14 March 2020
Dear friends.
We have all seen yesterday’s news and the latest measures to ensure the wellbeing of the community. And like many of our friends and colleagues around the world, we are facing challenges that we have never experienced before and are doing our very best to navigate them with a united spirit and energy.
As a team that has service and hospitality in our very DNA, we want nothing more than to continue on with business as usual – welcoming guests into our home, cooking and feeding them, and offering them a moment of escape from all that is going on in the world.
However, with all that we know and continue to learn about the virus, and scientific evidence urging us all to reduce non-essential social contact, we are making the most difficult decision to temporarily close restaurant noma until Tuesday 14th April at the earliest.
Despite the fact that being together is at the heart of everything we do, the reality is very much that at this time, being together is not in the best interests of our community. Our duty of care to our team and guests is the only thing that matters. We must do our part to keep everyone safe.
noma is not shifting into panic mode. We are shifting into family mode and have made a number of commitments to our team and their families. Our team will be paid until the closure of the restaurant later today. We will continue to pay for our team’s supplementary private health insurance which includes access to mental health support for those in need. And we will continue to cook healthy and delicious meals for our team to take home. And where we can, we will also provide short-term financial assistance for those most in need.
We may be closing the doors to our restaurant for a short while, but we are not closing the doors to life, to friendship, to community, or to each other. We will be together every step of the way.
These will be difficult times.
The challenges we face are the same ones faced by our friends and colleagues across Copenhagen, Denmark and around the world. We stand with all of them and we face these challenges together.
On behalf of our industry, and to our guests and guests of restaurants all around the world, if you wish to help, rather than cancel you could perhaps postpone your reservations to a later date or even buy a gift card to support your favourite restaurant. Please also continue to support those restaurants, cafés, bakeries and food stores that remain open – the people who work there are your friends and neighbours. We are one community.
We also wish to acknowledge the work of everyone in our industry in representing our trade and ask the Danish Government for its support of our industry and community. Every little thing counts and will help our industry get back on its feet. And when we do, we look forward to welcoming you home with open arms.
Thank you to everyone around the world for their friendship and support.
Take care of one another.
René and the noma team