Norway’s top MasterChef serving the High Elite

Norway, home to some of the worlds most beautiful Fjords in the world, and known as the Land of the Midnight Sky, but most importantly salmon. They are the country to go to when you want top quality salmon, so much so that the Norwegian salmon industry is worth $5.3 billion.

The country has also produced some of the best chefs in the world, and we took the opportunity to sit down with one of them, Daniel R Madsen.

Daniel started his career at the age of 15 and has always set goals and implemented targets how to achieve them.

Today Daniel is a Norwegian celebrity chef with a mission, supplying the elite anywhere in the world, Norwegian culinary delights, and with visual impact tailored, to meet your specific requirements. His team offers the three key elements of an extraordinary Nordic dining experience – the finest ingredients, an unsurpassed passion, and the finest attention to detail.

When did you know you wanted to become a chef?

I was 15 and we had a workweek at school, and I chose a local hotel. When I saw the passion and the happiness of the staff, I was sold.

Where have you been working during your career?

I have been fortunate to use the world as my playground. My experience comes from hotels to Michelin star restaurants. I have traveled a lot with my profession, doing VIP events and appearing on local TV shows. To mention some cities, this includes Singapore, New York, Dubai, London, Moscow, Helsinki, Berlin, and Stockholm.

Where did you learn the most?

Wherever I work I learn a lot. And all experiences are good, even the bad ones. But I learned a lot at the 3-star Michelin restaurant in Bray by Michel Roux called The Waterside Inn. Here I learned about perfection and the eye for details.

Who have you entertained?

I have had the honor to entertain royal families including The Norwegian Royal family, big celebrities, singers, businesses, famous politicians, and private high net worth individuals. 

Why is Norway winning the largest Culinary competitions and why is Norwegian food so trendy?

Norway’s Culinary team and our Bocuse Dòr candidates (Bocuse D`dor, worlds culinary competition) are winning medals because of their ways of training, the support they have, their sponsors, and their mentality on flavors, textures and preparation of their ingredients.

Why Nordic and Norwegian food is trendy, I do not know, but our ingredients are special because in the cold environment our ingredients grow slowly and therefor intensifies their flavors. For those who have tasted it all, this is the new thing.

How did your TV career start?

It started not in Norway, but in France; I made French cooking programs for The Norwegian Seafood Council, on the TV channel M6, called “Assiette Norwegienne”. Showing Norway and my love for Norwegian seafood. This became huge in France. Norway’s largest TV channel TV2, saw me on Youtube and from there my TV career started.

You have meet Gordon Ramsey, what do you remember the most?

When it come s to him as a person, he is full of energy; he is a great entertainer and a great chef. During his visit we did several successful live cooking shows; this was great fun. I got to show him my city, our culinary scene and even take him fishing. But what I remember the most is when he told me,” Daniel, you don’t look like a chef, but a F**king Boyband singer”… I take that as a compliment… haha.

You have started DRM of Norway, an elite Nordic Culinary brand; why should exclusive clients use your company?

We are part of an elite gastronomic segment, created for a very small and exclusive range of discreet clients worldwide. This is a unique opportunity for them to sample exquisite seafood dishes from the land of the midnight sun, deep fjords, and majestic mountains. Such symbolic elements are important, if not crucial, to Norwegian food culture and we encapsulate them perfectly within a multisensory experience aimed at capturing the essence and emotion of the Arctic wilderness.

Have you ever been nominated or won awards?

Yes. I have, to mention a few, the “Excellence award” from the Flamingo Hilton, “Brand of the year “in France, and I was a finalist in “Entrepreneur of the year 2021” from the Royal Norges Vel and nominated in the Norwegian Emmy Awards for my TV show “Totally wild”.

The pandemic has been special and challenging for everyone, what are you looking forward to in 2022?

Yes , that is for sure. Now the time has come to create great new exclusive experiences. We are looking forward to doing events this year with our partners Xanandu Luxury Group, and especially the events that we are working on together. Xanadu Luxury Group has made me their preferred hospitality provider and I am their advisor for all of their public and private events.