Last chance to experience Noma at Mandarin Oriental Tokyo

Top Michelin starred restaurant Noma have announced a special fundraising dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo in January 2015 and bidding is now open to diners hoping to grab a once in a lifetime experience.

This is the last chance to experience Noma in Japan, as it is fully booked throughout its two month stay in the country’s capital. The dinner takes place on January 28, 2015, and places are available through a special online auction which runs until December 18.

The dinner will raise money for MAD, a not-for-profit organisation based in Copenhagen. It aims to build a community of cooks, purveyors, and thinkers with an appetite for knowledge and a desire to improve the restaurant trade. The funds from the event will be used to support MAD's forthcoming initiatives, including new publishing ambitions, pop-up events, and an expansion of the current MAD team.

Mark Emil Tholstrup Hermansen from MAD, said: "René Redzepi is the founder of MAD and the Noma team have always played an invaluable role in helping to make this not-for-profit grow. MAD will be in Japan at the same time conducting research, and so we thought it would be a great opportunity to host an event.”

For its Tokyo residency the Noma chefs have crafted a special and entirely new menu based on local, seasonal Japanese products. The menu served on the night will be the same served throughout their Japanese residency, and will include special wine pairings to compliment the food.

Experiences to be auctioned off include not just a table at the dinner, but also various hotel packages, a tour of Rene’s kitchen, a trip to Tsujiki fish market and more.

Proceeds from the event will also benefit Table for Two, a Tokyo charity which tackles the  opposing issues of malnutrition in developing countries and obesity/overconsumption in developed countries.

They do this through a unique “calorie transfer” program, partnering with corporate cafeterias, university dining halls and restaurants in Japan, the U.S., Hong Kong and Vietnam, to create healthy, low calorie meals. The reduced calories are monetized and 25 cents per meal is donated and used to provide school meals in Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The MAD Noma fundraising dinner takes place at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo on January 28th, 2015. The auction is open now and can be accessed here.

by Stuart Armstrong