While it’s not rocket science to write a profile on a chef, when a journalist nails it, it makes for quite the engaging read. Sometimes the personality of the subject just pops off the page. I really got a kick out of this piece from the New York Times, which a friend sent me about Danish chef René Redzepi, whose Copenhagen restaurant Noma has been drawing international attention for its “gourmet Nordic cuisine.”  What does that entail? According to Noma’s website, you can expect to find:

Horse mussels, deep-sea crabs and langoustines from the Faeroe Islands, which are living right up until the moment they are served to our visitors. Halibut, wild salmon, cod and seaweed and curds from Iceland. Lamb, musk ox, berries and the purest drinking water from Greenland.

He also forages for new herbs and things, or sends his staff out. Love it. I think this is my favorite part of the whole piece:
“You have to understand how hard it was for them at the start,” said Daniella Illerbrand, the general manager of Mathias Dahlgren, a restaurant in Stockholm. “People didn’t understand what he was cooking. They wanted foie gras. He gave them cloudberries.”