Every Saturday night at the end of dinner service a few chefs and/or stagiers at Noma prepare a "project" for the entire kitchen to try. Basically during the week chefs will come in early or stay late to work on their project for the week. They will continue to prep for their dish throughout the week whenever they have free time. The chefs/stagiers taste and make changes to their dishes daily. On Saturday night at the end of dinner service, after the kitchen meeting, everyone will gather around the pass and plate there dishes in order of where their dish would come on a menu. (starters, mains, desserts etc.) The chefs/stagiers will each plate 3-6 plates in order for the entire kitchen to have a taste. Chef Rene leads a discussion and breaks down everyones dish and offers constructive criticism to the chefs. Anyone who wants to speak up with their own opinion on a dish is welcomed. I really really enjoyed this part of the week while I was staging at Noma. There is a great sense of urgency throughout the week to get all of your components together. The nervousness overwhelms you as you plate your dish, explain it, and answer questions in front of the worlds greatest chef and 30 of his best kitchen team. A sense of calm and relief overtake you as you clear your plates. Below is a picture of my project I worked on for my last week, as well as a link to Rene Redzepi's twitter feed where you can find pictures and brief explanations of past projects at Noma.
Smoked skyr mousse, fennel, compressed apple, celery ribbons,
apple gel, smoke gel, bronz fennel, lovage, crown fennel, coriander flowers
Rene Redzepi's Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/#!/ReneRedzepiNoma/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitpic.com%2F717rlm
