As the clock inches toward midday on Jan. 9, the eyes and attention of gourmets around the world will be focused on Tokyo. The reason: The curtain is rising on one of the most hotly anticipated restaurant openings ever.
Noma in Japan is far from an ordinary opening, though. Not that you'd expect it to be, when it springs from the restlessly creative mind of chef Rene Redzepi, whose Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, holds two Michelin stars and has been voted best in the world four years out of the past five.
Unlike with other top chefs from Europe or North America who have brought their cuisine to Tokyo, this is no mere spinoff intended to reproduce the recipes that made the parent restaurant famous. For Japan, Redzepi has created an entirely new repertoire of dishes, from appetizers to dessert.