Redzepi and Noma respond to allegations for the first time

NEW YORK. Shortly before the opening of the pop-up restaurant of Copenhagen's three-star restaurant Noma in California, The New York Times reported on allegations made by former employees. These allegations are directed against its founder, René Redzepi. He and Noma are responding for the first time since similar allegations became known on social media.

The report isbased on interviews with a total of 35 former employees who worked at the restaurant over a period of several years. The newspaper researched these independently of the experiences shared by the former head of the fermentation laboratory, Jason Ignacio White, and the accounts of other former employees.

According to the newspaper, the interviewees report a working atmosphere that was characterised by fear, intimidation and psychological pressure. In addition, specific allegations of physical assault are made. Former employees describe how Redzepi hit, pushed or stabbed employees with kitchen utensils. The incidents described are said to have occurred mainly between 2009 and 2017.

The New York Times describes several individual cases in detail. According to the report, employees were sometimes publicly humiliated in front of the entire team or severely punished for relatively minor mistakes. Some respondents report ritualised reprimands in which not only individuals but entire kitchen teams were held jointly responsible. Several former chefs describe working at Noma in retrospect as extremely stressful and compare everyday working life to a permanent state of emergency.

René Redzepi himself commented on the latest allegations to the newspaper, but also for the first time on social media. In doing so, he takes responsibility for his former leadership behaviour. He explained that he does not recognise every detail described, but sees enough parallels with his own behaviour to acknowledge that he has harmed employees. Redzepi apologised explicitly to everyone who had suffered under his leadership. At the same time, he described how he himself had worked in kitchens at the beginning of his career where fear, humiliation and loud voices were part of everyday life – patterns that he later adopted himself despite his intentions to the contrary. Around ten years ago, he began to speak publicly about his outbursts of anger, bad decisions and even physical assaults. As a result, he sought therapy, withdrew from day-to-day operations and worked on fundamentally changing the way he dealt with pressure and responsibility. According to Redzepi, the organisation of Noma is different today than it was in the early years. He emphasised that he cannot undo the past, but that he will continue to take responsibility and work on himself.

The Noma restaurant also stated in its own statement that the allegations currently being discussed publicly do not reflect the reality of the business today. Although the events described refer to periods further back in time, according to the company, the allegations are being taken seriously and investigated. In recent years, Noma had significantly developed its internal processes for handling complaints, which were currently being reviewed by an independent audit. At the same time, the restaurant pointed to structural changes that had been implemented in response to earlier criticism, including paid internships, improved working time and leave models, expanded social benefits, a dedicated human resources department and management development programmes. This process of change was not yet complete. Noma emphasised that it continues to work towards a safe and professional working environment and sees itself as responsible for the sustainable development of the industry.

The Noma restaurant, which has been named the best restaurant in the world several times, is considered one of the most influential establishments in modern haute cuisine. It has ceased regular operations after reports of unpaid internships and working conditions there had already been published earlier. Instead, Noma wishes to offer pop-ups in various locations around the world and to focus more on food development.