Background
Norén was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He grew up in Gävle, where he attended culinary school.
Norén was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He grew up in Gävle, where he attended culinary school.
He also writes for the blog Cooking Issues, and he is a contributing authority for Food Arts magazine. He is regarded as a leader among chefs who embrace the use of new culinary techniques and scientific thinking in the kitchen to enhance traditional cooking methods (though he eschews the use of the term "molecular gastronomy"). Norén traces his love for food back to being drawn to reading cookbooks at the age of 10.
"I remember tasting flour before making cookie dough and how it was fascinating that the cookies actually tasted delicious after other ingredients were added to the plain flour before baking." Raised in a large family, Norén was able to watch his mother cook his family "a lot of food, all the time." Norén held positions in some of Sweden’s top restaurants before moving to New York City.
He served as the coordinator of cooking classes at Restaurant Akademin in Stockholm, was Executive Chef at Restaurant Riche, and Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant KB. In 1998, Norén was hired as Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant Aquavit restaurant in New York City. From 2003-2006, he served as Executive Chef.
More recently Noren has worked with Marcus Samuelson and his MSG Group (including Red Rooster Haarlem ) acting as Director of Operations and overseeing culinary development and projects, including the new Samuelsons Restaurant in Bermuda at the Hamilton Princess Hotel to be designed by New Yorkshire Parts and Labor Design Studio. He now focusses on creating and executing Restaurant Concepts globally and advising on operations within the F&B Hospitality space.