I was coughing, spluttering and the warm Spring weather had turned colder. I was dying to go to the Opera House to hear Rene Redzepi speak and I was clutching my invitation with a frail hand and whilst the mind was willing, the flesh was weak. I was chatting to my friend Liss from Frills in the Hills lamenting my illness and on the spur of the moment, I asked her if she would like to go in my place. Thankfully she’s a dear and she kindly offered to guest post in my place. Without further ado, here is the fabulous Liss’s guest post on Noma Chef Rene Redzepi at the Opera House. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did 
As I head up the Opera House concourse I suddenly catch myself. What am I doing here? Do I belong here? I approach the doors, Helen Greenwood from the SMH to my right, I walk up the stairs. As I approach the large crowd assembled it is pulsating with a buzz and you can feel the excitement.
I decide to go to the bathroom. Kylie Kwong, swings past me on her way out, this feels surreal – as I walk out again I glimpse Mark Best from Marque, I internally gasp. Wasn’t I just in Ikea this afternoon? I looked down at my hand, yes, I still had the ink from the Small-land drop off on my hand. This is a little bit surreal. Do I belong here? I have Wiggles band-aids in my purse!
What’s equally surreal is who I’m about to listen to. I’m here to listen to Rene Redzepi -His restaurant Noma has been named best restaurant in the world by the San Pellegrino. I find my seat at the glorious Opera House – designed by another famous Dane, Jørn Utzon. Set in Copenhagen, the Netherlands, Noma seats only 40 and receives reservation requests of over 1,000 a week. You can imagine what the waiting list is like.
Photo from Top 10 list
‘Has Princess Mary dined at Noma?’ Strangely has been the most popular question posed to Rene since his arrival in Australia. I believe she may even be on that waiting list!
Rene appears. He appears like he just stepped out of Ralph Lauren advertisement (note from NQN: ladies, he married-sorry! 
). Swept hair across his face, blue blazer, untucked dress shirt, straight pants and white, white, white sneakers. He seems down to earth and immediately I am less overwhelmed and more in awe.
Rene who co-owns and runs the top restaurant in the world is thirty-two years old. THIRTY-TWO. At the age of 25 wanted something different for his restaurant; he wanted to get back to what real Nordic cuisine was. And we’re not talking about pickled herrings. But he really didn’t know what it was. So he started his research by reading historical references to what was eaten in the days before food became industrialised. He contacted the authors of these books, in turn they put in him touch with those who purveyed the food sources. He quickly built a network of local suppliers.
Photo from Wikipedia
Next he started his education. He discovered just in his local area there were 59 different type of berries, 1,000+ types of edible mushrooms and a local supply of sea-urchin, which he had always imported from France previously. He also discovered a local supply of razor clams and over 60 other types of shellfish readily available to him.
It was like a new world, and his vision and dishes came together. A lot of experimentation, using only produce that was readily available to them from their region meant they had to get creative, and creative they are. Noma’s plates are elegant and refined looking, and with ingredients you may have not even heard of, let alone tried. The dishes are designed so that neighbouring ingredients from the land or seas are accompany each other on the dish – taking the locavore approach just that one step closer. Rene showed us a video of how he came up with a dish of white asparagus grilled with spruce and then placed on a bed of green asparagus sauce. The spruce tree overlooks the asparagus crop.
Photo from Food and Wine Finds
With great warmth and humour, Rene tells us how he started his journey to the top. When he first opened his restaurant 7 years ago, the initial feedback he got was ‘crazy’. In fact, he had customers demand: ‘Book us into a REAL restaurant, NOW!’. Rene refers to these people as ‘the stupid people’ and this resonated cheerfully with much of the crowd when he conveyed the other traits of such ‘stupid people’ who have allergies to this, and that, the increasing amount of people who seem ‘allergic to white flour’ he suspects for weight loss reasons. He says this with his tongue firmly in his cheek, yet somehow you get the feeling at least part of his feelings for these ‘stupid people’ ring true.
So Rene may have been considered ‘crazy’ ….
Rene’s culinary pedigree enticed people to try the food. His resume reads like a Michelin Star whos-who- Jardin de Sens, French Laundry and the restaurant from which he snatched the San Pellegrino Top 50 Restaurant List’s top billing this year, El Bulli.
