Noma Star Chef Rene Redzepi’s Abusive Tactics Resembled Those of a Cult Leader
📖 Full Retelling
As L.A. prepares to host the world-renowned restaurant's $1,500-a-night pop up, Hollywood may find revelations of the creative visionary's violent temper all too familiar.
Entity Intersection Graph
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment On the eve of its $1,500-per-person Los Angeles pop-up, which starts Mar. 11, Noma — often ranked the world’s top restaurant — has been exposed as a creative institution that built and sustained its reputation on physical and psychological workplace abuse. The New York Times investigation , published Mar. 7, came as no surprise to the fine dining world. Star chef Rene Redzepi’s misconduct had long been an open secret. In fact, he’d himself disclosed more than a decade ago in an essay that he’d “yelled and pushed people” at Noma, explaining, “I’ve been a bully for a large part of my career.” Related Stories TV What Shawn Hatosy Learned About 'The Pitt' After Directing His First Episode TV 'Somebody Feed Phil' Moving to YouTube From Netflix in 2027 The revelations detail how Redzepi would assault and degrade employees in the pursuit of his exacting standards. This included punching underlings, striking them with kitchen implements and slamming them against walls — as well as threatening, according to the Times , “to use his influence to get them blacklisted from restaurants around the world, to have their families deported, or to get their wives fired from their jobs at other businesses.” The chef has since apologized. What’s most telling is how Redzepi enacted a collective punishment theater at his restaurant in Copenhagen, which is known for revolutionizing Nordic cuisine with its emphasis on foraged ingredients and innovative fermentation techniques. His staff was forced to witness degradations against employees he believed had failed him. This complicity ritual — common in gangs, cults and other authoritarian organizations — lessens the likelihood of dissent. I’ve long covered fine dining for The Hollywood Reporter . Yet Redzepi’s dark dy...
Read full article at source