Noma est omen

“Popl” is the name of the new burger restaurant that René Redzepi, head chef and mastermind behind the world-famous “Noma”, has just opened in Copenhagen. The interior design, which combines Japanese and Nordic design elements, was created by design studio Spacon & X.

The best chef in the world cooking burgers? No problem for René Redzepi, head chef at the legendary Copenhagen restaurant Noma, which has already topped the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” ranking four times. When Noma reopened in spring after the coronavirus lockdown, Redzepi quickly set up a pop-up wine bar with a burger grill in the garden. It was his reaction to the crisis, says the chef. He wanted a place like this after the lockdown, not a complex gourmet restaurant. In the meantime, however, Noma has returned to high cuisine. Nevertheless, the pop-up experiment has not been without consequences.

“Popl” is the name of the new burger restaurant that Redzepi has now opened on Strandgade in Copenhagen. The name of the new restaurant, which sounds alarming to German ears, has nothing to do with bodily secretions. Rather, like Tim Raue’s “Soupe Populaire” in Berlin, it is derived from the Latin populus – meaning that the population as a whole is the target group here. The Popl replaces its predecessor “108”, which was previously located in the rooms. 108, which Redzepi founded with chef Kristian Baumann, was also a spin-off of Noma. However, in terms of the standard of the cuisine, it was only slightly below that of the “mother house”. At Popl, on the other hand, Redzepi chose the izakaya, Japan’s counterpart to the inn, as a model – a restaurant that is equally dedicated to food and drink.

He developed the interior concept for the Popl together with the Copenhagen design studio Spacon & X. The interior designers attached a wooden plant bridge to the high concrete pillars that divide the high-ceilinged dining area in the former warehouse as the most eye-catching feature. It floats above the heads of the guests and emphasizes the division of the restaurant into a front area and a more intimate rear zone. The furnishing elements are the same in both parts of the room: small square tables with wooden bases, upholstered wooden benches and Japanese-style chairs, whose closely spaced back legs and backrests form an irritating contrast to the expansive seat. Like the high wall shelves, the serving stations and the counter, they are made of light ash wood. Incidentally, the designs were realized by Frankfurt-based furniture label e15, for whom Popl is already the second burger restaurant in Copenhagen in whose creation they have been involved: in 2018, e15 supplied the original stools designed by David Thulstrup for the “Gasoline”.

While Thulstrup’s Gasoline, with its many stainless steel surfaces, appears almost aseptic, Spacon & X create a fine balance between the designed and the undesigned, between formal and informal, with many plants, brightly colored surfaces and a whole range of different hanging lamps. “We have always admired Noma’s approach – every single element reveals great attention to detail. We designed the Popl with the same approach,” says Malene Hvidt, architect and partner at Spacon & X. And she adds: “We wanted to create the same inviting atmosphere here that Noma is so famous for.