawals set in. I was feeling love-sick and had to do something about it. I was ill and I needed medication.

For years I’ve been hearing about these wonderful and famous restaurants always abroad and too far away to really explore them. Then, all of a sudden there is a star in my own back garden. Lucky me. Thank you Yin, for reminding me!

To experience noma’s magical cuisine made of the products I see when I go for a walk on the beach on the North coast of Zealand or in the woods – that’s so inspiring. The fact the Danish herbs can take part in such a stunning dining adventure is amazing, and in a way it makes me proud.

Anyway, although I tried to stay away from noma’s website, on 18th of August I couldn’t resist any longer and booked my table for a lunch about two months later. Really wanted to go sooner but couldn’t fit it into my busy schedule.

Noma in the Autumn. I have experienced noma in the spring and summer, and I now wanted to see what the fruits of the fall would bring me.

Tuesday, 9th of October was the day, my day. On my way to the restaurant I couldn’t help myself smiling. I felt like a little child at Christmas’ eve so full of sparkling expectations and impatience. Then seeing the high flagpoles of noma’s neighbouring North Atlantic House made me so glad. Noticing the tiny noma door sign further away made my heart jump once and speed up a bit. I was so excited that I could barely open the door to restaurant, partly because it’s very heavy, but also because I knew that at the very instant of entering, the much appreciated and happily looking forward to it would end immediately.

The Snack

With a glass of the good N.V. Agrapart champagne of grapes from nine different parcels and the usual snack of herbs dip, skin and groats crisps, I was ready to go.

Smoked and pickled quail’s egg

Like at my August visit, I got the delicious pickled and smoked quail’s egg, but this day it arrived in a dotted eggshell designed especially for noma, and it fitting nicely the warm colours and nature-sentiment of the place. For some reason the funny softness and moistness of the sticky egg combined with the smoke reminded me of the Italian Scamorza cheese. Again this little egg was very enjoyable and perfectly salted.

The Appetizer

The clear and fresh appetizer of Löjrom with milk skin, iced horseradish, herbs, rye bread crisps spiced up with apple vinegar and oil from cold pressed rapes made a fantastic starter. When taking a bit of everything I got this divinity in my mouth, the cool and pronounced horseradish and the sweet milk and salty roes. I did not at all sense the skinniness of it. It was all pleasure and I felt good about being finally back at my favourite place in Copenhagen.

King crabs and ashed leeks

The wonderful King crabs. How can I describe this? Well, it was delicious in a gentle way. It was like a lover’s passionate touch on the cheek, the little gesture that tells you everything. This was everything. The tasty poached crab meat side by side with the leeks was a very good match, and the black ashes broke the total roseate, idyllic picture of it and added a bit of character. The smell of the toasted bread crumbs still warm and comprising salt suited nicely the sea fruits of crab and the mussel emulsion, which I think the white sauce was at the bottom. A lovely dish.

Mackerel and dried gooseberries, walnuts and anise

Warning! Turn down the sound on your machine before you watch the video. Unfortunately this clip is the only visual image I have of the dish, as I was so seduced by the dancing smoke swirling mysteriously over the fish that I forgot to photograph it.

Anyway, raw mackerel of highest quality with a fennel and dill soup spiced with walnuts, anise and nitrogen cooled gooseberries. I don’t think that I have ever gotten such delicious mackerel fish before, and the green soup was very fresh in taste. It was a very good course and a nice and surprising experience, but somehow it lacked something, and I’m not sure what – sweetness perhaps.

Mushroom and birch wine bouillon, egg yolk and chickweed

The look of this dish very much presented the tastiness of it. The mushrooms were of different textures, all very earthy and full in taste. The flavour of the birch wine bouillon somewhat resembled that of malt, but the soup had a lighter feeling to it. The egg yolk in the middle of the plate was softly poached, to keep it from messing up the nice look of the soup. The yolk added substance, the cracker added salt and the fresh herbs provided perspective. I’m a huge mushroom fan and this course was great – back on track.

