The Danish chef of the world-renowned restaurant Noma announced his resignation Wednesday, hours after a protest over allegations he abused employees began outside its pop-up in Silver Lake.
“The recent weeks have brought attention and important conversations about our restaurant, industry, and my past leadership,” René Redzepi wrote on Instagram. “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.
“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 into its next chapter. I have also resigned from the board of MAD, the nonprofit organization I founded in 2011.
“For anyone wondering what this means for the restaurant, let me say it clearly: 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 guests to something truly special.
“Noma’s mission for the future is to keep exploring ideas, discovering new flavors, and imagining what food can become decades from now. Noma has always been bigger than any one person. And this next step honors that belief.”
Protest organizers attempted Wednesday to deliver a letter to Redzepi calling for dialogue, reparations for workers who say they were harmed and broader structural changes to address what advocates describe as exploitative labor practices in the restaurant industry.
“For over two decades, the culture surrounding René Redzepi and Noma has been celebrated without confronting the true harm countless workers have experienced behind the curtains,” Jason Ignacio White said during the protest.
White organized Wednesday’s demonstration with the wage-advocacy nonprofit One Fair Wage. He previously headed the restaurant’s fermentation lab.
The demonstration coincided with the start of Noma’s 16-week pop-up residency. Tickets were priced at about $1,500 per person. Reservations sold out almost immediately after they were released earlier this year.
“Beneath the glamour and stars, workers being pushed beyond their limits, workers being punched and choked, workers being humiliated, and dreams being broken,” White said.
The Copenhagen, Denmark-based restaurant, founded in 2003, has been ranked among the best restaurants in the world and is widely credited with helping popularize New Nordic cuisine, including the use of fermentation and foraging.
Allegations involving Redzepi resurfaced after a report Saturday by The New York Times detailed accounts from former employees describing psychological abuse, intimidation and other mistreatment.
American Express, Blackbird, a new loyalty-point dining platform, and the booking platform Resy pulled their partnership with Noma and cancelled high-profile members-only dining events during the 16-week pop-up residency in response to the allegations of abuse.
White began posting allegations from former Noma employees and others on social media last month and said the protest aimed to highlight broader labor issues in the fine-dining industry.
Redzepi responded to the allegations Saturday in a statement posted online, apologizing to those affected and acknowledging past behavior.
“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,” he said in the post. “To those who have suffered under my leadership, my bad judgment, or my anger, I am deeply sorry and I have worked to change.”
Noma did not respond to requests for comment.
However, a representative for Noma told the Los Angeles Times, “We respect the right to protest peacefully and agree it is important to talk about the culture and standards in our industry. Noma has participated in this dialogue for many years and taken strides to improve. We recognize change should have come sooner, and for that we are sorry.”