Noma Reopens in Copenhagen on August 5 With New Leadership Team
Noma reopens in Copenhagen on August 5 with Pablo Soto as executive chef and René Redzepi as creative director following staff abuse allegations. Read the story.
Prajakta Sanjay Warwadkar 
COPENHAGEN, June 10, 2026 — Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant that held the title of world's best on five separate occasions, announces it will reopen on August 5 under new leadership, with Pablo Soto appointed as executive head chef and René Redzepi transitioning to the role of creative director. The reopening ends a period of closure that followed both the restaurant's long-announced transformation into a food innovation laboratory and a wave of serious allegations against Redzepi published by The New York Times in March.
The tasting menu at the relaunched restaurant is priced at 4,500 Danish kroner approximately $675 per person with service running Wednesday through Saturday. The wine pairing is set at 2,000 DKK and a juice pairing at 1,500 DKK. A new monthly rotating menu format replaces the restaurant's previous three-season structure, with each month's offering drawing inspiration from different ingredients, ideas and landscapes.
A New Leadership Team Steps Forward
The leadership structure announced alongside the reopening represents the most substantial change to Noma's internal hierarchy since its founding in 2003. Annika de Las Heras joins as chief executive officer, bringing operational leadership to a restaurant that previously had Redzepi at the centre of both its creative and day-to-day management. Mette Bring Søberg, who has led Noma's test kitchen for more than a decade, takes the role of head of research and development. Pablo Soto, who has been the head toque at Noma since 2013, becomes executive chef.
Redzepi retains majority ownership of the restaurant but steps back from daily operations entirely, focusing instead on developing and leading creative projects for the brand. The restructuring places professional management between Redzepi and the kitchen floor in a format designed to address the conditions that led to the staff complaints detailed in the New York Times investigation.
"Our ambition remains the same as it has always been: to keep exploring, to keep learning, and to continue to become the best version of Noma we've ever been," the restaurant stated in a press release announcing the reopening. "Not just by what is on the plate, but in how we lead and think about the future."
The Allegations That Reshaped Noma's Direction
The March 2026 New York Times article that preceded Redzepi's resignation as head chef drew on interviews with more than 35 former employees, who described instances of psychological and physical harm during their time at the restaurant. One account described a former staff member being punched in the ribs by Redzepi and falling into a counter. The allegations prompted several major sponsors to withdraw from Noma's $1,500-per-person Los Angeles residency, which had already been underway when the article was published.
Redzepi issued a public statement on Instagram ahead of the article's publication, apologising to those who had suffered during his leadership and stating he had worked to change his behaviour. His transition to creative director removes him from the management chain that oversees day-to-day kitchen and service operations.
A Monthly Format Replaces Three Seasonal Menus
The shift from three rotating seasonal menus the seafood, vegetable and game seasons that defined Noma's previous format to a monthly menu structure represents a meaningful change to the restaurant's creative rhythm. The new approach gives Soto and the kitchen team a more frequent creative cycle, allowing the menu to respond to ingredients and ideas with greater agility than an annual seasonal rotation permitted.
Noma co-founded the New Nordic culinary movement in the early 2000s, and its influence on how chefs approach locality, seasonality and fermentation has shaped fine dining internationally for more than two decades. The question now facing the relaunched restaurant is whether the same creative energy can sustain under new operational leadership while Redzepi, who has been the defining personality of the brand, works at one remove from the kitchen.
For those interested in the Nordic culinary traditions that Noma helped pioneer and continues to draw from, HCP Good Food's Scandinavian recipes collection offers useful context on the flavour philosophy and regional ingredients that define the cuisine. Reservations are available at noma.dk.
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