René Redzepi: 'I was a beast, angry as hell'

Noma in Copenhagen may no longer be ranked No 1 restaurant in the world but with its pioneering approach to locality, foraging and seasonality, it remains the most influential. Not that 35-year-old head chef René Redzepi has forgotten its humble origins. He still routinely refers to himself and his staff as "seal fuckers", a term used by cynics to describe them when the restaurant opened in 2003. "I'm trying to be polite," he says now. "This is one of the more friendly things we got called."

In those early days, a visit to Noma could be a primitive experience. A Belgian reviewer compared the toilets, unfavourably, with the train station in Delhi and vowed never to return. Dishes were inspired by a Swedish army survival manual that instructed soldiers how to live off the land during wartime.

"Today it makes no sense when you say it, but 10 years ago the world of food was so different," says Redzepi. "Here was a restaurant saying: 'We are going to focus more on some local ingredients, we are going to see if we can cook our landscape, we are going to see if we can play along with the local culture here.' People told me, 'What are you doing? Don't ruin your career René.' We were a joke."

Success came in 2010 when Noma was placed first in the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards; then won again in 2011 and 2012 (it's currently ranked No 2). Redzepi knows well the arbitrary nature of these awards – "Imagine if the best colour in the world was announced each year?" – but he is also aware of their allure and power. "If you let success become like a dear family member, something you can't live without, you will make the stupidest, most awful decisions to protect it and keep it near you," he says.

The world of food has changed drastically in Noma's lifespan. Redzepi notes wryly that when he left school at 15 – with no qualifications – a cook would never be given the same respect as an architect or a businessman. They were simply responsible for feeding them. "Back then there was no chance of you ever becoming famous," he says. "You didn't enter the restaurant trade because you thought, 'I could be a celebrity chef' or 'I could be on the cover of Observer Food Monthly.' This was never going to happen."

Redzepi sees the change in the personnel of his kitchen. "In the first three years Noma was open, there were four times when a member of staff came to me and said, 'Chef, I'm going to be gone for the next four months.' Why? 'Because I'm going to jail.' Four times!" Now Redzepi's staff includes an ex-banker from London, a Hollywood dropout, a lawyer from Brazil and a graduate from Yale University's Sustainable Food Project.

In large part because of Redzepi, Denmark is now a global gastronomic destination – a third of visitors to Copenhagen now cite food as a principal reason for their trip. Former "seal fuckers" have now opened their own restaurants across the city: a partial list includes Samuel Nutter and Victor Wagman's Bror, Christian Puglisi's Relae and Matt Orlando's Amass.

Noma has had blips and Redzepi guiltily concedes he has not always behaved to his staff as well as he'd like: "I was a beast, angry as hell." But, helped by writing a year-long journal – which forms part of an extraordinary new book A Work in Progress – he believes he is happier and more inventive than ever.

"If you'd asked me five years ago where I'd be now, I'd have said, 'At least a kilometre or 10 away from Noma.' It was just an animal eating us up. Whereas now, I've never had more fun in this project. The best moment to visit Noma is right now."

René Redzepi's A Work in Progress: Journals, Recipes and Snapshots is published on 11 November (Phaidon, RRP £39.95). To order a copy for £31.96 with free UK p&p. click here