People are blaming Ralph Fiennes movie The Menu for shutting down the ‘world’s best restaurant’, following the sudden news that it would be closing next year.
The dark comedy centres on couple Margo (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) as they travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant run by pretentious chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). Watch the trailer here:
Directed by Mark Mylod, the film serves as a sharp commentary not only on the ridiculousness of food and drink culture, but also the class politics and elitism that often comes with it.
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It presents the extreme lengths fans of Slowik are prepared to take to enjoy his unique take on the fine dining model, with dishes including a 'Breadless Bread Plate', 'Chicken Tacos with Scissors in it' and, for the finale, 'Smore's'.
After the movie landed on Disney+ earlier this month – following a theatrical release last year – three-Michelin-star restaurant Noma announced it would be closing its doors, with many fans joking that the trajectory is no coincidence.
Noma, run by René Redzepi, is a stylish restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is known as an innovator of New Nordic Cuisine.
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Since opening its doors in 2003, it has been named the Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2021 – matching the five wins for Albert Adrià’s now-closed elBulli in Spain.
The magazine announced a new system in 2019, which meant any winners were no longer eligible to be voted onto new editions of the list in the future, with Noma only allowed to take the crown again in 2021 due to three key changes to the original restaurant: location, concept and ownership.
Despite its ongoing success, Noma confirmed this week that it would be closing next year, saying it would embark on a ‘new chapter’.
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A statement said: “Winter 2024 will be the last season of Noma as we know it. We are beginning a new chapter; Noma 3.0.
“In 2025, our restaurant is transforming into a giant lab - a pioneering test kitchen dedicated to the work of food innovation and the development of new flavors, one that will share the fruits of our efforts more widely than ever before.”
It continued: “In this next phase, we will continue to travel and search for new ways to share our work. Is there somewhere we must go in the world to learn?
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"Then we will do a noma pop-up. And when we’ve gathered enough new ideas and flavors, we will do a season in Copenhagen. 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.”
Noma said its goal was to create a ‘lasting organization dedicated to groundbreaking work in food’, and to ‘redefine the foundation for a restaurant team’ to become ‘a place where you can learn, you can take risks, and you can grow’.
Many food fans couldn't help but notice the significance of the news coming at the same time as everyone was watching The Menu, joking that the two must be related.
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One person tweeted: "Noma is closing because it’s labor practices are unsustainable and now I’m down a hole, furiously researching whether The Menu went into production before or after this happened."
Someone else said: "Noma announcing its shutting down to become a cult right after the menu comes out is so good."
A third wrote: "There is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that The Menu was the nail in the coffin for Noma."
A fourth added: "Watching The Menu yesterday and seeing Noma is closing today... hard not to link these two in my mind."
You can watch The Menu on HBO Max in the US, while the movie is available to stream on Disney+ over in the UK.
Meanwhile, if you want to get a meal in at Noma before it closes, you have until the end of next year.
Topics: Food and Drink, Film and TV
Jess Hardiman