The wine I had was a German 2005 Spätburgunder, I forgot the producer, sorry. The nose was fresh and fruity and had hints of kerosine and the taste was cool and a little bit closed at the beginning. After a while it offered warm pepper and a lot of fruit to the palate, I loved the clear Pinot Noir taste of it. The after-taste was shortish, but after some time in the glass more fruit evolved and the kerosine disappeared. Lau (head waiter I think) had suggested a fruity wine for the bouillon and I couldn’t agree more – this fruit bomb was a brilliant match and extended the whole experience. Bravo!

Ox-tails and verbena, apples and Jerusalem artichokes

I’ve had ox-tails many times before and especially as a kid. My mum would cook the tail cut in big and smaller pieces, and I ate it holding the bone between my thumb and index finger, sucking the tender meat and sometimes almost choking on the jelly-like ox fat. Although my mum is a great cook, this noma ox-tails were at least a hundred times better. White paper thin apple slices alternated by thick bites of Jerusalem artichokes, and next to them a boneless meat heap full of pure ox taste. The meat was covered by a delicate apples jelly, an intense and rich ox stock accompanied it and green verbena leaves were sprinkled about. The scent of the dish was heavenly, sweet and flowery. The verbena is a very particular herb, very perfumed and with such impression of flavours. It’s sweet like apples, and aromatic like garden balm with acidic notes.

The brilliance of the this main course also lied in the pairing of the Jerusalem artichokes and the ox meat with the apples and verbena herb. The sweetness was controlled by the sour. If anything was ever perfect, it has to be this dish, so cleverly imagined, a valley of paradisiac beauty. The highlight.

With a 2000 Henri Bonneau, Chateneuf du Pape it couldn’t be more delightful. The wine is entirely (?) composed by Grenache grapes, soft as silk, and fruity with a very delicious palate. It was full flavoured and had a very, very long after-taste. A great wine to go with the wonderful ox-tails.

Skyr sorbet, elderflower mousse, macaroons and wood sorrel

The next dish wasn’t either part of the menu, and what a sweet surprise it was. The beautiful and pink look of it was underlining the femininity of noma’s cuisine. The taste of it was so marvellous that I felt totally bashful. I still remember the lovely flavour of the sweet and perfumed elderflower mousse, which was balanced with the fruity citrus-flavoured skyr sorbet and the fresh sorrel. It was a perfect dessert to my taste and wondered if I could get my local ice-cream shop to fabricate such a fantastic sorbet.

Goat cheese and tarragon, blackberry segments

The main dessert looked kinda funny. It consisted of goat cheese ice-cream pointing directly at me, and rolled in frozen blackberry granules. Tarragon dust supported it as well as a blackberry juice. The flavours were perfectly balancing each other and really the strengths of the dish, a very interesting concept, but not really sweet. Mixing all the ingredients made the taste very good, although I don’t fancy goat cheese that much. I wondered whether some molecular prescription has instructed that tarragon eliminates the woollen goat milk’s annotations, because it truly hid the goat-ish taste of it. And I was happy that the white dust was so generously dozed. I imagine that to a goat cheese lover the dessert would have been heavenly.

The sweetness which wasn’t pronounced in this dessert was surely found in the wine. A 2005 Domaine Richard Leroy, Noëls de Montbenault, Coteaux du Layon Faye D’Anjou, France with a delightful golden colour and a sweet palate but with body too, making it very enjoyable. It added an extra dimension to the course – I mean frequently the wine is a food support, but here it had it’s own identity and that was remarkably nice and unique about it.

A cup of coffee

Flødebolle

You know that I have a sweet tooth, and I’m specially keen on flødeboller. Oh, how much I had hoped for it to re-join the coffee. It was absolutely delicious and with a very fresh-made mousse, which is the key to a good flødebolle. Note the stone under the pink beetroot amuse: It was very cold and prevented the chocolate from immediately starting to melt. In fact, it was just like it had spent all day long in the fridge just waiting for me. Yum yum!

