Photos: The Edible Theater of Noma

A 14-course meal at Noma's pop-up restaurant in Tokyo includes langoustine speckled with black ants, shaved monkfish liver and cuttlefish "soba" with a bowl of pine broth and rose petals.
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Photos: The Edible Theater of Noma Maggie Lidz for Newsweek

Noma's five-week pop-up restaurant in Tokyo has a waiting list of 60,000, holds 56 people and has two daily seatings where diners can feast on a 14-course meal that includes langoustine speckled with black ants, shaved monkfish liver and cuttlefish "soba" with a bowl of pine broth and rose petals.

Noma's 37-year-old chef and founder, René Redzepi, took on the challenge of Tokyo because it was foreign to him and has such a rich food culture. "Even though we're considered a success, you sometimes can be so comfortable in your success that you stop seeing opportunities and stop seeing possibilities. The pop-up is a shake-up," Redzepi said.

Noma Tokyo’s first course is a raw langoustine sprinkled with frozen wood ants foraged from the Nagano forrest. The juice pairing is made of pine, apple and a Japanese citrus called sour kabuso. Maggie Lidz for Newsweek