Ever since Noma chef Rene Redzepi announced that he is coming to Los Angeles to create a pop-up version of his famous Copenhagen restaurant this spring, thousands of people have reached out to ask how they can get reservations, even though details of the dates, location and cost were unknown.
This week, Noma is releasing specifics about its residency, which will begin March 11 and run through June 26. The location, in Silver Lake, will only be revealed to those who have a confirmed reservation to protect the residential neighborhood surrounding the site.
And the price? Well, it’s less than a Super Bowl ticket, if you consider that a nosebleed seat is expected to cost a minimum of $4,000. Still, $1,500 a person for dinner — even from the chef whose restaurant was named No. 1 in the world four times — will give even the most dedicated food lover pause.
That price does include a beverage pairing, tax and tip. But Redzepi knows that the cost and the limited number of seats — just 42 guests at each seating, four days a week — means his food will be inaccessible to the average Angeleno. And he didn’t come to L.A. only to feed the elite.
“Los Angeles is a city you have to interact with,” he said during a recent phone call as he was walking along Sunset Boulevard. “If you just hide yourself on the top of a hill, you’re not actually, in my opinion, being L.A.”
Which is why for the first time, the Noma team will be opening a shop where people can buy its hot sauces, garums, vinegar, coffee and more. Redzepi is also planning a series of collaborations with L.A. chefs at their restaurants, and he’ll be bringing in chefs from Copenhagen to do pop-up events.
In addition, his nonprofit MAD will host a series of talks and events, the first of which was a discussion of borders that took place in October at Hauser & Wirth in downtown L.A. with director Lulu Wang, Firstborn chef Anthony Wang, Diaspora Spice Co. founder Sana Javeri Kadri and L.A. Taco editor Javier Cabral.
With the nonprofit Culinary Careers Program (C-CAP), Redzepi’s team will give hands-on work experience and mentorships to students and program alumni from underserved communities. There will also be one table each night reserved for young industry professionals who can apply to enjoy a meal at Noma LA at no charge. And as detailed in an information sheet on the residency, a small percentage of the revenue from the bookings will be donated “to provide professional training sessions and community dinner programs for school districts in and around the Los Angeles area.” For this, Redzepi’s team from MAD is working with Brigaid, the nonprofit started by former Noma head chef Dan Giusti, who left the world of fine dining to bring chef expertise to food service programs in schools across the U.S.
Despite all this, Redzepi understands that a lot of people are going to focus on that $1,500 price tag, even though you can spend more than that at Aitor Zabala’s Somni in West Hollywood, where the menu and a premium wine pairing costs $1,595 before tax and tip (though with a non-alcoholic pairing the price is $745). So why does it cost so much, when eating at Noma in Copenhagen itself is currently about $688 (minus a beverage pairing)?
The main reason is that Redzepi is bringing 130 people to Los Angeles from Copenhagen and paying for their housing, transportation and, in many cases, the schooling for staff members’ children.
“That’s all on us,” he says. “I can’t begin to explain how complicated and difficult it is to do these to do these pop-ups without people immediately saying to me, ‘Well, why do you do it if it’s so difficult?’
“We can’t lose money, but earning money — making a profit— we haven’t tried that yet. And this will not happen in L.A. either.
“We’re doing it because I made a decision that big experiences, that’s our profit. And if there was a way of putting a monetary value on learning new things, meeting new people, just having an experience together, well, then our profit is probably like 95% of all the costs that we’re spending.”
The post Yes, it will cost $1,500 to eat at Noma L.A. Rene Redzepi explains why appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
