René Redzepi

When he was young, Redzepi's family moved to Yugoslavia and lived near the small city of Tetovo until 1992, the start of the Yugoslav Wars. Redzepi has said that he found life there very enjoyable compared to his time in a small apartment in Denmark. Redzepi lived in a rural area in a large multi-generation house where the family ate locally sourced food, most of it vegetarian and nutritious.

While Redzepi was still a youngster, the family moved back to Denmark, but he often spent his summers in Yugoslavia.

When he was 15 years old, Redzepi left high school and enrolled in a cooking school with a friend.

Returning to Copenhagen, Redzepi began working at Kong Hans Kælder, one of the city's leading gourmet restaurants. In 2001, he spent four months under the supervision of Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, a restaurant in Yountville in California's Napa Valley, but returned to Kong Hans Kælder and Copenhagen. He said that this comes from his time living in Yugoslavia, where food was local and fresh. Much of the approach to the menu and food at Noma is based on seasonal themes and what is available at the time. Redzepi also focuses on fermentation and dehydration, experimenting with using as much of plants, meat, and fish as possible. Redzepi has occasionally served insects.

In 2011, Redzepi co-founded MAD, a non-profit organization and symposium focused on the future of food and the restaurant industry. The annual MAD symposium in Copenhagen brings together chefs, scientists, and writers to discuss topics including sustainability, kitchen culture, and the ethics of the food industry.

In January 2023, Redzepi announced that Noma would close as a traditional restaurant at the end of 2024, transitioning instead to a food innovation lab focused on developing new products and hosting periodic pop-up events.

In March 2026, The New York Times published a report detailing allegations of abuse committed by Redzepi against his employees between 2009 and 2017. Redzepi announced his resignation from Noma on 12 March 2026. He also resigned from the board of MAD.

Abuse allegations and criticisms of workplace culture

In a 2015 essay published in Lucky Peach magazine and carried on the MAD Feed website, Redzepi wrote: "I've been a bully for a large part of my career. I've yelled and pushed people." He described entering a state of "absolute rage" over minor mistakes and having witnessed chefs "get slapped across the face" in professional kitchens.

Noma's reliance on unpaid interns has drawn scrutiny from multiple media outlets. A 2022 Financial Times investigation found that the restaurant employed up to 30 unpaid interns alongside 34 paid chefs, with the interns working up to 70 hours per week while paying for their own housing in Copenhagen. A 2023 Vice investigation reported that approximately half of Noma's 60 kitchen staff were unpaid.

When Redzepi announced in January 2023 that Noma would close as a traditional restaurant, he told The New York Times: "It's unsustainable. Financially and emotionally, as an employer and as a human being, it just doesn't work."

In 2026, an article by The New York Times detailed accusations of abuse by Redzepi from 35 former Noma employees: "Between 2009 and 2017, they said, [Redzepi] punched employees in the face, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls. They described lasting trauma from layers of psychological abuse, including intimidation, body shaming and public ridicule." One female chef recalled being punched by him for using her smartphone to lower the volume of music after a guest requested it. She stated that the force of the blow made her fall against a metal counter, leaving her on the floor, bleeding and in tears. Another chef alleged that Redzepi crouched out of view of patrons, just inside the kitchen, and stabbed workers in the calves and thighs with a barbeque fork for perceived inefficiencies of service as they entered from the restaurant floor. It was also alleged that Redzepi used his influence in the culinary world to threaten employees and their families. According to the Times, Redzepi created an institutional culture of abuse at Noma that continued after 2017, while senior managers of the restaurant continually failed to address the mistreatment of employees and unpaid interns.

Awards and accolades

2006: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 33rd Best Restaurant in the World 2007: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 15th Best Restaurant in the World 2008: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 10th Best Restaurant in the World 2008: TripAdvisor, Best restaurant in the world 2008: Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia conference (San Sebastián, Spain), International Chef of the Year 2008–2020: Michelin Guide – two stars 2009: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 3rd Best Restaurant in the World 2009: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Chefs' Choice 2010: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World 2011: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World 2012: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World 2012: TIMES 2012 100 Most Influential People in the World 2013: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 2nd Best Restaurant in the World 2014: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World 2015: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 3rd Best Restaurant in the World 2016: The Catey Awards International Outstanding Achievement 2016: Bestowed Knight of The Order of the Dannebrog 2016: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 5th Best Restaurant in the World 2019: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – 2nd Best Restaurant in the World 2021–2025: Michelin Guide – three stars 2021: The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Restaurant – Best Restaurant in the World

Filmography 2008: The Great British Menu (TV series) – 1 episode: Heston Blumenthal's Dinner at the Gherkin 2008: Noma: A Boiling Point / Noma pa Kogepunktet (TV documentary) 2009: MasterChef (TV series) – 1 episode: #5.32 2010: Three Stars (TV Movie documentary) 2010: MasterChef: The Professionals (TV series) – 1 episode: #3.16 2010: Noma at Boiling Point (TV Movie documentary) 2012: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (TV series documentary) – 1 episode: Japan: Cook It Raw 2012: The Mind of a Chef (TV series documentary) – 3 episodes: Rene, chef, Buddies 2013: La última película (documentary) 2014: Finding Gaston (documentary) 2015: Noma: My Perfect Storm (documentary) 2016: Ants on a Shrimp (documentary) 2016: Noma: Australia (TV series documentary) – 3 episodes: #1.1, #1.2, #1.3 2018: How to Dine at René Redzepi's new noma (Without a Reservation) (short) 2018: Ugly Delicious (TV series documentary) – 3 episodes: Tacos, Homecooking, BBQ 2024: Somebody Feed Phil (TV series documentary) – 1 episode: Kyoto 2024: The Bear (TV series) - 1 episode: "Tomorrow" 2024: Omnivore (TV Series)

Works and publication Books

Journals

Documentaries