Sawt Falasteen - Noma co-founder quits after abuse allegations

"After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I've decided to step away," Redzepi said in an Instagram post that acknowledged past problems.

A protest was held on Wednesday at the opening of a Noma pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles where Redzepi had been due to take charge.

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

The New York Times published a story at the weekend with witness testimony of past abuse at Noma in Copenhagen, including punches thrown and public shaming.

The paper said it had interviewed 35 former employees about the period between 2009 and 2017.

Noma, which specialises 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.

Its meals can cost several hundred dollars.

"I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years," Redzepi said in a video that showed him apologising to staff.

"I recognise these changes do not repair the past," the 48-year-old said.

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

Redzepi has also stepped down from a charitable foundation he set up.

- 'Bully' confession -

The master chef 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 Noma.

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 culture of fear, abuse & exploitation," White said on social media.

He was among former staff members who protested in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

An acronym formed from the Danish words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food), Noma first opened on 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.

After leaving school at 15, Redzepi trained in Copenhagen and later at the Spanish restaurant El Bulli -- also once considered the world's best -- and at French Laundry in California.

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.

R.Shaban--SF-PST