The head chef of the wildly popular Noma restaurant has resigned on the first day of its limited Los Angeles run following a protest from former employees accusing René Redzepi of violent abuse.
On Wednesday, Noma’s LA pop-up — charging $1,500 per dinner — began its 16-week run. But excited foodies weren’t the only ones drawn to the Danish restaurant’s opening day.
The protest, led by former employees, disrupted the opening. One former employee reportedly held a sign saying ‘Noma Broke Me’. A few hours later, Redzepi made a post on social media saying he was stepping down from his position.
“After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I decided to step away and allow our extraordinary leaders to now guide the restaurant into the next chapter,” Redzepi said in a social media post.
He assured diners that the restaurant’s team “is the strongest and most inspiring it has ever been.”
“This team will carry forward together into our LA residency, which will be a powerful moment for them to show what they’ve been working toward and to welcome guests to something truly special.”
Former employees spoke to the The New York Times about the alleged abuse and violence they experienced during Noma’s more than 20-year run.
“Beneath the glamour and stars, workers being pushed beyond their limits, workers being punched and choked, workers being humiliated and dreams being broken,” Jason Ignacio White, the former director of fermentation at Noma, said during the protest, according to NBC Los Angeles.
He demanded a change in management at the restaurant.
“The restaurant has violated the rights of employees over many years; restoring these employees’ rights would be necessary but not sufficient. Noma must change its management and employee policies to comply with both legal and moral obligations to the broader restaurant community,” he said, according to the NYT.
In his resignation post, Redzepi said that he has “taken big steps to transform the culture over many years.”
“I recognize these changes do not repair the past,” he wrote. “An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”
In the wake of the NYT exposé, a pair of major sponsors pulled away from Noma’s LA pop-up.
American Express and Blackbird, a hospitality start-up, backed out of their partnerships with the restaurant, according to the NYT and Expedite, a restaurant news publication.
“René’s past practices, by his own admission, were unacceptable and abhorrent,” Blackbird founder Ben Leventhal told the paper. “We cannot lean on time elapsed and rehabilitation claims when these things resurface.”
One 2014 incident, described in the NYT’s report, details Redzepi allegedly punching an employee reportedly after forcing the entire kitchen staff out of the restaurant to watch him humiliate a sous chef who had put on techno music.
In another incident, he allegedly punched a female employee in the ribs after he saw her using her phone, which he prohibits for staff during their serving hours.
In 2015, Redzepi published an essay admitting that he had been a “beast” to some of those he employed. He also offered an apology via a statement to the NYT.
“Although I don’t recognize all details in these stories, I can see enough of my past behavior reflected in them to understand that my actions were harmful to people who worked with me,” the chef said. “To those who have suffered under my leadership, my bad judgment, or my anger, I am deeply sorry and I have worked to change.”
