{"id":4236,"date":"2025-04-21T13:14:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/chef-pablo-soto-pushes-the-boundaries-of-fine-dining-at-noma-interview\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T13:14:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:14:59","slug":"chef-pablo-soto-pushes-the-boundaries-of-fine-dining-at-noma-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/chef-pablo-soto-pushes-the-boundaries-of-fine-dining-at-noma-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef Pablo Soto Pushes the Boundaries of Fine Dining at Noma: Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pablo Soto at acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. Courtesy Noma<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The moment Pablo Soto<\/a> approaches our table with a live king crab, its claws slowly writhing, it becomes clear that Noma<\/a> isn\u2019t interested in playing by the rules of fine dining. This isn\u2019t exactly a revelation\u2014the Copenhagen restaurant, founded by Ren\u00e9 Redzepi, is famous for doing things its own way and for pushing the boundaries of what\u2019s possible between chef and diner. But Soto\u2019s jovial presentation of the ingredient while still alive further underscores the fact that this meal definitely won\u2019t be the standard fare.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a chilly Friday night in March, but the warmth inside Noma is palpable\u2014both literally and in terms of the ebullient atmosphere, which vibrates with the efforts of 40 chefs working in a lively open kitchen in the center of the dining space. After years of expansion, Noma now comprises multiple buildings, a garden and several greenhouses, only some of which are seen by the guests. There are also numerous test kitchens and a fermentation fridge, where Noma Projects creates the small-batch products it sells online and in local shops. Tonight, though, the focus is on the 67 diners who battled the internet for a reservation for Noma\u2019s Ocean Season, supposedly the restaurant\u2019s final offering in its present iteration.<\/p>\n

Our arrival is not unlike the opening scenes of The Menu<\/em>, as an eclectic array of diners gathers in one of the greenhouses and waits to be invited into the restaurant. Each group gets to approach the grand shell-adorned doorway individually, pushing it open to reveal a line of staff who intone an enthusiastic welcome in unison. The dining tables are already covered in ingredients, from bowls of vibrant citrus to jars of ominous cod milt. It\u2019s a way to tease the meal, as is the arrival of Soto, Noma\u2019s head chef of two years, with his giant crab.<\/p>\n

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Welcome to Noma. Courtesy Emily Zemler<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe have a simple objective, which I think is the objective of any restaurant: to make people feel at home and give them delicious food,\u201d Soto tells Observer. \u201cIt sounds so basic. But it really is about making people feel comfortable. The energy that exists in this place is wonderful. You can come for a fancy dinner and be in your suit and a dress, but next to you, there can be two people in shorts and sandals. As a team, we have the power to make both situations feel like it\u2019s no problem. You\u2019re welcome to be here, be who you are and enjoy your meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that approach that elevates the Noma experience. The food is, of course, memorable, with innovative flavor combinations and premiere ingredients like the aforementioned king crab. But it\u2019s the vibe of the staff and their encouragement of a buzzy dining room that sets the meal apart from other high-end restaurants.<\/p>\n

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Crab with the infamous cod milt. Courtesy Ditte Isager<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe have an incredible menu, but you can serve that menu in another setting in total silence, and you would be like, \u2018What is happening here?\u2019\u201d Soto says. \u201cIt needs to be surrounded by people and service that is a little bit loud. I have seen how that can move people and how people sometimes get really emotional about it because they\u2019re being received in a certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six-and-a-half-pound king crab isn\u2019t the only ingredient that shows up at the table in a rather unexpected manner throughout the meal. Later, after a strong start of four crab dishes in succession and a surprising take on mussels that incorporates fresh cheese, a server appears with two enormous live scallops in their shells. She places them on the table and gently strokes one so we can see it move. For a moment, I\u2019m convinced this is an Oldboy<\/em> situation and we\u2019ll be asked to devour one that is still twitching. But she quickly takes them away, returning only moments later with the completed scallop dish. Each scallop has been seared on one side and presented in a rich sauce. Technically, it\u2019s now dead. But it\u2019s as close to a living mollusk as I will ever eat.<\/p>\n

