René Redzepi, founder and celebrity chef at the iconic Danish restaurant Noma, has stepped down from his post following allegations of abuse and assault at the Copenhagen landmark
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — René Redzepi, founder and celebrity chef at the iconic Danish restaurant Noma that won three Michelin stars and other international accolades for its innovative “New Nordic” cuisine, has stepped down from his post following allegations of abuse and assault at the Copenhagen landmark.
Redzepi has been dogged for years by reports of mistreatment of his staff as well as his yearslong use of unpaid interns to staff the pricy restaurant, which was ranked first on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List five times. But the criticism recently came to a head on social media, and an article in the New York Times detailed former employees’ accounts of abuse just days ahead of the opening of a Noma pop-up in Los Angeles.
Sponsors have since pulled their funding for the Southern California residency, which opened Wednesday to a small gathering of protesters and where a meal will cost diners $1,500. Redzepi announced his resignation on Instagram with a tearful video soon after.
“I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years,” he wrote in the post’s caption Thursday. “I recognize these changes do not repair the past. An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”
Jason Ignacio White, a former head of Noma’s fermentation lab, collected anonymous testimonies of alleged abuse at the restaurant and posted them to his Instagram page. The accounts, which range from verbal abuse to physical assault at the hands of Redzepi and his deputies, have gone viral.
“I got punched in the face during service there,” one unnamed person wrote to White.
Another said: “Noma destroyed my passion for the industry. I struggled with intense anxiety, bad enough to give me panic attacks in the middle of the night. The trauma, abuse and idea that nothing would ever change all led me to walk away from the career.”
Redzepi was knighted in 2016 to Denmark’s Order of Dannebrog by then-Queen Margrethe II.
Noma, Redzepi and the Danish royal family’s press department did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday. __
Dazio reported from Berlin.
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