Rene believes that you don’t need fancy linen or over-the-top pompous staff. Noma has no silverware and in fact one of his most famous dishes is tartar and wood sorrel, which is eaten with your fingers – he says most people are at first a bit repulsed by the idea of eating raw meat with their fingers, but once they start eating, their inhibitions are lost. Noma’s philosophy is remove as much as the ‘industrialisation’ of food as possible and allow the customer to ‘focus on the dish’.
Photo from Very Good Food
Rene Redzepi has re-defined Nordic food – he is regularly touted as the pioneer of ‘New Nordic cuisine’. He admits though, whilst he’s wining and dining on the other side of the world, his tight team of eight chefs are working hard, and without them, Noma’s success would not have been possible. He describes them as his ‘orchestra: when a drum is missing, it’s just not right, you need all the pieces to come together to make it work’.
Photo from Luxuo
I suppose that is the secret – the right orchestra, local inspiration and a great sense of humour ! Something as a thirty-something food-loving Mama of three who is passionate about slow food really related to. I belonged here. I enjoyed it, I learned something and was inspired, I’m sure like every foodie in the Opera House Concert Hall.
So tell me Dear NQN Readers, share with me a local ingredient to you that you love to cook with? Or perhaps one that you would like to try?
Liss attended the talk as a guest of Phaidon Books. Rene was guest of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival and brought to Australia courtesy of Phaidon Press who also publish his book Noma here in Australia. Noma the book by Rene Redzepi can be purchased by pre-order direct from Phaidon.
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45 Comments | Add your own
I loved the show! Rene is just so inspirational and incredibly innovative in his way of thinking. His food philosophy is out of this world! (Psst. It’s Copenhagen, Denmark
)
Great post, Liss, thank you! And Lorraine, I hope you’re feeling better soon – maybe some therapeutic blue jelly will help?
So nice to see you both here today NQN AND Liss!
Lovely guest post. x
I can’t believe that the man behind Noma is only 32! You must have been gutted that you couldn’t attend the event, but it was so nice that you offered your place to Liss.
I hope that I’ll get to eat in Noma one day…
I do hope you feel better Lg, you Lorraine. Spring is a yuckky time to catch a bug, you poor thing!
What a lovely post from Liss though. I think we all experience those feelings of inadequacy from time to time. My advice is ‘fake it till you make it!’
Wow, sounds like a fun event! A local ingredient that I would like to try – hmm, quandong (just because I like the name and there is a very nice Haigh’s chocolate that is a quandong jelly flavour).
liss you are one lucky lady and lorraine you are one nice lady to send liss along! he’s a honey and his food looks just amazing, amazing!
oh I love fresh seafood!
corrie:)
Local ingredients? For me, it’s probably fresh local seafood. Mooloolaba prawns, Moreton Bay Bugs, spanner crabs, fresh barra or coral trout, served with loads of salad, lemon, and fruit.
One of my fave meals, are BBQ’d bugs, having been tossed in a little garlic, butter and champers first; then served with a slightly lemony rice, and loads of green salad. Divine.
Feel better, Lorraine. And your friend did a fab job in your place. If only I lived in Australia, I would gladly step in to help next time.
I also loved Rene Redzepi’s talk at the Sydney Opera House.
He reminded me so much of Major Les Hiddins of the ABC Series “The Bush Tucker Man”
as he searched for ingredients in the scandinavian wilderness.
Thanks so much Lorraine for sending me along and letting me gush all over your blog!
Maria! Thank you, seems my geography needs some work
Who’s with me in wishing Lorraine a trip to visit and review the restaurant now? (Can I come?
) I also got the impression that the chefs serve you your meal too, talk about the personal touch!
I discovered Liss’ blog after seeing her on yours. What a cool assignment. Can I go next time if Liss cannot make it? PLEASE? =)
I love using my fresh rosemary from the garden. local in that it’s just out the back door!
Oh no Lorraine I sure hope you feel better soon. I have larongitis and a bit of a cough and I couldn’t go to the opera house either. Liss is a great friend and I am sure she was more than happy to do a guest post. Yay for awesome friends.
Fascinating to learn about this chef!
Lorraine/Liss, thanks for this insight into the resturant. My latest trip to Sydney has been an interesting revelation for me with regard to the passion and the quality of dining experience in this city. I hope to head back soon and check this out.
That’s a wonderful write up… wished I was there! Wished I was dining in Noma more =P.. *sigh*… daydreaming Monday!
