Padma Lakshmi Called Out All Restaurant Owners After Noma's Closure
If you're keeping up with news from the food world, especially in the arena of fine dining, then you've probably heard that Noma is officially closing for good. This Copenhagen dining destination, a three-Michelin star eatery that was also named the best restaurant in the world on several occasions, was headed by chef René Redzepi. But Redzepi, who has previously copped to acting like a bully toward his staff, says that the restaurant's model "just doesn't work" in many ways — "Financially and emotionally, as an employer and as a human being" (via The New York Times).
Padma Lakshmi seems to agree. As a "Top Chef" host and judge and the star of "Taste the Nation," she is something of a fine dining expert. She's even dined at Noma. But Lakshmi recently took to Twitter to share her opinions about the restaurant's closure, and she seems to see it as a wake-up call for the fine dining industry as a whole. "Sad, but it makes sense," Lakshmi said. "This way of dining is totally unsustainable." But that's not all the "Top Chef" star had to say — and her Twitter followers had plenty to chime in with, too.
Lakshmi says it's time for a change
Though the Danish restaurant Noma was renowned, some questioned what was going on behind the scenes. Much like in the American restaurant scene, where the "Me Too" movement (per the International Journal of Hospitality Management) and labor movements together are forcing big changes (via Nation's Restaurant News), the Danish restaurant industry is undergoing its own reckoning, according to the Financial Times. Many of the people working at Noma and other fine dining restaurants in the city aren't paid (instead, they have three-month internships known as stages), and one person said they worked "70-plus hours a week."
Padma Lakshmi sees this as a problem. "Burnout is the business model ... the industry is due for a change, philosophically and otherwise," she tweeted. Her remarks got a slightly mixed response from followers. Some were sad to see Noma go, but others thought Lakshmi was right on the money. "Sad??? It's a 'sweat shop' that had total impunity from the media," replied one person. Others asked if Lakshmi had seen the recent film "The Menu." "I haven't seen it," she said, "But according to all the comments here I need to." Chef Andrew Zimmern thinks it offers real insight into the industry, too, saying that "The Menu" highlights the "insanity of our food world." Now, with the closure of Noma and all of the talk about its labor practices, it would seem that perhaps fact is stranger than fiction.