Noma, one of world's top-rated restaurants, to close its doors next year

Danish restaurant Noma, one of the world's top restaurants, will stop offering its services next year. The restaurant, which opened two decades ago, has now decided to reinvent itself as a food laboratory.

Noma, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, is well-known for its innovative cooking styles and for giving Nordic cuisine a new dimension.

The restaurant has decided to transform itself into "a pioneering test kitchen" dedicated to "food innovation and the development of new flavours." In a statement posted on its Instagram page, it said that the restaurant will close by the winter of 2024 and come back as Noma 3.0.

"Serving guests will still be a part of who we are but being a restaurant will no longer define us. Instead, much of our time will be spent on exploring new projects and developing many more ideas and products," it read.

A CNN report said that the restaurant will welcome guests at occasional pop-ups.

René Redzepi opened Noma in 2003 at the age of 25. It now boasts two Michelin stars, and was voted the best restaurant in the world by Britain's Restaurant magazine in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.

Noma is famous for its 20-course tasting menus that redefine Nordic cuisine. Its dishes are made using local ingredients such as sika deer, game birds, and reindeer, with foraged mushrooms and berries. It won the top spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2021 as well.

This is not the first time that the restaurant has tried to do something new. It transformed into a burger and wine bar for almost a month during the pandemic.

However, the latest development comes in the backdrop of its staff members accusing it of mistreatment. Several staff members have complained of poor wages and long working hours.

They claimed that the staff members are forced to work 16-hour shifts at the restaurant, and interns are made to do unpaid work. Redzepi himself admitted to "bullying" his staff in 2015 and said: "Financially and emotionally, as an employer and as a human being, it just doesn't work."