Overview
The four time number one on the World's Best Restaurants list is headed to Sydney Harbour. Rene Redzepi, owner and head chef at Copenhagen's two Michelin starred eatery Noma, will fly his entire team (including 35 chefs and 30 wait staff) more than 16,000km around the world for a ten week Australian pop-up due to kick-off in late January. You'd best start saving your pennies now though, since seats at the restaurant are expected to cost upwards of $400 a head.
According to a post on the restaurant's website, the Noma Australia project was inspired by their five week pop-up in Tokyo earlier this year, which Redzepi called "the greatest learning experience of my life." The chef has been sighted in Australia a number of times over the past few weeks, meeting with local producers and sourcing ingredients for the restaurant.
"Australia has always drawn me in; its great cities, its generous people, and of course its ever-present sun," wrote Redzepi in his online statement. "But what really boggles my mind is the differences you find in its landscapes and ingredients, because honestly I have never seen anything like it."
Supported by Tourism Australia and property firm Lendlease, Noma Australia will be located on the ground floor of the Anadara building on Wulugul Walk in Barangaroo. The restaurant will serve just 50 people per sitting, and will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday. The menu itself is yet to be finalised, although Redzepi has said he'll be leaving his regular ingredients back in Copenhagen, and told Good Food to expect locally-inspired dishes made with shellfish, sea succulents and native herbs and spices.
As for how much it'll cost you? While a final figure is still being decided, Redzepi estimates a meal at Noma Australia will cost somewhere between $400 and $500. Don't expect that to deter people though. Bookings at the similarly expensive Tokyo pop-up sold out in just hours, with the restaurant eventually racking up a waiting list of over 60,000 people. Sydney bookings will open later in the year – so if you're keen (and rich), we highly recommend registering your interest online.
Via Good Food.
Image: cyclonebill cc.