Chef René Redzepi announced he will “step away” from Noma, his lauded Copenhagen restaurant, and has resigned from MAD, the community-building nonprofit he founded. The chef’s announcement follows dozens of recently resurfaced abuse allegations as well as a protest today outside the gate of Noma’s L.A. pop-up in Silver Lake.
The announcement came after a dizzying five days of developments related to the $1,500-a-seat pop-up in L.A. that Redzepi announced since last summer and was sparked after a Saturday report in the New York Times detailing past allegations of abuse in the lauded restaurant’s kitchen in Denmark.
The pop-up opened Wednesday afternoon for its first guests with a small gathering of protesters outside calling for more accountability and higher wages for restaurant workers.
Anonymously submitted allegations of physical and verbal abuse began appearing on Instagram last month when a former Noma staff member used his own account to platform and post them. On Saturday, the report by the New York Times detailed accounts of alleged abuse under Redzepi between 2009 and 2017, including stabbing, punching, intimidation and threats of retaliation.
Redzepi responded with a public apology posted on Saturday.
On Monday, representatives for the restaurant told L.A. Times the 16-week pop-up would continue as planned. Then on Tuesday, key sponsors of the event withdrew support and offered refunds to their customers.
By Wednesday late afternoon, following a protest of Noma L.A.’s official launch, Redzepi posted another statement, this time to his Instagram stories, writing that “an apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”
“The Noma team today is the strongest and most inspiring it has ever been,” he said in his statement. “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 L.A. 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 has always been bigger than any one person. And this next step honors that belief.”
A representative for the restaurant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was unclear whether Redzepi would remain an owner. Redzepi previously announced that he was leaving day-to-day restaurant service and instituted practices such as paying interns and establishing a new human resources system.
Late Wednesday morning, roughly a dozen protesters filed out of a long white shuttle bus. Exiting first was White, who carried a black, white and pink sign that read, “Noma broke me” in bold letters.
Others filed out holding signs such as “René, your ‘genius’ is built on broken dreams,” “No Michelin stars for violence” and “Unpaid labor built your empire.”
They’d come to Silver Lake to protest Noma’s pop-up, which officially kicked off a multiweek L.A. residency inside the historic Paramour Estate with lunches and dinners priced at $1,500 per seat.
White co-hosted the protest with worker-advocacy nonprofit One Fair Wage. During the protest White — along with other members of the restaurant industry, including Bé Ù chef-owner Uyên Lê — took to the microphone to demand systemic change in hospitality.
White read an open letter to Redzepi, which included a list of demands co-authored by One Fair Wage. The letter called for accountability and reparations, and gave Redzepi 24 hours to respond. White then placed the letter in the gate of the pop-up’s estate, where it remained for hours.
By afternoon, a stream of Cadillac SUVs with tinted windows delivered Noma guests through the gate.
Multiple diners, who requested anonymity for fear of public backlash, told the Los Angeles Times by phone this week that they were aware of the allegations but planned to keep their reservations.
One diner, who works in the hospitality industry and is flying across the country to attend the pop-up and visit friends, is keeping his seat. After reading the allegations, he said he grappled with the decision and discussed it with his dining group.
“For all of us who work in the industry or adjacent to it, we all have done this mental math,” he said. “We all know about the dirty secrets in restaurants, and we make this decision. … The people that we’ll be interacting with, they’re not at fault. There’s more to a restaurant or business than just the figurehead up top.”
The group decided to attend the dinner, but not post about it on social media.
Another protest organized by White and One Fair Wage is scheduled for Thursday afternoon outside of the Silver Lake estate.
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