Rene Redzepi was born on December 16, 1977, in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father Al-Rami Redzepi was an immigrant from the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and his mother Hanne Redzepi was from Denmark.
When Redzepi was just two years old his family moved to Macedonia and started living in Tetovo am ethnic Albanian area until 1992. Redzepi found his life more enjoyable at Macedonia in a rural area than lining in a small apartment in Denmark.
Redzepi has a twin brother, Kenneth Redzepi with whom he had multiple newspaper delivery services. At the age of 15, Redzepi left high school and joined the cooking school with his friend.
Initial Career
Redzepi started his Career at Pierre Andre a local family-owned Michelin starred restaurant in Copenhagen. He trained himself for 4 years there. At his 19 he went to southern France and started work at Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier. In 1998 he visited El Bulli as a guest and in 1999 season he worked there.
After that Redzepi returned to Copenhagen and started working at King Hans Kælder. In 2001 he worked under Thomas Keller at The French Laundry in California but after 4 months he returned back to Copenhagen and Kong Hans Kælder.
Redzepi was contacted by Claus Meyer and offered Redzepi to operate a restaurant at an old warehouse in North Atlantic House in December 2002. In 2004 restaurant Noma was opened with Redzepi as the head chef. Noma is a combination of the Danish words ‘Nordisk’ and ‘mad’ which means Nordic and food respectively. Today Redzepi is co-owner of the Noma having a partnership with Kristian Baumann. Noma is a two-Michelin star restaurant in the Christianshavn neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. Restaurant magazine’s World’s best restaurants voted Noma as the best restaurant in the world in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.
Expansion of Business:
A pop-up version of Noma was opened in various cities, Tokyo (2015), Sydney (2016), and Mexico (2017); they typically operated for about two months. Shockingly Redzepi announced the closure of Noma and to travel around the globe in search of new inspiration. But later in 2018, he planned to reopen Noma and did it. Noma placed second on the world’s 50 best restaurants list 2019.
Redzepi is known for its refinement and reinvention of new Nordic cuisine and food that is characterized by clean flavors and inventiveness. He focused on dehydration and fermentation, experimenting with using as much as of the meat, plant, and fish as possible.
Redzepi is married to Nadine Levy Redzepi who is also a chef. They have three daughters.
Awards And Achievements:
| Year | Awards |
| 2006 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 33rd Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2007 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 15th Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2008 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 10th Best Restaurant in the World |
| TripAdvisor, the Best restaurant in the world | |
| Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia conference (San Sebastián, Spain), International Chef of theYear | |
| Present: Michelin Guide – two stars | |
| 2009 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 3rd Best Restaurant in the World |
| The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Chefs’ Choice | |
| 2010 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2011 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2012 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World |
| TIMES 2012 100 Most Influential People in the World | |
| 2013 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 2nd Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2014 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2015 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 3rd Best Restaurant in the World |
| 2016 | The Catey Awards International Outstanding Achievement |
| Bestowed Knight of The Order of the Dannebrog | |
| The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 5th Best Restaurant in the World | |
| 2019 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 2nd Best Restaurant in the World |
| Year | Filmography |
| 2008 | Noma: A Boiling Point / Noma pa Kogepunktet (TV Documentary) |
| The Great British Menu (TV Series) – 1 episode: Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner at the Gherkin | |
| 2009 | MasterChef (TV Series) – 1 episode: Episode #5.32 |
| 2010 | MasterChef: The Professionals (TV Series) – 1 episode: Episode #3.16 |
| Three Stars (TV Movie documentary) | |
| Noma at Boiling Point (TV Movie documentary) | |
| 2012 | The Mind of a Chef (TV Series documentary) – 3 episodes: Rene, Chef, Buddies |
| Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (TV Series documentary) – 1 episode: Japan: Cook It Raw | |
| 2013 | La última película (Documentary) |
| 2014 | Finding Gaston (Documentary) |
| 2015 | Noma: My Perfect Storm (Documentary) |
| 2016 | Noma: Australia (TV Series documentary) – 3 episodes: Episode #1.1, Episode #1.2, Episode#1.3 |
| Ants on a Shrimp (Documentary) | |
| 2018 | Ugly Delicious (TV Series documentary) – 3 episodes: Tacos, Homecooking, BBQ |
| How to Dine at René Redzepi’s new Noma |
Books
- Redzepi, René; Meyer, Claus; Isager, Ditte (foto) (2007). Henrik Kerrn-Jespersen (ed.). Noma: Nordisk Mad (in Danish). Denmark: Politiken.
- Redzepi, René; Meyer, Claus; Marmorstein, Dan A. (translated by); Isager, Ditte (photographs by) (2006). Kerrn-Jespersen, Henrik; Seedorff, Christine (eds.). Noma: Nordic Cuisine. Denmark: Politikens Forlag.
- Redzepi, René; Isager, Ditte (photographs by); Eliasson, Olafur; Skyum-Nielsen, Rune (2010). Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine. London: Phaidon.
- Redzepi, René; Ulrich, Lars (2013). René Redzepi: A Work in Progress. Journal, Recipes and Snapshots. London: Phaidon Press.
Journals
- Redzepi, René; Staszak, Kamilla (2012). “Mój sposób na żurek”. Polityka (in Polish). Warszawa:
Wydawnictwo Prasowe: 90–91.
- Andelman, David A.; Fredrick, Yaffa; Redzepi, René (2015). “The Passion of Food”. World PolicyJournal. Durham: Duke University Press.
Documentaries
- Redzepi, René; Vorting, Christian (director) (2008). Noma: A Boiling Point / Noma pa Kogepunktet (film). Copenhagen: Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Deschamps
- Meyer, Claus; Adrià, Ferran (2015). Noma: My Perfect Storm. Los Angeles, California: Magnolia Home Entertainment.