René Redzepi to close Noma in 2024

Chef René Redzepi has announced the closure of his three-Michelin starred restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The world-renowned dining room, which first opened in 2003, will cease regular trading in winter 2024 and relaunch as a "giant lab" test kitchen in 2025.

The restaurant said it would continue to serve customers via international pop-ups and seasonal runs instead of being limited to one location.

Redzepi told the New York Times that the modern fine dining model was “unsustainable” both “financially and emotionally, as an employer and as a human being”, especially at a time of rising inflation.

He added: “We have to completely rethink the industry. This is simply too hard, and we have to work in a different way.”

A statement on the Noma website said: “Serving guests will always be a part of who we are, but being a restaurant will no longer define us. From 2025, our restaurant will no longer exist in its current form. Instead, we will pop up in different parts of the world – including Copenhagen – while focusing more time on innovation and product development.

“Our goal is to create a lasting organization dedicated to groundbreaking work in food, but also to redefine the foundation for a restaurant team, a place where you can learn, you can take risks, and you can grow!”

Noma confirmed that it will continue to serve three seasonal menus - vegetable, forest and ocean - until the end of 2024 and that all of its team would "join the next chapter”.

It will also expand Noma Projects, which launched as an e-commerce platform in spring 2022.

This will play an “essential role to the development" of Noma by channelling 20 years of the restaurant's research and development into "a variety of new projects, products and new flavous".

The Noma website said the team would share news of where guests could eat its food beyond 2025 when it was "ready".