Noma founder René Redzepi announced that he was leaving the restaurant as scandal engulfs the world-famous dining destination.
In a post on his Instagram account, the Danish chef said he was leaving the Michelin-starred Copenhagen restaurant on the same day it launched a 16-week residency in Los Angeles.
“After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I’ve decided to step away and allow our extraordinary leaders to now guide the restaurant to its next chapter,” the chef wrote.
Redzepi acknowledged the controversy surrounding Noma following a bombshell report detailing decades of alleged misconduct by the chef.
“The recent weeks have brought attention and important conversations about our restaurant, industry, and my past leadership,” Redzepi wrote.
“I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years. I recognize these changes do not repair the past. An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”
Rezvepi also announced that he would resign from his nonprofit, MAD, which “help[s] chefs and other professionals working in food lead the change that their industry—and the planet—need,” according to its website.
A slickly produced video posted to Redzepi’s Instagram account showed the chef apologizing to his staff as they gathered around him.
“I don’t think this represents our team,” the chef says in the clip, as the camera pans to his stunned-looking colleagues.
“In order to make sure you guys are 100 percent feeling safe, I’m going to step away,” he adds.
The visionary behind the three-Michelin-starred Danish institution has faced intense blowback over allegations of long hours, unpaid labor, harassment, and abusive kitchen culture at Noma.
Former staffers came forward with harrowing accounts of “psychological warfare,” claiming Redzepi’s kitchen was less of a culinary lab and more of a torture chamber.
In his lengthy statement, Redzepi said that “the Noma team today is the strongest and most inspiring it has ever been.”
“We’ve been open for 23 years, and I’m incredibly proud of our people, our creativity, and the direction Noma is heading.
“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 guest to something truly special.”
He concluded that “Noma has always been bigger than one person. And this next step honors that belief.”
Diners hoping to snag a table at the LA residency had to fork over $1,500 apiece for the chance to taste Redzepi’s unique gastronomic creations.
Held at the secluded Paramour Estate in Silver Lake, the pop-up began its four-month run on Wednesday as protesters descended on the property.
The demonstration was led by Noma’s fermentation chief Jason Ignacio White, who launched a whistleblower website called noma-abuse.com on Feb. 21.
The collection of horror stories aggregates testimonials from 56 staff members — ranging from sous chefs to interns — and includes a look at Noma’s financial records, leaked internal communications and testimony from current employees.
Big-name sponsors of the LA residency like American Express pulled out of the event after the allegations snowballed.
Resurfaced video from a 2014 documentary showed Redzepi humiliating staff in his Copenhagen kitchen.
In some of the clips, he is captured delivering expletive-ridden rants, putting his hands in people’s faces, shoving past a female chef and thrusting his middle finger up at a young man.
A statement from Noma Wednesday announced “an independent audit to ensure that we keep our standards high and our workplace safe.”
It outlined an organizational restructure that includes the introduction of an HR team, four-day workweeks, a pension fund for employees, staff benefits and leadership coaching, among other changes.
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