Saskatoon chef to intern at world-famous restaurant Noma

A Saskatoon chef will head to Copenhagen in the fall to intern at the world-famous Danish restaurant Noma. 

Christie Peters will spend about three months honing her craft at the restaurant, which is currently offering a seasonal menu of vegetarian and vegan options.

"Noma is one of the best restaurants in the world so I'm hoping I'll be able to see how a restaurant of that calibre runs and then bring that back to Saskatoon," Peters told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning on Tuesday.

Noma has been ranked the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine, a highly regarded industry publication. It also holds two Michelin stars, a highly sought-after recognition in the restaurant world.

Peters, 35, is one of the owners of The Hollows and Primal in Saskatoon. She described the internship as a result of many small pieces falling into place.

Celebrity chef René Redzepi will be overseeing Noma during Peters' internship. Peters said she'll try and keep her cool and only speak when spoken to.

In 2017, CBC drew parallels between Peters and Redzepi in a story that explained how Redzepi was skyrocketing to stardom by focusing on fermentation and scouring his landscapes in search of hyper-local delicacies.

At the time, Peters said she had drawn inspiration from those methods and was applying it in Saskatoon.

Fast forward a few years, and Peters is now friends with the head of the fermentation lab at Noma, David Zilber, who notified her interns were being accepted. Peters was rejected last year when she asked if she could fill an intern position. 

"I just thought 'they just don't want me,'" she said. "This year, I was in Copenhagen for another work placement ... and I met with Zilber again and he offered me the internship."

Peters was elated but she was already thinking of ways to say no. The reason is Peters felt she didn't want to leave her team during a busy season. 

"As I was walking away, I had already said yes in my mind and as soon as I talked to my team, they were so excited and said 'you have to absolutely do this'," she said. 

The fermentation lab is where Peters will be working this fall. The lab, under the leadership of Zilber, researches and develops new methods to preserve food using local and regional ingredients.

Peters hopes to bring some of those methods and apply them to Saskatchewan ingredients and recipes.