Stream, pause, taste, think

Rene Redzepi's Noma has no permanent location or menu. Everywhere it sets up shop, it's a new experience. How does the TV show, Omnivore, capture it all?

- VIR SANGHVI

Until you actually go and see it up close, it is hard to understand how Copenhagen's Noma, often regarded as the world's most influential restaurant, is so different from other restaurants.

Yes, Noma has had three Michelin stars for years, it has topped the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants five times. Its chef Rene Redzepi, who is a global icon, made a brief recent appearance in The Bear and was a cheerful part of the Kyoto episode of Somebody Feed Phil, and, despite his reluctance to court personal publicity, is recognised by nearly every chef in the world.

But Noma and Rene himself are fundamentally different from other restaurants and chefs. For a start, the focus is on ingredients, techniques, seasonality and flavour. There are no signature dishes. Every few months, the menu changes. No dish, no matter how popular, how influential or how famous, is ever repeated. Each menu reflects a theme. For instance, for several months each year, Noma will do a vegetable menu. This might be preceded by a seafood menu or a game menu.

Redzepi has no real interest in turning Noma into an international brand. And yet, Noma is more international than most of the world's great restaurants. Several times over the last decade, Redzepi has shut the Copenhagen restaurant, taken most of his team and moved to another city. These are not pop-ups. Entire families will move, their children will go to local schools, scores of houses will be rented, and for the duration of that residency, that will be the only Noma in existence.