Denmark set to explore if gastronomy can be art form

COPENHAGEN

A dish named "Tongue Kiss" served at restaurant Alchemist in Copenhagen, Denmark, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Once known for bacon, herring, and rye bread, the Scandinavian country’s cuisine has been in ascendancy since 2003 when René Redzepi’s world-beating Noma first burst onto the scene, preaching a “New Nordic” philosophy that celebrated foraging, fermenting and Scandinavia’s seasonal larder.

Emboldened by the success of the New Nordic movement, Denmark's Michelin-starred restaurants are now asking a new question: Can gastronomy be art?

Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said in January that Denmark would explore whether gastronomy could be formally recognized as an art form. If realized, it could become the first nation to legally place cooking — or at least the highest versions of it — on a similar pedestal to painting.

It's not clear how the culture ministry’s plans will be impacted by the country’s March 24 general election.

Renowned Alchemist chef Rasmus Munk, 34, who says he spent almost a decade honing his “artistic practices,” has been a driving force behind the move and described it as a “big milestone.”

“I don’t think all food is art … I think the craftsmanship needs to be on the highest level,” he said, noting that ultimately it's a political decision what gets called art and what not and that, for now, “this is a closed society for chefs.”

The change, still in its exploratory phase, would eventually require a vote in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament to reclassify gastronomy from craft to art.

It could also make the country’s chefs eligible for state subsidies and funding from private foundations — like writers and musicians — to get their projects off the ground.

Other nations with famed food cultures, including France and Japan, haven’t made similar moves. Last year, UNESCO granted Italian cooking cultural heritage status.

Denmark has previously expanded what constitutes art and culture, for example by awarding a lifetime national arts honor to heavy metal act King Diamond. Last year, the Sonning Prize, Denmark’s largest cultural award, was awarded to French gastronomic artist and chemist Hervé This.

The Nordic nation of 6 million people has become a dining destination, home to 37 Michelin-starred restaurants

But not everyone, even some within the industry, are toasting the idea.

Nick Curtin, the American executive chef and owner of Copenhagen’s Michelin-starred Alouette restaurant, argues that art and gastronomy are fundamentally different.

“Art’s sole purpose is expression. It’s to evoke emotion. Food must be consumed,” he said. “[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.”