I was lunching alone on this occasion, completely enjoying everything about it; watching the view of the room, and I admit, the other guests in the room to see how they were liking it. I just loved being there, and the peace of it entirely on my own, being back, tasting the wonderful food, feeling surprised and seduced once again.

I must mention again the picturesque beauty of each dish, which were presented before me. I always enjoy the food more when all my senses are being stimulated.

I had a wonderful time not least because of the hospitality of the staff, who totally spoilt me. Laurent speaks of serenity and the fact that it seemed like they were risking their life on each dish coming out of the kitchen. He is right! And I’d like to add that it’s the way that every single person working there is passionate about the place, cherish it, they care – otherwise they wouldn’t be there.

Going back to noma is for me like coming home, the service friendly but still adequately distinct, the atmosphere cosy but still elegant. I love the staff’s humour and wit.

Serenity, pureness and honesty. Big words I know. Well not too big for what noma is capable of.

Thank you, Rene.
And thank you, Lau.

I’m still in love! Very much.

Ps. Already booked again for next month. Couldn’t help it.

Skate wing and mussel liquor with cauliflower in different textures

I wanted to dine at noma this special day, and to ensure that, I had booked my table back in April, almost four months in advance. This time my table was along the side in the middle, still providing full view over the room of the restaurant.
All the dishes were wonderful, well-balanced, sophisticated, innovative and surprising. A bombardment of beautiful picturesque food of the freshest fish, tender and savoury meat, delicate berries, tasty vegetables and frail herbs and flowers with subtlety and elegance. The service was great – especially the service of the sommelier.

Warm lobster salad with red current wine and beach herbs

I think my favourite dish was the sweet and outstanding lobster, but maybe I am not quite within my rights saying that, because I eat lobster so rarely, and thus it might just be the scarcity of it that’s flattering me.
As I have written about noma already twice, I want to focus on the elements that surprised me this particular evening.

Quail’s egg

One of the snacks was a bird’s nest with two quail’s egg, which had been smoked and brawned. The head chef, René Redzepi brought them to my table and told us to eat it all in one go. I expected the yolk to be dried because of the way that the egg looked, light brown on the outside. But the yolk was in fact liquid, the dense pulp spread around my mouth. I was astounded.

Oyster and cucumber

L’amuse bouche

I was completely taken aback when I first ate noma’s food, and I therefore imagined that a restaurant serving such innovative and original food, would be capable of surprising me with matching wines too. So, I decided to go for the set wine menu, to see how well the ensemble would be here.

Interesting and fine wines that matched the food magnificently, I must say. For example the Muscadet that accompanied the appetizer comprising oyster and cucumber being light in colour and delicately fresh in taste. The Grüner Veltliner ice wine was the dessert almost by itself. Thick texture, full-bodied and so sweet but comprising acidity to balance the taste, a wonderful dessert wine, so intense that I could only sip it lightly.

Tartar and wood sorrel with creamed tarragon and juniper

I remember as a child when walking in the woods, the grown-ups told me to pick the wood sorrel that grew in the forest floor and eat the fresh, tasty and green leaves. I would never have thought of finding this ingredient at a top-notch restaurant. In this picture the wood sorrel was brilliant. The dark and pure meat taste of the tartar combined with the dusty flavour of the leaves adding the hidden acidity and extracting taste like a salt. The intense green cream was like candy, and I could have licked the plate clean from it. The image shows how simple it the food is, and this is brilliance, the fact that a few elements can form such pleasure and perception. I wish, I could add a button right here on my blog, so you could sense and experience what I got.

Shoots and malt and potato puré underneath

I was especially keen on the red wine, the only one, the Vosne-Romannée. It was weak on tannin and rich on fruit and fullness and very nice with the goat kid, which was a surprise too, by the way. It’s only my second time that I eat that, and this meat was amongst the finest I have ever had. The texture slightly like lamb, thready and with a taste so delicate like I would never imagine possible for goat’s meat. A bit like veal but finer and with a game flavour to it as well.

