Noma has reopened its Copenhagen restaurant with a new leadership team and a dining format built around 12 monthly “micro-seasons”.

Noma has reopened in Copenhagen with Pablo Soto as executive head chef, a monthly changing menu and a new leadership structure following René Redzepi's decision to step away from daily operations.

The restaurant returned in August 2026 following a residency in Los Angeles earlier in the year. Pablo Soto, who has worked at Noma for almost a decade, is now executive head chef, working alongside head of research and development Mette Brink Søberg and CEO Annika de Las Heras.

Founder and creative director René Redzepi remains involved with the company but has stepped away from its day-to-day management. The change follows an investigation by The New York Times published in March 2026 in which former employees accused Redzepi of physical and psychological abuse during an earlier period of Noma's history.

Redzepi subsequently apologised, saying: “Although I don’t recognise all details in these stories, I can see enough of my past behaviour reflected in them to understand that my actions were harmful to people who worked with me. To those who have suffered under my leadership, my bad judgement or my anger, I am deeply sorry and I have worked to change.”

Noma had previously intended to turn its Copenhagen restaurant, which closed in 2024, into a food laboratory. However, the team decided to reopen it following its Los Angeles residency.

Reflecting on the decision, Noma wrote on its website: “These past months have also brought moments of real challenge. They have led us to reflect more closely on who we are, what matters most, and where we want to go next.”

The reopened restaurant has introduced “12 Seasons of Noma”, replacing the three broad seasons that previously defined its menus: seafood in winter, vegetables during spring and summer and forest and game in autumn.

Instead, the menu will evolve each month according to ingredients available at that particular point in the year. Dishes can also change from day to day.

August, September and October focus on ingredients including berries, flowers, vegetables and sweet seafood. From November to January, the restaurant turns towards wild game, seafood, forest mushrooms, preserved greens and autumn berries, alongside produce gathered and preserved during the warmer months.

The menu costs DKK4,500 (£515) per person. A wine pairing costs an additional DKK2,000 (£229), while other beverage pairings are available. Prices include Denmark's 25% sales tax. Noma also offers a shared-table experience for solo diners and groups of up to six.

Soto says: “It’s the same Noma. We are simply back home – that is what is different.” He adds: “After Los Angeles, the best thing, in my opinion, was to come back to something stable. Our beautiful restaurant. This was a good decision for the team because of course what happened created instability – it was a difficult thing.”

The new leadership is also putting greater emphasis on working conditions for Noma's approximately 100 employees. Soto says enabling staff to have children, pets, hobbies and lives outside work is now a priority. Redzepi will continue to contribute creatively. Soto says: “This is still his restaurant. He is now simply moving to the side to continue on other creative ventures.”

Founded in Copenhagen in 2004, Noma has been named the World's Best Restaurant five times and has three Michelin stars. Its approach to Nordic ingredients, foraging, fermentation and seasonality has helped shape contemporary fine dining.

The restaurant has repeatedly reinvented itself, including through international residencies in Tokyo, Sydney, Tulum, Kyoto and Los Angeles. It has also expanded beyond restaurants with Noma Projects, launched in 2022 to make products developed from its culinary research available for home cooking, and Noma Kaffe, a coffee range launched in 2025.

In 2026, Redzepi also released The Noma Guide to Building Flavour, containing 150 recipes developed in the Noma test kitchen over two decades. Describing the latest change, Noma says: “Together, we have made the decision to reopen our restaurant in Copenhagen – not as a return to what was, but as the beginning of a new chapter.”