'World No.1 restaurant' Noma to down shutters, to reinvent itself as food 'lab'

Touted world's No.1 place to fine dine by connoisseurs, Noma will close as a full-time restaurant in 2025, with the $505 per head foodie favourite focusing on pop-ups and innovation instead in order to secure a long-term future.

With three Michelin stars, Copenhagen's Noma was established in 2003 by Danish chef Rene Redzepi and is renowned for its avant-garde approach to Nordic cuisine, topping the rankings of the world's best restaurants several times.

"In 2025, our restaurant is transforming into a giant lab - a pioneering test kitchen dedicated to the work of food innovation and the development of new flavors," Noma said in a posting announcing the move on its website.

"Our goal is to create a lasting organization dedicated to groundbreaking work in food," said Noma, whose name is a play on the Danish words "nordisk mad", meaning "Nordic food".

Reservations for a table at Noma, which is serving its Game and Forest Season menu until Feb, 18 at a cost of 3,500 Danish crowns ($505) per person, were hard to come by even before the announcement of its new "Noma 3.0" incarnation.

"We will still serve guests in Copenhagen for shorter seasons, and through pop-ups, but the details are still to be worked out," a spokesperson for Noma told Reuters.

(With inputs from Reuters)