There wasn’t really room in my stomach for the cheese, but I just couldn’t say no. One of my close friends had specifically mentioned the cheese, when he dined at noma a couple of years ago. I tasted four different types, three from Sweden and a single Danish one. Wauuw, the Swedes really know how to make cheese! The first one resembled an Italian Parmigiano Reggiano and the taste was very similar. The cheese was a Kvibille Cheddar and seasoned for 24 months. The Danish cheese was a red-lead putty one as far as I remember, and there were also a goat’s milk cheese and a Sødermans Ädel blue roan of cow’s milk. I’m mad about blue roan cheese, all kinds, and this Sødermans was not sharp or ammoniacal in any way. All very delicious cheese.
We got another glass of the same lovely red Burgundy and I learned that you can easily drink red wine with a blue cheese, if the wine doesn’t contain sulphur and thus much tannin. It was indeed gentle velour that swirled around my mouth.

If I must state the single dissonance of this gastronomical concert it has to be with the appetizer; I found the cucumber a bit too acidic and powerful for the oysters. I know it might sound ridicules.

Raspberries, beetroot and marinated rose hips

You know, I don’t think that I can really mark out any of the dishes to be my favourite one as they were all fabulous. I haven’t described every dish, and this is not an indication of those being not as good, because they were. The Champagne with grapes from nine different vineyards. And the delectable Danish dream and the A. Rousseau’s Vieux Marc de Bourgogne, which both accompanied my coffee. I even forgot to photograph the goat-kid and the delicious blueberries, I love love blueberries, which were completely covered by milk skin. A dark blue and purple course being the masculine counterpart to the pink lady of intriguing sweetness shown above.

A gala performance!

This evening it actually rained, the sun wasn’t shining, but that didn’t matter. Leaving the place I felt like I was shining myself. Gilded by the Northern light of glittering unique noma.

Thank you, guys – especially to Pontus!

The full menu with the wines 2 August, 2007:

Raw shrimps and green gooseberries
Fresh cream and dill
2005 Domaine l´Ecu (Guy Bossard), Muscadet Sévre & Maine sur Lie ‘Granite’ Magnum, Loire, France

Shoots and malt
Potato puré
2004 Domaine Valette, Pouilly-Vinzelles, Bourgogne, France

Skate wing and mussel liquor
Cauliflower in different textures
1980 Wegeler, Riesling halbtrocken ‘Breg Rotland’, Rheingau, Germany

Warm lobster salad
Red current wine and beach herbs
2005 Mark Angéli (Ferme de la Sansonniére), Anjou Blanc ‘Les Fourchades’, Loire, France

Goat-kid and ”dust” of thyme
Hazelnuts and mushrooms
2002 Domaine Priuré-Roch, Vosne-Romanée ‘Les Clous’, Bourgogne, France

Raspberries and beet roots
Marinated rose hips
2006 Bricco Mondalino, Malvasiva di Casorzo d’Asti ‘Molignano’, Piemonte, Italy

Blueberries and milkskin
Pickled pine tree shoots and sweet bread
2005 Nigl, Grüner Veltliner Eiswein, Kremstal, Austria

I had decided not to write another post on noma. Really, this time I wanted to fully concentrate on the enjoyment of the afternoon alone with my dear mum and beloved baby brother, having lunch at my very favourite Danish restaurant.

My jabbering about how extraordinary noma is, had finally paid off and I had managed to talk (part of) my family into joining me again to this journey to an exploration of the senses.

That is what noma is doing – stimulating my senses. By sense I don’t only mean scent and taste; I mean sight too and, if such exists, the sixth sense. The little things important in life, the little extra that makes you (me) feel good.

There are flowers everywhere at noma, each table and even at the loo, wild flowers from the Danish country side. There are candle lights too everywhere, which is a very characteristic thing for us Northern people. During the long, cold and very dark winter we light up our homes with tiny flames flickering by the slightest breath of air, this bright light reminding us of the warmer and sunny days we’re all yearning for. Noma has the capability of making me feel at home and relaxed and fully let myself float into this heaven of experiencing the delectable food they create here.

