It felt like going to war…
The head chef at the world’s most prestigious restaurant has issued a grovelling apology after dozens of former staff accused him of bodily, verbal and psychological abuse — just days before the opening of his extremely anticipated $1,500-per-person pop-up in Los Angeles.
René Redzepi, who based Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, turned a culinary famous person after opening his eatery in 2003. It was ranked best in the world by Restaurant magazine a file 5 instances between 2010 and 2021, and was awarded three Michelin stars.
While whispers of bullying and unhealthy conduct have long threatened to overshadow his glittering profession, the star chef has beforehand denied bodily abusing employees, instead claiming he might have “bumped” into them.
But in a bombshell investigation revealed by The New York Times on Saturday, 35 former staff say they witnessed Redzepi punch staff in the face, jab them with kitchen implements and slam them against partitions.
“Going to work felt like going to war,” one ex-employee told The Times. “You had to force yourself to be strong, to show no fear.”
Redzepi responded to the claims in a assertion, saying: “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. To those who have suffered under my leadership, my bad judgment, or my anger, I am deeply sorry and I have worked to change.”
René Redzepi, who based Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, turned a culinary famous person after opening his eatery in 2003. Getty Images
Noma was ranked best in the world by Restaurant magazine a file 5 instances between 2010 and 2021, and was awarded three Michelin stars. Corbis via Getty Images
After opening Noma, Redzepi received prompt accolades for his “New Nordic” delicacies, with a focus on hyper-local foraged meals, including wild berries and forest mushrooms.
The restaurant once served reindeer mind custard coated in bee pollen, which garnered worldwide headlines and made the restaurant a bucket-list vacation spot for the wealthiest and most highly effective people on the planet.
But in the back kitchen, cooks say they have been terrified and traumatized by Redzepi, who also allegedly engaged in physique shaming and public ridicule.
Staff are seen in the Noma kitchen in 2021. Acts of alleged abuse passed off between 2009 and 2017, 35 former staff told The Times. AFP via Getty Images
Inside view of the Noma restaurant, that includes a eating room with wood tables, chairs, and lighting fixtures.
The restaurant turned a bucket-list vacation spot for the world’s richest and well-known, thanks to dishes such as reindeer mind custard. AFP via Getty Images
One feminine chef told The Times that Redzepi punched her in the ribs so onerous that she fell against a steel counter, cutting her hip on its nook. The incident left her bleeding and crying on the ground.
A male chef said Redzepi would often take his anger out on all staffers, even if they’d not made any errors.
“He just went down the line and punched us in the chest…even the interns who had been upstairs picking elderflowers,” the ex-employee alleged, recalling one explicit occasion.
30 former staff said bodily abuse carried out by Redzepi and other senior cooks was “routine.”
As a boss, Redzepi purportedly presided over a kitchen in which senior cooks would intimidate and abuse their subordinates. Many have been scared to depart or converse out for worry that they’d be blacklisted from working at other exclusive eateries.
“He raised a generation of bullies, and they bullied us,” Mehmet Çekirge, who labored as a Noma intern in 2018, told The Times.
The Turkish native said supervisors mocked his accent, called him a donkey and made gobbling sounds as he walked by.
Ex-employees interviewed by The Times said they witnessed the abuse happen between 2009 and 2017.
Redzepi supplied up an apology in a assertion to The Times, after beforehand denying that he had bodily abused any of his staff. AFP via Getty Images
The Times report comes after a whistleblower web site, noma-abuse.com, was set up last month by former Noma fermentation lab lead Jason White.
White compiled a digital file of horror tales from 56 employees and the positioning has acquired more than 9 million web page views in two weeks.
A Noma spokeswoman said the company has been overhauled and now has formal HR systems and management training in place.
In 2023, Redzepi announced he deliberate to close Noma to commit consideration to other initiatives, including global pop-ups.
Next week, Redzepi’s Los Angeles pop-up will open at the historic Paramour Estate in Silverlake.
A 16-week stint working from March 11 through June 26 offered out in minutes despite the eye-watering price tag of $1,500 per particular person.
However, a protest held by former staff is deliberate exterior the event on opening night time, with individuals purportedly set to call for accountability and a re-evaluation of Noma’s popularity.
It threatens to overshadow the superb eating festivities and rattle the deep-pocketed diners who paid 4 figures for the coveted delicacies.
In his interview with The Times, Redzepi tried to distance himself from the upcoming pop-up, saying he stepped away from main day-to-day service.
He added that he has undergone therapy and has “found better ways to manage” his anger.
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