Noma's star chef quits after claims that he hit and bullied staff

Danish superchef Rene Redzepi—whose Noma restaurant was long regarded as the world's best—said he was stepping down after allegations that he abused and bullied staff for years.

Cooks were punched, publicly shamed, or humiliated, several former staff who said they suffered or witnessed abuse told the New York Times, which said it talked to 35 former employees.

"I've decided to step away," Redzepi said in an Instagram post that acknowledged past problems. 

"Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years," Redzepi said in the video that showed him apologizing to the staff, some of whom were holding back tears.

"I recognize these changes do not repair the past," the 48-year-old added.

"An apology is not enough. I take responsibility for my own actions."

His resignation comes as a new pop-up Noma restaurant opened in Los Angeles.

The world of haute cuisine is currently confronting mounting accusations about the treatment of staff at top restaurants.

'Bully' confession

The chef—who trained at the Spanish restaurant El Bulli, also once considered the world's best, and at French Laundry in California—has previously admitted to losing his cool. 

In 2015, he said in an essay: "I've been a bully for a large part of my career."

In February, the former head of Noma's fermentation lab, Jason Ignacio White, started posting about abuse he had witnessed while working at the legendary restaurant.

He also relayed stories sent to him by other former employees.

"Noma is not a story of innovation. It is a story of a maniac that would breed a culture of fear, abuse & exploitation," White said on social media. 

He was among a group of former staff members who protested at the Noma pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, where Redzepi had been due to take charge. 

They carried signs reading "Noma broke me" and "No Michelin stars for violence," along with calls for Redzepi's resignation.

Noma, which specializes in modern Nordic cuisine with fermented ingredients, has three Michelin stars.

The Copenhagen establishment was named the world's best restaurant in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2021 by Restaurant magazine.

An acronym formed from the Danish words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food), Noma first opened in a converted warehouse on a quay in central Copenhagen in 2003.

It closed in 2016 and reopened two years later in a more remote neighbourhood of the Danish capital.

Redzepi insisted in his message that Noma would remain open and that its current team was the "strongest" that it had ever been. 

He also said the Los Angeles project would be maintained, but without him at the helm.

Outside a Noma shop in Copenhagen, Estonian tourist Kaisa Erm said Redzepi had made "the right decision" to go.

If he had stayed, it would have given the impression that "the culture wouldn't change and that we're condoning it," said Annie Nguyen, a 31-year-old American.

But she doesn't think Redzepi's actions "should discredit the works and culinary experimentation they've been doing."

However, Danish food critic Jesper Uhrup Jensen, said Noma cannot be separated from its emblematic chef. 

"Noma is an extremely famous brand, so they will try, but everything was built around him," he told AFP.