Why One Of The World's Greatest Chefs Chose Los Angeles For His First Pop-Up Restaurant In The US

Celeriac shawarma. Reindeer tartare. You're not likely to find these dishes most anywhere else besides the 3-Michelin-starred Nordic restaurant, Noma. Previously, these extraordinary dishes dreamed up by world-renowned chef René Redzepi and his team could only be dined upon in Copenhagen. That changed recently: In 2023, the restaurant announced that it would be closing its Copenhagen location. Since then, the restaurant has changed course, deciding to keep its Copenhagen location open but reshaping it as a food innovation lab. The original format of Noma may be gone, but not forever lost — luckily for gourmands across the globe, the restaurant is conducting pop-ups in foodie cities from Kyoto to Tulum. And the next one? Los Angeles, in 2026.

Some may ponder "Why not New York City?" — a fair question. NYC is regarded as one of the top food cities in the world, laden with Michelin-starred restaurants, high-profile diners, and celebrity chefs. In an interview with the LA Times, René Redzepi told the publication why the West Coast made sense: "Because I was like, this can only happen in Los Angeles. There's something going on — that sort of daringness where you just do things. There's a creative energy I find in Los Angeles that is based on sort of this grassroots experience, not on money that made you be creative."

It's true — this SoCal city is so much more than just beach, celebrities, and cinema. Due to its ideal weather, California has an extraordinarily long growing season, and provides a majority of the nation's fruits and nuts, and about a third of the country's vegetables. The proximity to the Pacific Ocean provides an abundance of top-grade seafood — basically, Los Angeles and the Golden State are the perfect pantry for Noma, which emphasizes the importance of eating locally and using regional ingredients.

While food snobs and critics may argue tirelessly that New York City offers far superior dining, Los Angeles' food scene is wonderful in its own West Coast way. For starters, it's incredibly diverse. While this can certainly be said true about New York City as well, LA is best known for some of the best Mexican food in the country, as well as top-notch Asian cuisines, plus everything in between. While Noma hails from Denmark, its team is also incredibly diverse, coming from all over the world.

Angelenos are undoubtedly obsessed with health foods, farmers' markets, and quality ingredients. While Noma doesn't explicitly label its culinary masterpieces as "health food", everything the team whips up is what could be called "nature-inspired." Noma uses seasonal ingredients sourced, grown, and foraged as locally as possible — this is music to a food-conscious SoCal eater's ears. The health food movement of eating natural, organic, and unprocessed foods has deep roots in Los Angeles – so being deeply connected to your food and where it came from is steeped in Angeleno food culture.

Diners here are also not afraid to spend a pretty penny on foods that are borderline bizarre. Sea moss for $25 a jar? Sure, why not? The jaw-droppingly expensive Erewhon grocery chain has proven that people actually love to spend money on esoteric foods that are said to maximize health, longevity, and beauty. So if Noma is serving up rose-scented cake in the shape of a flower pot, chances are, LA diners are going to eat it right up.