The lunch menu and wine:

“Crudité” and pickled elderberries
Celery juice and dill

Cod, mushrooms
Mead and herbs

Duck breast and ramson
Leek and wild herbs

Glazed sheep’s milk mousse
and sorrel granité

Caramel in different textures
Crumbles and chips of malt

2005 Chardonnay
Jean-Paul Brun
Beaujolais

2001 Cabernet Franc
Catherine & Pierre Breton
Loire

We got the very same table as my first time, the best in the room to me. I enabled my guests to enjoy the view of the harbour and myself to overview the whole restaurant from my corner between two enormous windows.

The snacks and amusing lump fish roe with horseradish, bred crumble and milk soup was the same as I had the last time, and I was glad to see how surprised my two dearest were, just as I was, when I met this innovative kitchen for the first time.

The Crudité was art. I don’t know how the chef and cooks come up with these imaginings, but they must see them inside their head in some way to be able to create such a beautiful plate, adorably colourful. A painting in oil. This is what I mean by stimulation of the sense of sight. So fresh, so crackly and a very good taste. The croutons thin to the extreme and very salt.

Cod with mushrooms, salt bread crumble and with the mead, which is the yellow sauce that surrounds the fish. Amazing how the mushrooms suited the cod and the mead and the rest of the ingredients the salt rye bread crumple and the herbs matched very well. The Chardonnay I had with it was perfect for the dish, not for the lump sucker. The cod brought out new flavours of the wine and in particular dryness and more volume.

The duck was wonderful, tender, strong sauce, powerful ramson foam, leek rolled in ashes, which didn’t taste as strong as one might imagine, more like a dry and a mild, flat flavour.

The Cabernet Franc had a great odour, powerful blackcurrant, a good taste and much dryness and tannin. In my opinion the long after taste lacked fruit and fullness. It was a bit better after some 30 minutes in my glass but not enough, I believe.

We got a pre-dessert that sent us all right out into the garden one fine summer day with the lawn mowed minutes before. This green and fresh scent was exactly what I tasted with the green wood sorrel granité. The mousse sugar flake and the green anise on top was marvellous. Again, mixing everything provided the full joy of it.

The dessert was a bomb of dark powerful flavours, spiced up with roasted barley and yoghurt to add a bit of sour and salt to the sweetness of the malt. Need I say I loved it?

A part from using the Scandinavian herbs and flowers to a large extend, I find that the essence of noma’s food is the liquid which accompanies each course in one way or another for example being a sauce, a soup or a gelé. It’s these juses that give the finishing touch to the food, the intensity and powerful flavour, mixing them with the other ingredients in the plate takes you out there where you can’t swim any more – close to heaven because of an astounding deliciousness.

I love that the bread is brought to the table warm and in a felt basket and that the steak knife comes in a dagger sheath. I love the atmosphere at noma and the way that the waiters are friendly, not too formal, but professional at the same time. I love that it makes me warm to think of the sheep’s skin at my back caressing me sitting in the comfortable chair with arm rests. I love that this energy, the sixth sense, I get from dining at noma lasts throughout days.

When I’m visiting noma, somehow the sun is always shining on Copenhagen. Why is that?

good food makes me glad. noma makes me happy.

Really, just like that!

I’m in love. In love with noma. It’s as simple as that. noma is the best place to eat in Copenhagen at the moment, in my opinion. I’ll try to explain why. But first, I’d like to introduce what I ate there.

noma’s good food:

Crispy paper-thin and generously salted skin flakes of pork, chicken and fish being the best crisps I’ve ever had. The crispy-ness of them was remarkable. Fried tempura scrimps and mackerel and a cream comprising cepe mushrooms (boletus edulis).

What an amuse. Watch the photo. Doesn’t it look like a painting? I think the waiter called it milk soup with fresh cheese and with lump fish roes, seaweed, radish, snow made of semi-frozen horseradish and underneath it some brown/black crackling stuff I never found out what was.

