Club Monaco: Noma restaurant opens a concept store

Copenhagen restaurant Noma will be hosting a pop-up event with premium retailer Club Monaco.

The restaurant currently ranked the best in the world by Restaurant magazine has partnered with the clothing brand to open a temporary boutique that will allow diners to shop for crisp button downs and woolly sweaters before or after their two Michelin-starred Scandinavian meal, reported Style.com.

Open through March 13, the concept store will feature men’s and women’s apparel from the retailer owned by Polo Ralph Lauren, vintage books from the Strand bookstore in New York, and handcrafted art works from Brooklyn, added The Wall Street Journal.

The collaboration comes off a five-week pop-up event that saw chef René Redzepi transplant his kitchen staff in Copenhagen to the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo.

The Tokyo project also resulted in a retail opportunity for the restaurant, which opened an online boutique selling used forks and spoons at up to $200 a pop.

Local, artisanal artists, potters and chefs were commissioned to create tableware, cutlery and earthenware specifically for the event.

The Club Monaco store is open until March 13.

While at first blush the collaboration may seem incongruous, it’s not uncommon for high-end fashion designers to make their foray into restaurants.

Ralph Lauren, for instance, has Ralph’s Coffee in New York; Roberto Cavalli has branded restaurants around the world including Florence, Dubai and Miami; and Armani has restaurants in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Cannes.