He wrote about it right after he ate there in 2023. Obviously writing about it again since Noma is now a big news item. I find the food almost laughably pretentious and not appealing, but we all have different opinions which I thought were okay to air on this site. I’ve become more of a local Mexican/asian food that your order after standing in line kind of eater and I’ll admit not into 3 star multi course feasts. To each his or her own.
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Really? I read that post as more of a commentary on the stifling and anxious atmosphere in the restaurant.
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Don’t forget the live ants crawling around on the can!
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I read it different with sentence like “…the look on the manager’s face when I said I needed to go – all spoke to a culture of fear.” or “What abuses are required to generate plates this consistent, this detailed, this carefully honed?”. I very much doubt that she knew anything at that time and that a manager looks concerned because a guest leaves in the middle of a tasting menu shouldn’t be surprising but normal. I would be more concerned if the manager wouldn’t care at all
You should read the writeup in the NYer about Alchemist some time.
It’s got nothing to do with RR AFAIK, but you couldn’t pay me to eat there. Not even for $1,500 
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We don’t want to miss on both parts. We like the midnight taco at a taco truck in a sketchy part of SF or SJ but also enjoy tasting menus which push the “the normal” (still thinking about a fantastic tasting menu in LA with escamoles and other interesting ingredients (and fish eyes are also some times included). But as you said to each his or her own
From their inception it is (to me) some of the most unappealing, precious and self-indulgent food I have ever heard described. Never interested. I have no shame in saying that I would much prefer a meal from a halal cart than subject myself to Noma.
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Our dining these days usually includes little grandkids so we like big noisy casual which Santa Barbara has some great spots. Also more likely to be at Alpine Inn or Bucks when we’re in the Bay Area. SB Public market is perfect because you can get Mexican or Thai or Japanese or Italian or Korean and all good. We ate all over Europe for years and ended having some of our favorite meals in London because of its multiculturalism. The higher the price point the pickier I get and we were in Copenhagen around 2018 and talked about Noma but just never sounded up our alley. We ate once at a El Bulli chef place in Barcelona that featured lots of courses and my 6’5” husband and son gave me grief about its preciousness for the next year (and lack of food).
Also Amateur Gourmet is a he not a she. He’s a good food follow on Instagram.
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I have to admit we were a bit underwhelmed by SB public market - too loud/hectic with just OK food. But SB has some great restaurants with Barbareno, Black Sheep etc.
Quite right, Adam Robert’s does have a husband, Craig Johnson.
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Love Corazon and Empty Bowl at the SB public Market. Third Window has excellent smashburgers and specials. For fancy we go to Lucky’s, San Ysidro Ranch (we got married there) and Tre Lune and also love Bibi Ji’s and Arigato and Bettina’s.
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Wow. So in effect the customer pays for a five hour experience of being told and/or shown what an asshole they are, while eating food that sounds like it averages very mid. Bit of masochism, maybe a bit of an outlet for latent guilt? Neither are things I enjoy, so hard pass. I can think of plenty of cheaper and easier ways to degrade myself should I require such treatment.
Hey, as an actual nerd, we don’t want the guy. He has no tech skills, famously cheats at gaming, and consistently misreads famous nerd culture and uses references exactly the wrong way.
He’s actually the most antithetical thing to a real nerd: a marketing shill.
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René Redzepi Steps Down at Noma Amid Allegations of Past Abuse
After 23 years running the Copenhagen restaurant, widely considered one of the most innovative and important in the world, the chef is resigning.
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Hmmm, but it’s still his company? I guess his chefs can run the show, but the money will go to him?
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Figured this was going to happen. Also read he’s exiting LA popup. Yeah pretty sure no one wanted to be photographed with him. I think the name Noma is also going to go by the wayside. Too toxic.
Does Mario Batali still have ownership, I wonder.
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Saw the video, RR asked his team to win ppl over, one by one, etc. Saw a guy at the background rolling eyes though.
In the past Joël Robuchon‘s Japanese chef and Yannick Alleno have been involved in violence accusations. Things were forgotten after a while, business as usual. But Noma is so much about RR, the rock star. Not sure if Noma 3.0 can survive.
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Remember Kitchen Confidential?
The tell-all of machismo, bro-ness, sexism, misogyny, etc made Bourdain a cult hero and catapulted him to enduring fame. (Curious how Bourdain fans reconcile that.)
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I don’t think so but David Chang stepped away from day-to-day business but is still involved (beyond just financial) in their supermarket lines (still surprised with the recent Noma developments that Chang pretty much got no significant negative issues based on his toxic kitchen behavior). I guess Noma will aim for a Chang model
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