Denmark is exploring whether gastronomy could be formally recognized as an art form, adding a new question to the country’s push to elevate Nordic cuisine beyond a culinary brand. Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said in January that Denmark would explore the idea, framing it as a potential shift in how the highest versions of cooking might be treated within the arts.
The debate is already playing out in the way top Danish restaurants stage meals. Chef Rasmus Munk, 34, does not offer traditional courses at his Copenhagen restaurant Alchemist; instead, he runs an “immersive dining experience” combining performance, music, projections and a planetarium-like domed dining room, according to the reporting. Munk also described his approach as communicating through food, saying, “We convey messages through our food, our food is our medium of expressing ourselves,” with his dishes exploring themes including state surveillance and animal welfare.
Alchemist opened in 2019 at the site of a former industrial harbor area in Copenhagen and, in 2025, was named the world’s fifth-best restaurant. The restaurant holds two Michelin stars, out of a maximum three for an establishment, and guests can experience 50 “impressions,” most of them edible, during a slow, multi-hour process designed to encourage reflection on both the food and the surrounding projections. The dining lineup includes dishes such as a large eyeball presentation featuring caviar and codfish eye gel, and “nettles butterflies” served on cheese and artichoke leaves.
Denmark’s “art” inquiry also reflects how the country has cultivated a global reputation in recent decades. Since 2003, when René Redzepi’s Noma helped spark the “New Nordic” movement, Danish cuisine has leaned on a seasonal philosophy that celebrates foraging, fermenting and local larders. Now Michelin-starred Danish restaurants are asking a new question: whether gastronomy can be art, with the government exploration raising the possibility of institutional recognition for chefs.
If the change advances from exploration to legislation, it would require parliamentary action. Reporting said reclassifying gastronomy from craft to art would eventually require a vote in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament. The change could also make chefs eligible for state subsidies and for private foundation support in the arts sector, alongside funding from organizations that support writers and musicians.
Supporters point to existing efforts to treat Danish high cuisine as a form of creative expression. Nicolai Nørregaard, the head chef and creative director of Copenhagen’s two-star Kadeau, said he approaches cooking as he would an artwork or writing. “I approach it like I would approach making a piece of art, like an artwork or a piece of writing,” he said, adding: “It’s about getting sort of an experience.”
Nørregaard said he would welcome official recognition, describing it as a “big step.” “To acknowledge that this can also be looked upon as art … that’s what’s important for me,” he said. He said his recipes reference seasonal flavors from the Danish island of Bornholm, linking the art question to the country’s longer-running food identity.
Not everyone is convinced. Nick Curtin, an American executive chef and owner of Copenhagen’s Michelin-starred Alouette restaurant, argued that art and gastronomy are fundamentally different, saying, “Art’s sole purpose is expression. It’s to evoke emotion. Food must be consumed,” and adding, “(Art) can evoke disgust or disappointment or pain or sorrow or joy or longing. Food actually can’t express all of those things. It can, but it shouldn’t.”
Some figures in Denmark’s art scene also raised concerns that labeling gastronomy as art could reshape competition for public arts funding. Reporting cited Holger Dahl, the architecture and art critic at Berlingske, saying, “I think it’s quite silly, there’s no use, it doesn’t make any sense.” He likened the distinction to different forms of transport, saying, “It’s a little bit like a bicycle and a car — they have round wheels, they’ll take you from one point to another point, but it’s not like a very good bicycle all of a sudden turns into a car,” and concluding, “It doesn’t happen.”
The reporting noted it is not yet clear how the culture ministry’s plans may be affected by Denmark’s March 24 general election, underscoring that the proposal remains exploratory and tied to political timing.