The celebrity chef of Noma, one of the world's most influential restaurants, responded Saturday to abuse allegations that resurfaced ahead of the launch of his sold-out Los Angeles pop-up, sparking discussions about working conditions and exploitation in the high-end restaurant industry.
Former employees and interns detailed allegations of physical and verbal abuse by Danish chef René Redzepi in a article published by the New York Times. Redzepi became a Copenhagen restaurant figurehead as well as a global authority on gastronomy, fermentation and foraging since founding Noma in 2003.
The report comes after former Noma employee Jason Ignacio White, who previously ran its fermentation lab, last month began posting allegations of abuse on Instagram by others who had also worked at the restaurant. White is organizing a protest of the Los Angeles pop-up, which begins in Silver Lake on Wednesday.
The New York Times story focused on accounts from 35 former employees, including alleged cases of “psychological abuse, including bullying, body shaming and public ridicule,” as well as stabbings, punches, kicks and workplace retaliation that occurred between 2009 and 2017.
Many of the accusations were known from previously published accounts.
Both Redzepi and Noma representatives say these allegations reflect the restaurant's past and not its current state, and that the organization installed multiple systems, including new human resources practices, intern pay, and “better hours and time off,” when allegations surfaced years earlier.
On Saturday morning, the chef responded to the article with an online post apologizing to those affected. He noted that he has been open about his history of abuse in the past and has since sought therapy and stepped away from Noma's “daily service.”
In an essay from 2015 wrote: “I've been a bully for much of my career. I've yelled and pushed people. I've been a terrible boss at times.”
A Noma representative said in an email Saturday that the restaurant has “improved the process to address concerns” and is conducting an ongoing independent audit of its practices.
“I knew I needed to change and I wanted to change,” Redzepi wrote Saturday on Instagram. “Since then, I have decided to understand my anger and deal with it differently… The organization we are today is very different than the one we had in the beginning. I am grateful for our team and the way they have helped transform our cooking culture and their dedication to moving the industry forward.”
He added: “I can't change who I was then. But I take responsibility for it and I will continue working to be better.”
The investigative story appeared days before Noma begins a 16-week pop-up in Silver Lake, with tickets priced at $1,500. Tickets sold out almost instantly, with Redzepi posting on Instagram in January that they “sold out in 60 seconds.”
A pop-up store for Noma products like coffee and hot sauce is also planned in Los Angeles. Noma has also held two collaborative pop-ups, first at Courage Bagels and then in Holbox, with the goal of making its cuisine more accessible to Angelenos.
White plans to lead a protest against the pop-up co-organized with the wage advocacy nonprofit One Fair Wage. According to an email from One Fair Wage, organizers will send a letter to Redzepi “calling for dialogue, reparations for harmed workers, and structural changes to address exploitative labor practices that advocates say are widespread throughout the restaurant industry.”
White declined to comment on the protests or accusations before the New York Times article was published and could not be reached for comment Saturday after its publication.
She later posted on her personal Instagram stories: “History will be made in Silver Lake… Together we will fight violence and exploitation. This is just the beginning. We will take back our entire industry.”
