Noma Projects: Flavor Products From the World’s Greatest Restaurant
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noma projects
- noma projects
Reinventing the world’s relationship with food & flavor. Again.
The mighty Noma has reigned among critics and foodies as the best restaurant in the world for two decades.
Now we’re getting close to the final season of Noma, the restaurant, and are are being introduced to Noma the… Noma the… Noma the CPG company?
With a team that has reimagined itself more than once, eager admirers are wondering what’s next. Before the award-winning restaurant serves its final meal this year, we’ll document its current achievements, transitions, and post-closure plans.
noma projects
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noma projects -
The story behind the world’s greatest restaurant
We can’t separate Noma’s influence without discussing the co-founder Rene Redzepi. He opened Noma in 2003 along with Danish entrepreneur Claus Meyer after working in highly respectable establishments like The French Laundry. Redzepi draws from his formal culinary training and childhood memories of foraging while visiting relatives in Yugoslavia. He’s praised for reimagining Scandinavian gastronomy and prioritizing local ingredients.
Twenty years later, Redzepi has several accolades under his spatula. Noma has earned three Michelin stars and won the World’s Best Restaurant Award 5 times in a row, most recently in 2021. It’s the second restaurant to ever claim this streak.
The rise of New Nordic Cuisine
Critics credit Redzepi with the new Nordic cuisine movement that began after Noma opened its doors. New Nordic Cuisine is a culinary movement that began in the early 2000s, emphasizing freshness, simplicity, and seasonal flavors, with a focus on sustainability, ethical farming practices, and local ingredients. A shift away from heavy, comfort-food traditions in the Nordics.
Redzepi and Noma went further in exploring Nordic ingredients, foraging for local plants, and experimenting with fermentation and other preservation methods than any other restaurant at the time, inspiring chefs and restaurants around the world to adopt similar philosophies for local, seasonal ingredients and sustainability in the culinary arts.
Noma 2.0
After releasing two cookbooks and starring in a documentary about Noma, the last thing critics and devoted customers expected was closure. In late 2016, the Noma team held their final service because Redzepi felt his culinary creativity and the restaurant were no longer compatible. He didn’t stay away from cooking for long, opening a Noma pop-up in Tulum, Mexico the following year.
Noma surprised their enthusiasts a second time by relocating and reopening with a farm and updated menus in 2018. People responded warmly to the same but different Noma 2.0 transformation and the eatery claimed its third Michelin star in 2021 (the same year as its fifth World’s Best Restaurant Award).
This year, global foodies were left holding their breath as Noma 2.0 announced its official closing at the end of 2024. The decision boils down to Redzepi’s view of fine dining as an unsustainable venture. In an interview with The New York Times, he spoke about the challenges of paying his team fair wages, the high cost of ingredients, and constantly innovating his offerings. He also disagrees with the demanding, tiresome hours expected from his revolutionary recipes.
Noma Projects
Noma’s physical doors will shut, but the team plans to host pop-ups across the world. They will also remain accessible through an e-commerce platform, cookbooks, and whatever surprise projects float their boat.
The Noma Fermentation Lab
When they established Noma 2.0, they created a fermentation lab on site. There, head chef David Zilber experiments fermenting new foods and creating promising pickled delights. Zilber’s role calls for the patience of a sloth reaching for leaves. Some of the gastronomical tests take months to determine if they are worth pursuing, and only 5% make it onto the menu.
As funky food experts, Noma felt responsible for not gatekeeping their success and published The Noma Guide to Fermentation in 2018. Their step-by-step guide spotlights 100+ recipes for making miso, kombucha, vinegars, fermented veggies, and other Noma-approved eats. While this does reveal secret methods from an exceptional source, some people don’t have Zilber’s tolerance for waiting months for their vinegar to be salad-ready.
The vision for Noma 3.0
Because of this customer preference, a new initiative was born: Noma Projects, or Noma 3.0. Redzepi and company founded their online store in 2022 with their smoked mushroom garum. They put a vegan twist on a condiment, similar to soy sauce, that’s traditionally made with fish and proved that plants paired with specific procedures can lead to earthy, umami-packed substitutes for animal products.
As stated on the website, it’s Noma Project’s way to “share their knowledge, innovations, and flavors beyond the four walls of our restaurant in Copenhagen.” They’ve since expanded the store to include merch, their cookbooks, and exclusive memberships.
Products from Noma Projects
The online store currently has five liquid pantry items for sale with seasonal selections throughout the year. They come in 250 mL bottles with bright, solid-colored labels and are vegan, soy-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free. But check the ingredients just to make sure! Noma's team also forages for much of the produce and makes each product by hand at the Fermentation Lab.
Corn Yuzu Hot Sauce
The newest creation from the Noma Test kitchen has never been used in the restaurant. It combines corn, the citrus fruit Yuzu, habaneros, blackcurrant wood oil, vinegar, and spices into an everyday hot sauce.
Wild Rose Vinegar
This aromatic, pink-hued vinegar features hand-picked Rosa Rugosa, beach roses, and boasts the slogan of “Danish summer in a bottle.” It’s a noma favorite for its versatility and can be used in entrees, baked goods, and your cup of bubbly.
Smoked Mushroom Garum
Traditionally, garum is a fermented fish sauce but this one is vegan. It adds a complex, umami flavor to dishes, similar to soy sauce in Asian cuisine. This interpretation of garum continues the tradition of using fermentation to enhance and deepen flavors in cooking.
Vegan XO Sauce
Noma’s peppers, tomato, pumpkin, and roses are married in this paste. Ripe pumpkins are smoked and dried for months to replicate the dried fish shavings found in Japanese cuisine. It’s a testament to experimentation, time, and patience for the final culinary result.
Dashi RDX
The small but mighty Dashi RDX, reduction, comes in a 100 mL (3.38 oz) bottle. It’s an umami dream made with mushrooms, sake, kombu, and fish flakes, making it the perfect foundation for Japanese dishes.
How to Get It
Noma’s luxury condiments are only available online and nearly all are labeled low in stock or out of stock. For sauces made by the top restaurant in the world, we’re not surprised. But your bank account might be wondering why you’re spending so much on a small bottle of vinegar. To be fair, this isn’t your average vinegar.
On the lower end, you have the Corn Yuzu Hot Sauce for $25 and the Vegan XO Sauce sets you back $50. The prices are on brand for a five-time World’s Best Restaurant Winner. So don’t feel guilty about crossing your fingers for the restock email and treating yourself to a sauce that’s good enough for some of the globe’s greatest chefs.
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