How to Get Past This World-Famous Restaurant's 35,000-Person Waiting List

After more than a year’s hiatus, award-winning Copenhagen restaurant Noma  has announced its much-awaited reopening in the second quarter of 2018.

On January 18, reservations opened for Noma’s May relaunch, and seats sold out in less than 24 hours. If you try to book now, you’ll be behind over 35,000 people on the waiting list.

Via @reneredzepinoma - from the menu: steamed wild oyster with crunchy broccoli stem.

A post shared by noma (@nomacph) on Dec 20, 2016 at 6:32am PST

There is hope. Those looking to forego the long wait may get two seats to the opening, win a complimentary flight and four-star accommodations in Copenhagen, Denmark, and get to know the Noma team a little better in an intimate meeting the morning after opening night. All you need to do is make a minimum donation to MAD, head chef René Redzepi’s nonprofit organization. Obviously, a larger donation increases the chances of winning the prize since it’s a raffle-style contest, but it also contributes to the MAD community dedicated to securing the future of food through a global network of chefs, farmers, and entrepreneurs.

In the test kitchen, we have been working with all kinds of ingredients from the ocean, which will be a celebration of Scandinavian seafood. Slivers of fresh lobster, deep water seaweed and sea cucumber are just some of the ingredients you might find on the new menu. You still have the chance with @omazeworld to win dinner for two on opening night, hotel and flights included. To enter, see link in bio!

A post shared by Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma) on Jan 10, 2018 at 8:00am PST

More on Noma

Noma temporarily shut its doors in February 2017. It then opened as a pop-up at a resort in Tulum, New Mexico, where its entire staff relocated and tried making tacos. The restaurant scheduled its reopening last December but postponed the event to give Redzepi more time to come up with a menu.

This isn’t the first time Noma closed temporarily. Redzepi has always felt the constant need to innovate. After ushering the 2016 New Year with a final service, it moved to Sydney, Australia, from December to April 2016 “to see what happens when the Noma approach is applied to Australian ingredients.”

Porridge made from golden and desert oak wattleseeds wrapped in saltbush leaves. Served with native herbs, finger lime and an oil made from green anise myrtle. #NomaAustralia (photo by @jasonloucas)

A post shared by noma (@nomacph) on Mar 7, 2016 at 9:27pm PST

The restaurant has garnered its fair share of awards. A decade ago, it earned two stars from the Michelin Guide. For three consecutive years, it won the prestigious title of World’s Best Restaurant from 2010 to 2012. It regained the title in 2014.

IMAGE INSTAGRAM @nomacph

More on MAD

MAD began in 2011 as a two-day symposium with over three hundred personalities affiliated with the food industry gathered in a red circus tent in Copenhagen. Since then, it’s evolved into a change-seeking body that aims to educate the cooking community and create solutions for the food world’s greatest problems. The organization hosts various events all year long but the symposium remains its biggest venture. This year, the event will take place in Copenhagen from August 26 to 27.

h/t: Omaze