Alchemist, the two-Michelin-star restaurant ranked the fifth best restaurant in the world by The 50 Best Restaurants, is entering a brand-new chapter. Rasmus Munk, named Best Chef in the World in 2024 and 2025, has christened this new phase Intermission, a five-month break designed as a period for research, artistic development, and experimentation.
Alchemist’s regular service will be paused starting in December, and the restaurant plans to reopen sometime between late April and early May 2027, with the exact date still to be confirmed, unveiling a completely new menu and a fully reimagined experience.
© @rasmusmunkalchemistAN ‘INTERMISSION’ TO RESEARCH, CREATE — WITH THE ENTIRE TEAM ON PAYROLL
Alchemist is not closing due to a lack of diners. Quite the opposite. It’s one of the most in-demand restaurants in the world. Since opening in its current location in 2019, reservations have been fully booked, and it has more than one million people on its waiting list.
© @restaurantalchemistMunk’s idea is something else entirely: stop “producing” for a few months to have real time to create. The Danish chef wants to bring into gastronomy a model that’s common in fields like theater, music, and the arts, where research and rehearsal periods are part of the creative process before a work reaches the public. For this concept, Munk has taken inspiration from his idol Ferran Adrià and ElBulli, adapting it to his own universe. “Instead of constantly creating between services, we’ve given ourselves five months to really go deeper,” the chef explained as he presented his new model.
© @restaurantalchemist“Intermission is not a vacation for the team,” Munk emphasized, describing these five months as a kind of laboratory in which the kitchen and front-of-house teams will work on new ideas, while the research and technology team explores fresh ways to connect with guests. Alchemist will keep 100% of its staff, more than one hundred employees from over 37 different nationalities, who will continue to receive their regular salaries even though the restaurant won’t be offering its conventional service.
Munk’s goal is for everyone to be directly involved in the restaurant’s transformation. He believes the team’s cultural diversity can become a powerful source of inspiration for new creations, weaving their memories, techniques, flavors, and knowledge into the creative process.
© @restaurantalchemistINDIA, JAPAN AND A LAB THAT NEVER SLEEPS
The research trips Munk already takes throughout the year will now have their own place in the calendar. He plans to travel to India and Japan with members of his team to immerse themselves in different culinary cultures.
© @rasmusmunkalchemistDuring the Intermission, Alchemist will also welcome leading figures from the restaurant world and from other fields, including some that seem far removed from the kitchen, who will bring new perspectives to the creative process. The aim is to broaden the restaurant’s sources of inspiration and discover new ways to build the experience that guests will enjoy when Alchemist reopens. The research won’t be limited to food alone. The so‑called Alchemist Studio Team will also be working on the next generation of immersive and interactive technology, one of the hallmarks of the restaurant’s concept.
A NEW MENU, NEW PRICES AND A LOOK INSIDE ALCHEMIST’S INNER WORLD
When the restaurant opens its doors again, guests will find a completely new menu, redesigned art installations, and fresh immersive projections. The transformation will also extend to the check. At Alchemist, the experience will now have a fixed price that includes food and drinks, plus the aperitif and coffee or tea. The final figure has not yet been announced.
© @restaurantalchemistCurrently, the menu costs around 750 euros, not including drinks, and the full experience with different pairings can exceed 2,000 euros. The new system is designed to bring all of those elements together under a single price. Munk insists that the goal is not to increase the final cost for guests, and points out that more than 70% of diners already choose one of the seven wine or beverage pairings available.
The first details shared about the new model mention a mandatory drinks package starting at 3,000 Danish kroner, about 400 euros, although the final price of the full experience has not yet been confirmed.
© @restaurantalchemistDuring the Intermission, the doors won’t be completely closed. The plan is to organize behind-the-scenes tours so that students, young food lovers, and visitors can discover the restaurant’s creative universe. These visits will offer a glimpse into Alchemist’s research spaces, show how the immersive experience is built, and reveal some of the stories behind its creations. Guests will also be able to taste flavors and drinks from past seasons.
THE LAST SERVICE AT ALCHEMIST WILL BE IN NOVEMBER
Before embarking on this new journey, November 2026 will be the last month to experience Alchemist as it is today. From November 6 to 22, the restaurant will offer its usual experience, and from the 25th to the 29th it will host five special gala evenings, with a menu that brings back some of its most iconic dishes from the past, paired with wines from its cellar, which holds more than 10,000 bottles.
© @restaurantalchemistAfter that comes the Intermission. Five months without conventional service so that Munk and his team can fully embrace the question at the heart of this transformation: what can fine dining become? Guests will then discover this new vision, which blends gastronomy, art, technology, performance, science, and activism into an immersive journey that can last five or six hours, hours that, according to those who’ve experienced it, simply fly by.
