noma, here we come

We often plan our trips around food, and as you can imagine, noma is a restaurant we just couldn't miss (especially after missing out El Bulli, big time!).

On one of the Saturdays in January, DH (for dear husband) got up at 4am EST to secure a reservation in April, and here we came. We arrived at the Copenhagen airport from Amsterdam, with our unsatisfied stomachs (the food in Amsterdam was unimpressive) and enormous excitement.

To our surprise, we enjoyed Copenhagen much more than Amsterdam. Just like what Matt Orlando, the noma head chef later told us, Copenhagen felt like Brooklyn. Indeed! People here are cool, low key, no BS, and enjoy life. Who dresses up for a fancy restaurant?!

Settling down at the hotel, we walked towards the 350 years old warehouse where noma is located.

 The spring drizzle finally stopped, and the sky all of a sudden opened up

 Yes, we have one of those in Brooklyn too, just not this old!

 Here is a quiet harbor facing noma

 Wood introduced warmth into the old warehouse

 Malt flatbread and juniper

 Moss and cep

 Crispy pork skin and black current

 Blue mussel and celery

 The top shell is not edible, but the bottom is

 Cookie with cheese; rocket and stems

 Shrimp and brown butter

 Potato and chicken liver

 Rye, chicken skin & lumpfish roe

 Pickled and smoked quail eggs

 Can you see the smoke rising from hay?

 Radish, soil and grass

 Edible soil

 Herb toast & smoked cod roe

 Æbleskiver & muikku

 Essentially a munchkin with a cucumber center + fish

 There is only one seating per night and we were one of the first

 Interesting wool felt cover...for the bread

 Sour dough

 This is the first main course: Spring peas and tea

 Brown crab, egg yolk and herbs

 Dried scallops and beech nuts/Biodynamic grains and watercress

 Onion and thyme/Grooseberry juice

 Asparagus and pine (the green sauce is made of green asparagus)

 Pike perch and cabbages/Verbena and dill

 Pickled vegetables and bone marrow

 Roasted turbot and bitter greens/Celeriac and mushroom

 Pear tree!

 Walnut and dried berries

 Ice milk, yorgurt, and herb-based cream

 Gammel Dansk - caramelized bone marrow

 More candies!

 Interesting candles

 Where amuse bouche is "assembled"

 

 Kitchen upstairs

Employee dining + party area + food R&D center

So, how was it?

It was amazing. It was a lot of fun. It's different from Alinea's fun. Alinea is all about theatrical performance and reactions; noma's fun is people watching, not being too serious, really savoring the local and new to us ingredients, and have a great time.  Dishes are all prepared in simple ways, yet the plating is the most beautiful I've seen. It's not so "produced", but it's so earthy and naturally beautiful. 

All dishes were cooked perfectly, and the turbot was especially impressive. It was pan roasted with skin on, and then the chef cut out the meat only for the dish. I'm not sure if there was a timer on their work station, but the delicate white meat was cooked to perfection. And the mushroom sauce! It was deep, earthy, and rich. So good I can still remember the taste.

Here at noma, chefs brought out their dishes to guests. It's not a place where cooks cook and servers serve. Here the artists introduce their work to you, with proud. I love the connection here.

Matt Orlando couldn't have been a more generous host to us. (Did I mention how attractive he looked?) He showed us the kitchen, and explained how noma works. We greeted to their apprentice upstairs, and we tasted some rare (and live!) ants. (Okay, I didn't dare to, but DH did - tasted like lemongrass he said.) We couldn't wish for better. We just want to visit again.