World’s Top Restaurant Noma In Talks With Billionaire Peter Lim To Explore Opportunities In Asia

The corporate behind Denmark’s Noma—which was voted final yr because the world’s greatest restaurant for the fifth time—is in talks with Singapore billionaire Peter Lim to discover enterprise alternatives within the lion metropolis and round Asia.

“Peter is an effective good friend,” Peter Kreiner, CEO of Noma, informed Forbes Asia throughout his go to to Singapore final week. “I’ve been in dialogue with him to debate how and what we are able to do to be nearer to the superb world which Asia represents.” A consultant for Lim confirmed that Kreiner and Lim met in Singapore however declined to supply additional feedback as particulars have but to be firmed up.

Based in 2003 by Danish chef René Redzepi—well-known for his foraging and fermenting strategies—Noma topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants listing final yr, an accolade it gained in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. The listing is compiled by U.Okay.-based William Reed Enterprise Media, which tallies the votes of greater than 1,000 restaurateurs, cooks, and meals writers.

Redzepi and his companions additionally function three different eating places—Barr (Nordic delicacies), Sanchez (Mexican meals) and burger joint Popl—in addition to the Hart bakery chain in Copenhagen. This month, the group launched garum, a smoked mushroom pasta sauce, making accessible the ingredient accessible to house cooks within the U.S. the U.Okay. and the EU.

The Noma group of corporations had beforehand ventured into Asia with the opening of Inua restaurant in Tokyo in June 2018. Nevertheless, the restaurant was shut in April 2020 because the Covid-19 pandemic upended the worldwide economic system, disrupting industries and companies.

The restaurant business is among the many hardest hit by the pandemic as governments enforced lockdowns and restricted worldwide journey to curb the unfold of coronavirus. The Noma group of corporations suffered losses not simply in Japan but in addition in Denmark through the pandemic, however the outlook is popping higher, with the group near breaking even, Kreiner mentioned.

“It has been a problem. It has been tough, it’s been loss making,” Kreiner mentioned of Noma’s expertise through the pandemic. “Total, we’re trying good. We’re popping out of it.”

Burger joint Popl was launched on the peak of the pandemic in December 2020, enabling the group to faucet into the booming meals supply enterprise when eating in at eating places was not allowed.

With Singapore regularly reopening its borders to worldwide vacationers by way of the vaccinated journey lanes, Kreiner mentioned he got here to the lion metropolis to debate potential alternatives with Lim. “I wished to observe up and meet my good good friend Peter,” Kreiner mentioned. “There’s a lot to discover in Singapore and the broader area,” he added.

Whereas there are not any instant plans to open one other restaurant in Asia, Kreiner mentioned the Noma group of corporations is in search of alternatives within the area. “It’s extraordinarily fascinating what’s occurring on this a part of the world,” Kreiner mentioned. “It’s so wealthy. It’s so giant. It gives so many issues and it’s enjoyable and an thrilling place to go.”

Lim, 68, has been investing in property, healthcare, and sports activities after cashing out of palm oil big Wilmar over a decade in the past. With a web price of $2.6 billion, Lim was ranked No. 15 when the listing of Singapore’s 50 Richest was revealed in August. He lately ventured into training, partnering with prime British boarding faculty Wellington Faculties to arrange worldwide colleges throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore within the subsequent few years.