Now we’re enthusing about Restaurant Barr, opened last June in the former 18th-century warehouse home of the original Noma. (That restaurant closed a year ago before operating as a pop-up in Tulum, Mexico, then reincarnating in a new “urban farm” space in Copenhagen less than a mile from the original site.) Barr was founded by chef and restaurateur Thorsten Schmidt, a longtime friend of Redzepi (who is also a partner in the restaurant). Schmidt spent most of his career running the fine-dining Malling & Schmidt restaurant in Aarhus, Denmark, but found himself yearning for simple food made with the same local, high-quality ingredients for which he and Redzepi are both known. The product is Barr (“barley” in Old Norse), which serves the “unpretentious but inviting” North Sea regional food the German-born, Danish Schmidt remembers from childhood. Let’s take a look at the interiors—they’re reminiscent of Noma, but with an easygoing, modern touch.
Above: Barr was redesigned by famed Norwegian architects Snøhetta. (Other Snøhetta projects we like include several Aesop stores around the world and the revamped French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, California.) Above: When Noma closed last year, Redzepi held an Auction to offload the Wegner and Møller chairs, Würtz ceramics, and Wahl & Ross wooden spoons that served diners through the restaurant’s 14-year tenure. But some of the restaurant’s original finishes remain at Barr, like the partly stained stone walls and hand-hewn wood ceilings. Above: The leather and oak chairs are by Danish designer Finn Juhl. Above: Most of the furniture and all of the built-ins are custom, designed and fabricated using traditional techniques by cabinetmaker Malte Gormsen. Above: Most of the oak wood used at Barr is from trees grown less than 30 miles from the restaurant. Above: Noma had (and still has, in the new space) 40 seats in the dining room; Barr accommodates 60 diners in the main room and another 30 in the bar. Above: A bar attached to the main dining room serves the full restaurant menu alongside wine, cocktails, and 22 beers on tap. Above: Sourdough pancakes with elderflower, mussel sauce, citrus, and caviar. Above: A wooden “door” is propped against the exterior, where the original Noma sign used to hang. Barr is located on the Copenhagen waterfront at Strandgade 93.
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