(Manfred Klimek / animated pic: Runwayml)
Updated: 12.3.2026
Many are saying now: “We should have known”. As so often. But should we have known? That behind the hype surrounding the Copenhagen restaurant Noma – and the larger-than-life chef René Redzepi of ten years ago – raw violence was also lurking? For years, the restaurant was regarded as the heartbeat of the global avant-garde culinary scene. Anyone who wanted to know where cuisine was heading looked north. “New Nordic” was not a trend, but the fashionable Bobo attitude. And René Redzepi was more than a chef – he was a dazzling, sought-after media figure. Since 2023, after Noma’s not-quite-closure, it has been known that employees were also humiliated in the kitchen, in Redzepi’s presence, for example: “tie them naked to a chair and mock them”. This behaviour had consequences on 12 March. Redzepi stepped down as Noma’s chef; a board is to decide on his shares in Noma. Redzepi will probably leave Noma completely.
The allegations are nearly three years old. In mid-February, however, the case flared up again: the whistleblower and former Noma employee Jason Ignacio White began publishing evidence of Redzepi’s actions, which will probably also prompt the Danish public prosecutor’s office to act. What is now set to come to light is maximally disturbing: suspicion of moving money into Swiss accounts, suspicion of favouring the family – and, naturally, renewed suspicion of coercion and massive violations of Danish occupational safety laws. This was followed by an in-depth investigation by the New York Times into conditions at the Copenhagen restaurant – at the worst possible time for Redzepi, who was opening a Noma outpost in Los Angeles at the time. Redzepi and his family naturally continue to benefit from the presumption of innocence regarding certain allegations not admitted by Redzepi, such as moving money to Switzerland.
What was celebrated as a culinary empire has suddenly come under immense moral pressure. Jason White reports on exploitation, extremely harsh working conditions, unpaid internships and a system that allegedly spoke of passion but was structurally based on self-exploitation. And not only in the kitchen. Front-of-house staff, security guards and gardeners are also speaking out. The allegations concern the entire structure.
I remember well how profoundly Noma changed the way we thought about food. Fermentation as an art form. Foraging as a philosophy. Mosses, ants, wild herbs – everything became a form of culinary expression. The restaurant topped rankings for years, won awards and redefined aesthetic codes. Only Michelin remained somewhat sceptical amid all the hype; the “Nestlé restaurant guide”, “50 Best Restaurants”, on the other hand, shot Noma like a rocket into the culinary heavens and must also face the question: did nobody ever speak to the employees?
Alongside this fame, another discussion had already been under way ten years ago: it became public knowledge that many so-called “stagiaires” – interns who came from all over the world to become part of this myth – worked full-time, often without adequate pay. For many, this meant long days, physically demanding work, high living costs in Copenhagen – and financial pressure. Access to haute cuisine was thereby effectively restricted to those who could afford to work without an income.
This was not an exclusively Noma-related problem. The entire fine-dining industry operated according to this model for a long time. But Noma was the most visible symbol – and therefore also the most visible test case.
Another question arose: does excellence necessarily have to be created through harshness? For decades, haute cuisine was shaped by hierarchies, pressure and shouting. Redzepi has also admitted in interviews that in earlier years he led with anger and harshness and had to work on himself. At the time, this was interpreted as a sign of cultural change. But apparently that change never took place.
The latest allegations suggest that the structural problems run deeper. If the complaints concern not only chefs but the entire environment of a restaurant, then this is no longer about kitchen style. It is about human architecture. About the foundation of a system.
Noma responded in 2023; it had to respond. Interns were paid. Processes were changed. And finally came the announcement: the classic restaurant model would be discontinued after 2024. Instead, there would be seasonal projects, research and product development – Noma 3.0. That is not what happened.
Officially, this was a planned development. A creative step. But it can also be read differently: as an admission that the economic model of haute cuisine no longer works. If even one of the most celebrated restaurants in the world can barely manage to reconcile high standards and fair working conditions in the long term, what does that say about the industry as a whole? Is that really the truth, one that corresponds to reality? Is there no other way? Or is it perhaps simply the case that Redzepi, as the allegations now being made public suggest, did amass a great deal of money and move it to Switzerland?
Perhaps we are witnessing the end of an era. An era in which genius and boundary-pushing served as justification. In which passion was used to compensate for overwork. In which “being allowed to be part of it” was sold as payment.
What concerns me less is the fall of a myth. Myths come and go. What concerns me is the question of how much we, as guests, have supported this system. We wanted perfection. We wanted uniqueness. We wanted the feeling of being part of something significant. And so many very good, new independent winemakers wanted to – indeed, had to – be on Noma’s wine list. Were they also dictated terms and did they accept them? For the Noma bonus?
Excellence has a price. And perhaps now, for the first time, we are seriously asking who pays it.
Redzepi recently spoke a great deal about his new, ingenious Noma 3.0. That is now in the past. His business pulled the emergency brake after sponsors withdrew in the USA. For the name Noma is now tainted by corruption. Whether this will change so quickly after Redzepi’s departure, the year will show. But one thing can be presumed: Noma is history. And it ended with a fart.