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The scallop dish served in March. Courtesy Emily Zemler<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen you have an ingredient that\u2019s so incredible, you want to show it off,\u201d Soto says. \u201cWe want people to be as excited as we are about what we\u2019re trying to cook. I love that we are able to serve a scallop that is still contracting. That\u2019s crazy.\u201d The method highlights the scallop\u2019s flavor in a unique way. \u201cI\u2019ve worked in other restaurants where you serve scallops, but normally, you prep in the morning and take them out of the shell,\u201d Soto adds. \u201cThey\u2019re fresh, but they\u2019re not dancing in front of your eyes like these.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ocean Season\u2014one of Noma\u2019s three distinct dining seasons, along with Forest Season and Vegetable Season\u2014emphasizes the sea and everything that comes from it. There\u2019s a salad showcasing several types of seaweed, mussels, squid accompanied by Danish poppy seeds and the aforementioned crab variations, which included a broth served directly from a shell that\u2019s been sealed together with wax. Another spotlights the cod milt (which, for the uninitiated, is fish sperm). It took some self-convincing for me to enjoy it, but it was an easier feat for my accompanying friend, who didn\u2019t realize what, exactly, was on the plate until later. But Soto says Noma\u2019s goal isn\u2019t to challenge its guests.<\/p>\n

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The Ocean Season menu highlights the sea and everything that comes from it. Courtesy Ditte Isager<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe serve what we think is exciting,\u201d he says. \u201cIt might be something new and delicious. But what is delicious for me might not be delicious for you. And the more you look into new things and try to make new things delicious, the more things might be different from what people are normally used to eating.\u201d<\/p>\n

So although Noma has notoriously served reindeer penis, reindeer brain and duck heart on prior menus, Soto confirms, \u201cyou don\u2019t want to serve a menu that is just guts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to be challenged by new things and textures for the whole meal,\u201d Soto says. \u201cI think we serve a menu that we would also like to eat, that we feel is complete, that has different textures, and that talks about the ingredients that are available in this moment, in this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The menu for Ocean Season 2025, set to run through June 27, is fluid and ever-evolving. What I ate won\u2019t be what someone eats this week. And even on the same night, one diner might enjoy a slightly different meal than the neighboring table. Our menu consisted of 15 dishes, each of which was prepared for 67 people. Sometimes, there is a limited amount of a particular garnish, which means the kitchen will vary dishes slightly, although everyone receives roughly the same menu.<\/p>\n

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The menu for Noma\u2019s Ocean Season is fluid and ever-evolving. Courtesy Ditte Isager<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cRight now, for our seaweed salad serving, we use wild herbs,\u201d Soto says of the ability to improvise. \u201cBut we probably don\u2019t have enough of one single herb to put it in all the 67, so we play around with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The menu for each season takes about two months to develop. Soto, who is originally from Mexico City, first joined Noma for its Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum in 2017 as part of its test kitchen. He had interned at Noma a few years earlier, and Redzepi, Noma\u2019s co-owner and creative head, later called him out of the blue with a job, which led to Soto eventually becoming the head chef in Copenhagen. His role is to take the dishes created by the test kitchen and execute them perfectly during every service alongside dozens of chefs. The prep each day is immense, but Soto emphasizes that Noma is a team effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really about the hours it takes to do something because we can always reduce the effort,\u201d he says. For example, a meticulous task like de-seeding 67 tiny seeds is faster if the 40 chefs do it together. \u201cYou\u2019re done in three minutes,\u201d Soto says. \u201cThe way people get faster at doing things by just being faster, but it\u2019s also by having all these collective minds looking at one problem.\u201d By taking advantage of that collective mindset, \u201cthere\u2019s always someone who will find an easier, faster way to do things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The adage \u201ctoo many cooks in the kitchen\u201d doesn\u2019t apply here. For Soto, the number of people is the restaurant\u2019s strength. Some are full-time employees and others are on lengthy stages, which last for the entire season. The staff come from around the world, which is another asset. Soto feels that the intermingling of cultures in the dining room and in the kitchen ensures there is \u201crespect as the number one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a challenge if you\u2019re not ready for it because everyone has a different way to be and a different way to communicate,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it\u2019s amazing. There are so many ideas to share.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Noma now comprises multiple buildings, a garden and several greenhouses. Courtesy Ditte Isager<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the restaurant\u2019s most notable visitors was Jeremy Allen White<\/a>, who came to Noma to shoot the most recent season of The Bear<\/em>. In the third season premiere, White\u2019s character, Carmy, is shown in a flashback working in the restaurant\u2019s kitchen, with a cameo from Redzepi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show is also part of the [hospitality] industry,\u201d Soto says. \u201cIt\u2019s a story, but they are making an effort to shed some light into the industry and into the struggles of some of the people who work in the industry. To me, we were just helping our colleagues in the industry to spread their message.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds of training White, \u201cIt was important to bring them in and to really show them what it\u2019s like: \u2018This is what you need to do to do it correctly.\u2019 We treated Jeremy like a chef in the kitchen. He was actually really good. We had him do some knife scoring on some squid and it was pretty shocking to see he had chef skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noma\u2019s global impact has been felt on more than just The Bear. Last year, Redzepi co-created and hosted the Apple TV+ series Omnivore,<\/em> about particular ingredients like salt, tuna and coffee. Noma Projects offers food lovers the opportunity to bring flavors into their home kitchen, with products like mushroom garum and yuzu corn hot sauce, as well as the newly-launched Noma Kaffe coffee. Walking around Copenhagen, the impact is undeniable\u2014many former Noma chefs have their own restaurants, like Rosio Sanchez<\/a>\u2019s Sanchez<\/a>, and many others take clear inspiration from Redzepi\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

