Abuse Allegations Cast a Shadow on Noma’s Los Angeles Residency

Just days before Noma begins its 16-week residency in Los Angeles, the New York Times published a report detailing physical and psychological abuse allegations from dozens of former employees against its chef, René Redzepi. For the story, New York Times reporter Julia Moskin interviewed 35 former employees who detailed instances of Redzepi allegedly punching cooks, disciplining employees with utensils such as a barbecue fork during service, and publicly shaming staff.

Redzepi and Noma issued separate statements via Instagram on March 7 in response to the allegations. “Although I don’t recognize all the 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,” writes Redzepi. In the statement, Redzepi apologizes to staff who suffered under his “leadership,” “bad judgment,” and “anger,” and says that he has “worked to change” through therapy, reflection, and stepping away from day-to-day service.

“These claims do not reflect the workplace Noma is today,” says a spokesperson for Noma in a statement provided to Eater. “Although the stories appear to date back many years, we take them seriously and are looking into them carefully.” The statement outlines changes that have been implemented at Noma since 2022: Noma now has a dedicated human resources team, a fully paid internship program, and improved hours. A source close to the matter tells Eater that Noma has transitioned to a four-day work week. British daily newspaper The Times reports that Noma’s human resources were previously handled by Redzepi’s mother-in-law, Bente Svendsen.

This isn’t the first time Redzepi’s alleged abusive behavior at Noma has come to light. In 2015, Redzepi authored an essay published in Lucky Peach, in which he wrote that he had “been a bully for a large part of my career” and admitted to yelling at and “pushing” people. In 2023, when Noma announced its closure and transformation into a full-time food laboratory, the New York Times reported that staff were allegedly required to work in silence, that Noma often had 20 to 30 unpaid stagiares at the restaurant, and that 16-hour workdays were the norm. In 2022, Noma began paying its interns, reports The Financial Times.

Allegations about Redzepi resurfaced on the heels of Noma’s announcement of its Los Angeles residency, which will run from March to June at Silver Lake’s Paramour Estate and cost $1,500 per person, inclusive of the menu, drinks, tax, and a hospitality fee. In February, Jason Ignacio White, a former head of fermentation at Noma, began posting screenshots of anonymous messages that detail alleged instances of physical and mental abuse at Noma. “I got punched in the face during service there,” one message reads, while another alleged that Redzepi would stab staff members under the table with a barbecue fork. In late February, White launched a website to collect testimonies from former workers about their experiences at Noma; as of March 9, the site says it has collected stories from 56 former workers. Among the accounts, a former intern alleges that they experienced verbal abuse while working at Noma; many contend that if workers were perceived to have caused a problem at the restaurant, their name would go onto an industry blacklist. Another account from an anonymous source alleges that Redzepi punched a cook in the legs beneath the open pass during service.

The New York Times, which independently interviewed former employees, further detailed allegations of abuse. Ben, a chef who worked at Noma in 2012, tells the Times that Redzepi once went down the line and punched employees in the chest while yelling expletives as a punishment, while another chef, who requested to remain anonymous, alleges that Redzepi punched her in the ribs after he spotted her using her phone; the chef says she had been using it to turn down music in the dining room at a Noma guest’s request. Mehmet Çekirge, a Turkey-born former intern, says he was mocked for his accent, called a “donkey,” and that supervisors would make gobbling sounds when he passed by. The Times reports that, even in light of alleged abusive experiences, some former employees said working at Noma had still been “worthwhile” because of what they learned and the career path it set them on.

On the first day of Noma’s Los Angeles service, White, alongside organizing group One Fair Wage, will lead a protest outside of Paramour Estate in Silver Lake beginning at 4 p.m. “For years, the culture surrounding René Redzepi and Noma has been celebrated without confronting the harm many workers experienced behind the scenes,” White writes in a statement distributed by One Fair Wage. When reached for comment, White said he would speak to members of the media further at Wednesday’s protest.

Noma and its alleged workplace abuse are not outliers in the restaurant industry. In a 2015 interview with GQ, chef David Chang said he previously would punch holes in the walls of his restaurants; in a 2020 story for Eater, Hannah Selinger describes Chang as “wrath-filled.” A research paper published in 2022 titled “Bloody suffering and durability” examines the role of suffering in high-end kitchens; the paper includes accounts from staff who allege instances such as a chef holding a knife to their throat and another chef cauterizing a cook’s bleeding cut on a stove top. In 2017, four women accused chef Mario Batali of inappropriate touching; an Eater investigation found the pattern of behavior spanned at least two decades. And in a 2021 essay for Eater, former hospitality worker Lindsey Danis wrote, “With a foot in the door, it’s easy to look past unpleasant or unsafe behavior, especially when no one else is sounding an alarm.”

As the beginning of Noma’s run in Los Angeles approaches, former employees still seek accountability from Redzepi. “If René is willing to meet, listen, and take responsibility for the harm caused, there is a real opportunity to repair that damage and move the industry forward,” White writes in the statement distributed by One Fair Wage.

Update: March 9, 2026, 2:40 p.m. PST: This story was updated with an additional statement from Noma and details on changes in the workplace.