Claus Meyer: From Noma Plates to Prison Servings

Claus Meyer: From Noma Plates to Prison Servings

When you’re the co-founder of Noma – the Danish restaurant that has been named best in the world no less than four times – you’d be forgiven for getting a little complacent. Not Claus Meyer. Here, we talk career highlights, memorable trips and the best places to eat in New York.



When
you’re the co-founder of Noma – the Danish restaurant that
has been named best in the world no less than four times – you’d be
forgiven for getting a little complacent. Not Claus Meyer.

Nicknamed “the father of New Nordic cuisine” Claus knew early on
in life that he wanted to be both a tastemaker and a change maker.
Following the triumph of Noma under himself and head chef (and
fellow founder) René Redzepi, Meyer decided to put his success to
good use and turned his attention to altruistic endeavours.

With a wish to create opportunities for disadvantaged people,
Meyer launched pioneering social projects in kitchens around the
world to train people as chefs. Rolling out intensive workshops
everywhere from Danish prisons to Bolivian slums, it is a striking
example of using creativity and skill for positive change.

Here, we talk career highlights, memorable trips and the best
places to eat in New York.

After the success of Noma, why did you choose to open Gustu
restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia?

I wanted to experiment and see if what we did with Nordic
cuisine at Noma could happen in other countries. Bolivia fit the
bill because it’s a developing country that doesn’t yet have much
of a food scene but has a rich array of unexplored, natural
ingredients. We chose to open in La Paz which has two-million
people and endless slums instead of modern, rich Santa Cruz de la
Sierra. We launched without much of a roadmap.


Do you think food can drive social change?

Yes, it can. My first project in this sphere was prior to Gustu
in Bolivia and focussed on ineffective re-socialisation processes
in Danish prisons. I initiated a strategic alliance with the prison
service to set up culinary schools in a couple of institutions. We
convinced the inmates that we could teach them to cook a one-star

Michelin
meal in eight weeks – all they had to do was show up
at 8am. We taught them the basics: frying, chopping, boiling. Then
we started work on “the meal of our dreams”. I had convinced the
warden to open the prison up to the most prestigious food critics
of the country to showcase the inmates’ cooking. The day before
these critics came, the inmates had their children and wives test
the food. It ended up being a tremendous success and we gave 91
inmates an entire culinary education over three years. The moment
they walked out of prison, they could apply for a job as a
chef.

Why did you move to New York?

I moved to New York in 2015. An American businessman, who had
visited Gustu in Bolivia, got in touch about
a potential business partnership – but I wasn’t excited about
opening another food hall in Manhattan.
Instead, we opened The Brownsville Community Culinary Centre in
Brooklyn where we taught culinary skills to young people from the
local community. The food focuses on the American, African
and
Caribbean
diaspora culture.

Favourite family holiday?

Every year we spend the summer in our holiday home on the
northern coast of Zealand in
Denmark
. We play tennis, forage for mushrooms in the forest,
catch shore crabs and fish… it’s heaven.

What do you always order from room
service
?

I never order room service. In fact, I hate it. I’d rather take
myself down to the hotel’s restaurant.

Your favourite food souvenir…

Dominica in the Caribbean is home to some amazing chilli sauces
– they also travel well so I brought lots back with me.

Your favourite book on food…

I’m a huge fan of the author Michael Pollan, who was also an
adviser to Barack Obama. He wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma which was
fascinating. His other book, Cooked, is about the four
elements of fire, water, wind and earth and the four kinds of
preparations that relate to them. He goes very, very deep into this
topic.


Your favourite trip last year…

I stayed at a luxury hotel called Mihir Garh, on the outskirts of
Jodhpur in December.
The hospitality there was very quiet, humble and yet, still proud.
I’m from the countryside so I loved the still desert landscape and
its quietness. I also ate some incredible food: goat and liver
curry with naan and fluffy, savoury puris (fried bread) with potato
curry for breakfast. It was exceptional.

The best restaurant in New York is…

I really admire the work that the Parks (a young Korean couple)
are doing at Atoboy in Midtown; they serve extremely interesting
Korean tasting menus. Recently, they opened a fine-dining
restaurant just 600 metres away, called Atomix, which has already been awarded a Michelin
star.

Where should we go for breakfast?

I love to eat at Sullivan Street Bakery on Ninth
Avenue. They serve these interesting brioche buns filled with
chillies, lemon zest and ricotta. It’s soft, sweet, fatty brioche
served warm out of the oven.

The best burger in the city…

I’m going to out on a limb and say the vegan burger at Superiority Burger on the Lower East Side.


The best way to spend an afternoon in NY…

Walk through Central Park, especially if the weather is
nice.

For the best street food head to…

Last year, I curated a street-food project called The
World’s Fare
, which had more than 120 vendors from Mr
Bing’s
Chinese crepes to Brooklyn
food truck, Halalish. It takes place again in May 2019; you must
go.

Favourite store…

The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market is the best fish
retailer in the world.

New York secret food spots only locals know about…

There’s this really nice, under-the-radar Bolivian-Peruvian
restaurant called Llama Inn in Brooklyn. My favourite
Asian place, Chinese Tuxedo, is located in a former opera
house deep in Chinatown
– it’s Chinese food with a modern touch.

Where’s your next adventure?

I’m starting a travel show about finding unique food cultures
with undiscovered potential. We’ll be looking for food with some
drama, intense emotional energy or just outstanding taste.

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