Imagine dining on �edible plastic� made from algae and collagen from fish skins. While you ingest the dish, ocean-borne plastic pollution seemingly floats above you, projected across the restaurant�s huge domed ceiling. It�s an experience � and dish � inspired by large garbage patches found in our seas.

In�Denmark, chef�Rasmus Munk�doesn’t offer dishes at the Alchemist restaurant. Instead, he whisks guests on an �immersive dining experience� combining performance, music, projections in its planetarium-like domed dining room, and, of course, food.

Opened in 2019 at the site of a former industrial harbor area in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, Alchemist was named the world�s fifth-best restaurant in 2025. It has two Michelin stars, signifying excellence in cuisine, out of a maximum three possible for one establishment.

Guests at this restaurant can experience 50 �impressions,� most of them edible. Dining there means trying various foods � a large eyeball dish featuring caviar and codfish eye gel, nettle butterflies served atop cheese and artichoke leaves � over many hours, in a slow process that invites reflection on the food and surrounding projections.

�We convey messages through our food, our food is our medium of expressing ourselves,� said Munk, whose dishes also explore issues such as state surveillance and animal welfare.

Gastronomy as art

Once known for bacon, herring, and rye bread, the Scandinavian country�s cuisine has been in ascendancy since 2003 when Ren� 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.

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.

A dining destination

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 Herv� This.

The Nordic nation of 6 million people has become a dining destination, home to 37 Michelin-starred restaurants, including Copenhagen�s two-star Kadeau, which was opened in 2011 by head chef and creative director Nicolai N�rregaard.

�I approach it like I would approach making a piece of art, like an artwork or a piece of writing,� N�rregaard said. �It�s about getting sort of an experience.�

The 46-year-old head chef, whose recipes reference the seasonal flavors of Danish island Bornholm, said that such recognition would be a �big step.�

�To acknowledge that this can also be looked upon as art � that�s what�s important for me,� he said.

‘It doesn�t make any sense’

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.�

Some in Denmark�s art scene also have expressed concern that such a change might see greater competition for funding between chefs and more traditional artists like painters.

Holger Dahl, the architecture and art critic at Denmark�s 277-year-old Berlingske newspaper, is more blunt: �I think it�s quite silly, there�s no use, it doesn�t make any sense.�

�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,” he said. “It doesn�t happen.�

(AP)