Daily Dinners @ Saila & Jérôme's: Noma

Noma then. THE restaurant that topped the World's 50 Best ranking for years.

For some, Restaurant Noma is the Mecqua of fine dining, where true foodies face their own Mount Everest. For others, it's a well oiled PR machine generating hype on massive scale, while offering experimental food to their lab rats customers. One thing's for sure, Noma leaves no one interested in food indifferent. Want a proof? The 60.000 persons strong waiting list (per Daily Telegraph) and the months of wait, before getting eventually a table. OR... If you really want to go but not prepared to undergo the long and tedious booking process, there's an alternate solution: to know a finnish Michelin star chef who would be good friend with René Redzepi, Noma's guru and head chef. This, by chance, happened to us. As the result, we got a table in less than 12 hours chrono!

So, what about the experience itself? Well... on the plus side, the super professional service nordic way. Meaning relaxed and friendly but not to the point of being familiar. Behind the relaxed attitude, you can feel an hyper focus on what they do and the attention to the most tiny detail. Each guest feels unique and is treated accordingly by the dining room staff. Then the food. The 19 courses lunch we had lasted 4 hours something. The food technique is precise, clinical, masterful. Nothing is left to improvisation. Everything is well thought beforehand with weeks (if not months) of reaserch, testing and design in Noma's own food lab to create the perfect menu. Each course is like a painting or sculpure in a plate. It is beautifully presented and explained in detail by the staff. The wine list boasts some of the world's best wine crus with the prices going accordingly (unless you choose the wines pairing option). BUT, one can find some very good bottles at very reasonable price. Being in one of the most pricey's place around, this is undoubtedly a big plus.The 45 min. kitchen tour at the end of the lunch is very interesting and infornative. And it's fun.

The minus begins with the food itself. Well, it's mixed feeling territory here. By using rare/little known/forgotten ingredients (lichen, ants), Noma create a wide plalette of intriguing flavors ranging from great taste to interesting, and to "what the hell is in my mouth" . It is truly a case of hit and miss. Being at the forefront of "experimental" cuisine, this is somehow bound to happen. On that particular day of us, we didn't experience the "wow factor" - unfortunately. But we did experience the "what is in my mouth?" more than once. And this, despite the explanations. You see, Noma is in a way like modern art. If you're not in, you can scratch your head for hours in front of a work of art, trying to understand what the artist meant. And indeed for some of the courses, we couldn't find that meaning. And we still can't to this day. So, was it worth? ... Yes! Yes because Noma is a global experience. Something you have to do once in your life, To see by yourself. To feel. To taste. To be part of that exclusive club of those who have been there.

At the end of the day, the question remains though. Would we go back for more?

(Noma = Nordisk Mad = Nordic Food)