Noma to Close Its Doors in 2024: The End of an Era for Fine Dining?

Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant known for its creative and expensive multicourse tasting menus, will close at the end of 2024 and become a food laboratory for its e-commerce operation.

Noma has topped lists of the world’s best restaurants multiple times and its founder, René Redzepi, has been hailed as a brilliant and influential chef. However, the restaurant’s high standards and prices, combined with the need to compensate nearly 100 employees fairly, has made the business model unsustainable.

The closure comes as Noma and other elite restaurants are facing scrutiny for their treatment of workers, many of whom are paid poorly or not at all.

Fine dining is at a crossroads, with chefs like David Kinch, who recently closed his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, saying the industry must undergo huge changes.