Monday’s Muse: Rene Redzepi

I have just been given a copy of A Work in Progress: Journal, Recipes and Snapshots, a three-book set by René Redzepi, head chef of NOMA restaurant in Copenhagen. It recommends to start by reading the journal written by René himself, which references a beautifully art directed hardback recipe book featuring over 100 new recipes from NOMA, and a smaller scrapbook of photographs taken along the process of writing the book. I have never experienced such interactive and mind-blowing reading material.

I am about 100 pages in. Each journal entry is so beautifully honest I sometimes have to drop it down in my lap and have a moment. Yes, he’s talking in detail about food, cooking and the ins and outs of what it means and feels like to be a world renown chef, but the concepts are all bigger than that. His way of working, his values, his morals, his relationships with his co-workers are all hugely inspiring – regardless of what industry you’re working in.

He is sensitive to the weather, he is driven beyond his body’s limits, he feels honest guilt, he loves leeks, and, like I said, I’m only 100 pages in! I’m writing this is a hurry (sorry) so I can jump into bed and continue the NOMA journey! But, I’ll leave you with a couple of things. Firstly the quote below, which opens the NOMA recipe book, written by  Lars Ulrich, Danish drummer and one of the founding members of Metallica, and also a video of Rene Redzepi’s TEDxObserver presentation – it’s could be a really good way to end your Monday, I think. x

Rene belongs in a very small group of unique creators.

People who have turned their particular niches completely upside-down.

Reinvented and redefined them.

The Unafraid.

Wether it be Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Charlie Parker, Beethoven, the Beatles, Cecil B. DeMille, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, Jack Kerouac, James Joyce, Hunter S. Thompson, Steve Jobs, Stephen hawking, Marlon Brando, the list goes on depending who’s composing it… but no matter who’s on that list, or how long it is, Rene Redzepi BELONGS on that list, in the company, among the true pioneers, because of what he has done in the last decade with the world of food. 

Rene is unafraid.

And we are all the grateful beneficiaries of the result that his fearlessness continues to create. 

Lars Ulrich