The horseradish contained a hidden surprise. In my mouth the cold root and the stuff under it melted a little, and the next second it fire worked, unexpectedly. It was like a small blow and an explosion, completely new and innovative, to me, the cool-ness and tingle-ness of it, all at the same time. Moving the spoon round at the bottom of the plate, the algae were revealed, which weren’t at all what is often served with maki rolls and sushi, sometime a bit leathery, maybe. No, this was very different and so much better. If you can talk about tenderness, I think this the right word to describe its texture. The taste was fresh and mild, not really bitter, perhaps a bit like the taste of artichoke. A really delicious course.

Exquisite smoked eel of the finest quality melting on my tongue, and cider vinegar gelly with eel soup and dill. Although the power, the fat-ness of the fish, and the taste of smoke, this dish remained light and with finesse. The apple and the herbs must be the reason behind this. The various ingredients, and the perfect balance of fat, salt, sweet and sour gave an impression of the high complexity in this good food.

Roasted chicken with an intense, powerful and delicate sauce, not thick. The green parsley foam and the nicely well-done cooked parsnip were both very tasty. Flowers of spring on the top emphasising the pureness and wish for presenting the season as well as the idea of the Scandinavian origin.

I got two slices of nice, moist and tender chicken. The one part was a tiny bit rose in the middle of the thickest part of the meat. However, and I would like to stress this, it didn’t change the taste nor the eating experiencing comparing with the other fully cooked part.

Brilliant dessert. Buttermilk jelly at the bottom and ice-cream with liquorish raisins kicking the mild taste, and on top, the decorative sweet malt flakes. But most importantly the sprinkled mint leaves, this is where the brilliance come in, the fine characteristical and fresh taste sort of took the flavour of this dish to another dimension. The mint matched the strong and intense taste of the raisins and gave lightness to it. Again each ingredient was tasty in itself, but mixing them and that’s what I did with the last 2-3 spoonfuls, to circle my spoon round the plate and to melt the rest altogether – even nicer.

What I love so much about this food is the lightness and elegance of it, the fact that all superfluous fat had been removed. I was stunned by millions of flavours. That’s how I sensed it, and afterwards when I left the place, feeling light and tremendously happy. This food is so high-level and complex that I can hardly find ways of describing it. The large number of ingredients in each plate makes it impossible to remember every one of them. Each single little element was wonderful and mixing them made the course even better.

I would like to emphasize that the service which the waiters provided was excellent. First of all they made me feel welcome and easy. I liked the way they explained us about the food, and one waiter helped me with the chair, when I was going to the loo. All in all to the point, not too much and not too less.

We had one glass of white wine to accompany the food. The sommelier suggested a Grüner Veltliner, Spätlese from Fred Loimer (forgot which year, again sorry). It had a wonderful smell, lots of it and taste, full-bodied and well-balanced dryness and sweetness. Nicely cool at first, hiding a bit of the fruit and this went well with the amuse, and then a bit warmer and more soft for the eel but still with a good body, also for the chicken. To my surprise it didn’t hurt the dessert either.

We got the best, in my view, table in the restaurant, watching the ships in the canal, and further away the new building of the Royal Danish Theatre and Nyhavn’s colourful houses and boats.

To be honest, I had very high expectations. I’ve had dinner at quite a few one Michelin Star places here, which were all very lovely, but I’ve never tried a two stars restaurant before. I had also heard very good things about noma lately and I was thus very intrigued, high prospects. However, every expectation was fulfilled. I had a splendid time and actually the impression stayed with me longer than just for the rest of the day.

Senses and surprises – that’s what I look for in dining. And noma truly understands how to provide it. noma really has knocked me sideways!

Oh, one fantastic thing, though that noma didn’t provide directly, was to share this experience and to watch how my friend enjoyed it and was surprised by it as much as I was. That was really something.

By the way, what to eat for breakfast at such a noma day? Rolled oats, of course, with cane sugar and milk. But just a small portion, though.

I wonder why the name of this great restaurant is ‘noma’? Short for ‘Nordisk mad’ (Nordic food) in Danish?

Two stars – what makes three of them? Perhaps a ‘Toilet’ sign on the door?

noma Thursday 29 March 2007