René Redzepi, the co-founder of Copenhagen's three-Michelin-starred restaurant Noma, is stepping away from daily operations following explosive allegations of workplace abuse that have rattled one of the world's most celebrated dining establishments.
The New York Times detailed claims that Redzepi "punched employees in the face, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls," among other forms of mistreatment. Former employees reported that Redzepi inflicted physical and psychological harm, citing incidents from 2009 to 2017.
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. "Beneath the glamour and stars, workers being pushed beyond their limits, workers being punched and choked, workers being humiliated and dreams being broken," said White.
The timing of the revelations proved damaging. Both of the event's major corporate sponsors, American Express and Blackbird, backed out of sponsoring Noma's anticipated Los Angeles pop-up, which opened this week with meals priced at 1,500 US dollars. Reservations for the 16-week residency reportedly sold out in less than three minutes, though protesters from the wage advocacy group One Fair Wage gathered outside the Paramour Estate on opening day.
In a statement acknowledging the allegations, Redzepi said he did not recognise all the details in the accounts but acknowledged his past behaviour had caused harm. "An apology is not enough. I take responsibility for my own actions," he said. Redzepi told pop-up staff that he had made the decision to step away from the project "in order to make sure you guys are feeling 100% safe".
The allegations are not new. In 2008, Redzepi was captured on camera screaming at cooks in the documentary "Noma at Boiling Point", and in a 2015 essay for MAD, Redzepi wrote that he had previously been a "beast" who bullied subordinates and questioned how to rectify kitchens with screaming and physical abuse.
A 2022 Financial Times investigation reported that the restaurant employed approximately 30 unpaid interns alongside 34 paid chefs, with interns working up to 70 hours per week; a 2023 Vice report found that roughly half of Noma's 60-person kitchen staff were unpaid. In October 2022, Noma began paying all of its interns, a change that added an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 US dollars per month in labour costs.
The restaurant has announced several workplace reforms in recent years. Noma has taken steps to transform its workplace culture, implementing paid internships, a four-day work week, HR hires, leadership training, and an external workplace audit to ensure safe, modern operations. Yet Redzepi acknowledged that "these changes do not repair the past".
Redzepi also resigned from the board of MAD, the Copenhagen-based nonprofit organisation he founded in 2011. It remains unclear whether his departure from daily operations at Noma will affect his ownership stake in the restaurant.
Noma held three Michelin stars before it stopped regular service in 2024. Noma is now a "giant lab" dedicated to food innovation.