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Inside Noma. Courtesy Ditte Isager<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soto remembers Copenhagen being a very different city when he first arrived in 2012. Noma was still in its previous space, which is now home to Thorsten Schmidt<\/a>\u2019s standout eatery Barr<\/a>, and many of the islands were inaccessible on foot or bike. Today, Noma is farther out from the center of Copenhagen, but very well-connected and shares a neighborhood with the Copenhagen Contemporary museum and the beloved Hart Bageri<\/a> (from Noma collaborator Richard Hart<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cGo to almost any restaurant that is doing something in the city, and you will know that someone there came through Noma or has worked with someone who used to work here,\u201d says Soto, who names Pompette and Jah Izakaya & Sake Bar as two of his favorite spots in Copenhagen. \u201cThe same goes for restaurants all around the world. It\u2019s crazy how much has changed. Tourism in Denmark is motivated by gastro-tourism, and Noma has played a big part in that. We can\u2019t host all of the people who come here for food, so they visit other restaurants that are related and go to Torvehallerne.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cites the emergence of natural wine around Copenhagen and the increase in less typical ingredients in the supermarkets as part of how Noma has impacted the culinary landscape of the city. That\u2019s not entirely down to Noma, of course, but the restaurant has been part of a movement encouraging a broader, more natural approach to ingredients and products. \u201cIt\u2019s a different culinary universe here than it was before, and I like to think that has to do with the influence of this restaurant,\u201d Soto says.<\/p>\n

In early 2023, Redzepi told The New York Times<\/em> <\/a>that he had come to believe that the fine-dining business model was \u201cunsustainable,\u201d adding, \u201cWe have to completely rethink the industry.\u201d In the interview, he said Noma, initially opened in 2003, would close for regular service at the end of 2024. Not only did the restaurant not close, but Noma staged a second pop-up in Kyoto and opened for Ocean Season 2025. As of now, no one outside the restaurant knows what\u2019s coming when the season culminates in June.<\/p>\n

Soto is cagey about what his role will involve when that day arrives. \u201cAs we go into our next stage\u2014or stages\u2014I will still be able to lead the team in whatever setup we have going on,\u201d he says. \u201cWhatever future we\u2019re moving into, I know there will be space to be focused on leadership and helping each individual in the team grow into a future that can be long-lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Starfish, crafted out of chewy caramel. Courtesy Ditte Isager<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During our dinner, there\u2019s no sign that Noma could be nearing the end of a chapter. The energy remains high until the very end of the meal, which finishes with a realistic-looking starfish crafted out of chewy caramel. It\u2019s a dish that has been present on past Ocean Season menus, in various forms, but this one is an almost perfect reconstruction of the actual animal thanks to molds the chefs created in Japan. Soto calls it a \u201creally refined version of what we\u2019ve gone through over the years\u201d\u2014a description that could also apply to Noma itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a chef, you come every day to a restaurant like this with a feeling of, \u2018Am I ready for this today?\u2019\u201d Soto says. \u201cYou know that something in the day is going to throw you a curveball, sometimes big and sometimes small. And you\u2019re constantly surrounded by people who are pushing themselves. There\u2019s always something to prove to the person next to you. And that push makes you better.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds, with a nod to the future, \u201cNoma always has cool things on the horizon, and there\u2019s always another new challenge. We\u2019re never settled. We\u2019re constantly changing things to make us feel like there\u2019s something cool to do tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

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