‘It takes a lot of energy to work with glass,’
she says, yet she deemed the project special
enough to work through her pregnancy,
taking only two weeks off after the birth of
her baby. She is in awe of Noma’s willingness
to work with studio glass at such quantities.
‘I haven’t seen another restaurant invest in
glass like this,’ she says.
The ceramics were an even greater
undertaking, for the new Noma divides its
year into three seasons. The winter months
are dedicated to Scandinavian seafood, early
summer to early autumn sees a plant-based
menu, while early autumn to January focuses
on the flora and fauna of the forest. Each
season calls for its own style of presentation –
blues for the seafood season, pinks and greens
for the vegetable season, and earthier tones
for the game and forest season. So effectively,
Noma would require three times as many
ceramic pieces as before. This ambitious
project was entrusted to stylist Christine
Rudolph, an old friend of Redzepi who had
styled both of his books.
Rudolph and Redzepi quickly agreed that
the resulting selection should have a wide
range of textures and shapes, rather like the
ceramics most people have at home, and
Rudolph found five different artists to work
on the project: the youngest, Oslo-basedAnette Krogstad, produces painterly pieces,
while the eldest, Astrid Smith, is a retired art
teacher in Funen who makes richly textured
creations. They are joined by Janaki Larsen,
who mainly works in monochrome but was
persuaded to create a range of pale blue
pieces; Karina Skibby, director of historic
workshop Hjorths, who works with local clay
in Bornholm; and Finn Dam Rasmussen,
who specialises in salt-glaze pottery. Rudolph
helped them refine their designs, and
organise larger-scale production at another
facility in Bornholm, called Den Danske
Keramikfabrik. ‘This wasn’t a full-time
project, but it felt like one,’ she exclaims. But
the people made it worth her while: ‘René has
an amazing vision, and it’s been so much fun.’
Further design elements are in the works,
with restaurant manager James Spreadbury
and front-of-house team leader Katherine
Bont working on uniforms with local brands
Hansen Garments and Norse Projects. They
are creating what is essentially a capsule
collection of clothing that staff can freely mix
and match – ‘We want everybody to be able
to show their personalities,’ says Spreadbury.
Uniforms aside, Noma has more artworks
to commission, and plenty of planting and
landscaping to do. So it may be years before
the village is entirely complete, but what isthere now is enough to delight even the most
exacting guest. It goes without saying that
the project has been demanding for everyone
involved, be it in terms of skill, imagination,
and perhaps more crucially, time. Thulstrup,
for instance, had seven days to draw up his
initial proposal for the interior design, while
Brdr Krüger was given only five to develop
the first prototype of the ‘Arv’ chair. In the
end, what has made it possible is a shared love
of adventure – as Kreiner describes it, Noma’s
collaborators ‘are not afraid of trying new
things. They haven’t come to where they are
just by doing what everybody else does.’ And
the experience of working for Noma will
make a significant difference in their career,
if the track records of their predecessors –
including local architects Space Copenhagen,
see page 146 – are anything to go by.
Redzepi, too, has every faith in Noma’s
new home. ‘We’ve squeezed out every single
dime, and we’ll be in debt for a while,’ he
admits. But in doing so, he and his team
have laid the bricks for decades ahead of
exploration, of vanquishing caviar with wood
sorrel, and once again reshaping the way the
world thinks about food. ‘I believe in this
project,’ he beams, ‘and I believe that here
we can build something for a lifetime.’^ ∂
Refshalevej 96, Copenhagen, noma.dk198 ∑
Intelligence
Peter K reiner and René Redzepi
CEO and Head Chef
Kreiner and Redzepi, photographed in front one of the dining room’s end-grain walls one week before the restaurant’s opening