So you might know we are hosting a pop up dining hall at The Chimney House? Of course you do… we’ve been bleating on about it for a small while now… so you may think we are about to announce that the newly crowned ‘Worlds Best Restaurant’ winner (San Pellegrino decides) Noma is coming to be one of our pop ups. Sadly – although we did get a personal guided tour of his kitchens the delightful Rene Redzepi may not be tempted from his Nordic perfection just yet – but maybe for a short while if we plead… it’s only a little hop over the ocean…

This could quickly turn into pleading and lamenting – so I’ll tell the story instead of how I got to this point. Ok. So over in Copenhagen – rewind a month or so book lunch at Noma. Back in Copenhagen again we hire bikes for the morning and buzz around the city in the beauteous sun and deathly cold Nordic breeze. Realise it’s lunch time and take off hair-a- flowing down to the docks where Noma lives. Park bikes. Soon realise (within half a footstep) of approaching the door that ‘bike disheveled ‘ is not a look that is adapted or recognised in Noma. (this is a city where there are more bikes than humans…for Christ sakes )

But at least the Tom Ford a-like in breathtakingly suave attire possessing  immaculate manners had the good grace not to point it out as he welcomed us with earth shattering poise and handed us over to an army of ‘take you to your chair’ characters. And that is just what they were… real characters of mystery, appeal and knowledge… fascinating to look at (be aware of you look at them too long they think you need to ‘go’ and try to escort you to the loo. Am sure they will be mortified by this as they are in fact supremely ‘not of this world’ – and don’t register bodily functions am sure . ) Team Noma are even better to chat to – one of the chefs was a super human Yorkshire creation called Sam Miller who was so disarmingly down to earth we pummeled him with Q’s. So settled at our table of exquisite Danish cool we were presented a series of ‘snacks’ the best bit was they came in biscuit tins, plant pots, hairy plates, smoking egg shells, which we devoured in a dainty snack eating fashion. My fav element was the fact the chef who had created each snack brought them over to explain what it was and why you were just about to eat the most theatrical morsel of pure creation and skill than you have ever seen before in your entire life and didn’t hang around long enough to see hours of work vanish in a heartbeat. The same pattern continued throughout the tasting menus and over the course of 3 hours we emerged triumphant and dizzy with expectation for more. You remember walnut whips? (I say remember as no one I speak to has ever eaten one after graduation into their teens, although I was given one last time I went to the Podiatrist and nearly fainted… ‘you need sugar’ cried the  girl and raided her stash) Moving to languish on more Danish cool we were presented with a hat-box filled with tissue paper and the most stunning handcrafted work of art a bit like said walnut whip only a zillion times better and bigger and one for the fond memory cabinet.  So after an impromptu  kitchen tour and subsequent layering back on of bike attire we did a little jig of glee.

PS Note to reader. Since winning The San Pellegrino World Restaurant Award 2010 Noma’s site reportedly received 100,000 requests for tables so I’ve done another jig. This time of smugness.