Lovely write-up! And how wonderful to be able to “pass on” such an experience when you weren’t feeling, well, Lorraine!
Great post Liss. What a shame you could not go Lorraine, hope you are feeling a lot better now.
Sounds like you had some serious fun and I believe that the “anti-industrialization of food” angle is quite inspiring.
Sorry to hear you’re under the weather, here’s to wishing you a speedy recovery. Good Food Month is not a great time to be sick in Sydney! Great job filling in Liss!
Hope you’re feeling better Lorraine. Great post Liss (I carry wiggles band aids in my bag too!). Sigh, to be able to dine at Noma….
Well I cannot believe that the man behind Noma is only 32! You must have been gutted that you couldn’t attend the event,I hope to head back soon and check this out.
Great post Liss! I like Rene’s thinking of all the ‘allergies’. I think a lot of people are putting up the ‘allergies’ front, just so they don’t get what they dis-like on their plates.
Hope you’re feeling much better now Lorraine
I’ve been hearing so much about this chef and what he does is to be applauded but to assume that anyone who claims to have allergies is just trying to lose weight is a little narrow-minded. I have one word for him: anaphylaxis!
I sincerely hope you’re feeeling better, because I’m still not
xo
Oh dear, feel better Lorraine! I loved reading about the charming Rene
and his vision. So inspiring!
Heidi xo
It really was an interesting night. I had no idea what to expect but was inspired. I love his locavore approach to food and the way he spoke about his staff was very impressive. My husband surprised me with the cookbook but it’s not really for me, so if anyone wants to buy it ($40) please pass on my email. Thanks heaps, hope you are feeling better.
What an incredible experience- and despite the wiggles band-aids, I think you belonged there!
Oh no Lorraine! you haven’t had a good run with the flu this season
Liss, what a great insight into Rene’s story – unfortunately I could not go that night either but thank you for sharing this great post. It seems like he won plenty of hearts and stomachs at this event!
As for local ingredients – We cant go past some fresh local seafood at our place, so fresh tasty and a breeze to cook!
Wow sounds like an amazing day out!
Hope you are feeling better NQN…Such an inspiring post of someone following their passion and excelling. We had the opportunity to cook with truffles from the Canberra region this year, I’ll like to continue using it *grinz*
Dearest Lorraine, hope you’re feeling better soon- thankyou for arranging for Liss to review the masterclass with Rene-you always stay true to your focus and find a way to “enlighten” us.
What inspired me most about Rene is his belief in his skill and vision-despite of the poor attitude of others his achieving his pursuits and doing it brilliantly.
Interesting post! He sounds fascinating! Hope you are well soon Lorraine
I’d never heard of Nordic food until now!
I agree… there is a reason this guy has everyone’s heart thumping a little faster… love what he does with a plate and those fabulous nordic ingredients. I can’t wait to get the cookbook and your reporting on him and his restaurant was a real tantalus. Great guest post!
I agree with Maria, it was such a good show, very inspiring. Shame you missed it, hope you’re feeling better now tho!
I hope you feel better soon!
Wow, Rene is dreamy. I’ve never used that word, but he seems to be it! His approach to food is so fascinating as well.
What a great inspirational story, love knowing these things about fabulous chefs like Chef Rene Redzepi. Thanks for sharing. (Get better soon OK)
Congratulations on a great guest post- really hope you feel better soon Lorraine! Was gutted not to be able to go too- though not because we were sick- Since we ran away to London- we’ve been hoping to snaffle a reservation early next year- will put a full stop in our mortgage crippling ‘quest for the best’. Wondering what he was like as a speaker compared to when Ferran came to Sydney last year?
Great post! Copenhagen’s not in the Netherlands though
A great post Liss. Netherlands/Denmark – in my country is same (not really, but hey). My travel buddies and I just called it Copendopen.
Shame you couldn’t make it NQN, it was truly amazing. I wrote it up myself. If anyone’s interested my article can be found here; http://bit.ly/cWR0xB
Hope you’re feeling better!
Becca
Great guest post.
I wish I was there to attend it as I have heard that he gave such an inspiring talk.
Thanks for sharing.
Fantastic guest post!
My favourite local ingredient would be when I’m in Tassie with my Mum and we can buy beautiful, fresh local seafood – nothing better. Oh, and great spuds, they grow a good potato down there.
I agree with Gummi Baby – being hospitilized for incorrect food handling/service is no fun! Thanks for the guest post!
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