The dark side of fine dining is getting harder to ignore

(CNN) — When chef René Redzepi issued an apology to staff for past behavior and announced he was stepping away from Noma, one of the highest-rated restaurants in the world, the news made big headlines — but was anyone really surprised?

Yes, Redzepi had one of the biggest fine-dining reputations to lose. As the culinary force behind the Danish foraging revolution, he had risen to global prominence turning diners onto a world of flavors harvested from forests and foreshores, then tweezered into delicate dishes.

But in an era of superstar chefs celebrated for unbridled passion and exacting standards, the revelation that another among their ranks had been accused of toxic behavior — with a report by The New York Times alleging that Redzepi punched employees, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls — will, for many, simply reinforce preconceptions of life in a Michelin-starred kitchen.

Yet the reaction from the fine-dining world has been significant. Some chefs and industry figures described the moment as a potential turning point — a long-overdue reckoning with a culture that has, for decades, blurred the line between discipline and harm in pursuit of culinary greatness.

Some are already predicting an unsettling time in the industry as fingers point at other chefs with questionable reputations. And that could have further repercussions for an industry already stretched as rising prices eat away at profit margins and scare away customers.

“This is kind of a watershed moment for our industry, because we’re all thinking through this in real time,” Adrienne Cheatham, a James Beard Award-nominated chef and co-host of “The Chef’s Cut” podcast said during a recent episode. Such behavior had been “kind of swept under the rug for so long.”

“This is causing a lot of us to look back at stuff that we went through, people that we worked for, past behaviors. And it’s also probably going to cause some people to examine the way they behave and say, ‘Oh sh**, is somebody going to come for me next?’”

‘Silence doesn’t get us anywhere’

While not everyone in the industry is convinced, there have been reports of chefs and restaurant owners becoming increasingly concerned about similar narratives coming out and anecdotal tales of restaurants now pre-emptively screening workers for behavioral red flags.

Whatever the consequences, Hassel Aviles, co-founder of the nonprofit hospitality and food industry advocacy group Not 9 to 5, feels it’s important that these stories are shared.

“I think if you’re scared, that says a lot,” says Aviles, who previously spent around two decades working in the hospitality industry. “Why wouldn’t we want people to come forward and share stories of their lived experience working in this industry?

“The problem is, silence doesn’t get us anywhere. That’s why it’s been this way for so long.”

Before Redzepi, others have also been called out for creating hostile kitchens, prompting periodic calls for reform and, occasionally, consequences.

In 2015, French chef Yannick Alléno denied allegations of physically abusing and bullying staff at Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris. Tom Kitchin, one of the youngest chefs ever to be awarded a Michelin star, suspended two members of staff from his Edinburgh restaurants in 2021 following allegations of “unacceptable behavior.” The action prompted the leading United Kingdom chefs’ union, Unichef, to call on Michelin to consider rescinding stars awarded to restaurants where abuse occurred.

‘Going to war’

But the system that allows such behavior to persist tends to go unexamined. There’s an acceptance that Michelin-starred kitchens are places that produce extraordinary food through extraordinary pressure, where suffering is often equated with culinary dedication.

A 2022 study of Michelin-star chefs found that bullying and physical abuse were often normalized as part of professional development. Those who survived often wore their experiences as a badge of honor.

“Chefs who neglected to suffer had little claim to membership of the culinary community, in the truest sense,” said Robin Burrow, a former lecturer in management and organizational behavior at the UK’s Cardiff Business School, who co-authored the study. “They were not true and proper chefs.”

In one case, a chef described getting “food thrown in your face” after making mistakes, adding that he would experience vomiting and diarrhea before starting a shift, as “the body assumes that it’s going to war.”

“What surprised us in our study was the importance of where chefs worked in the context of cultures of bullying, violence and aggression,” added Burrow.

The structure of many of these kitchens reinforces that mindset. Modeled on the rigid hierarchy of the classic brigade de cuisine, or kitchen brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier in the late 19th century, it creates a power imbalance that could allow chefs to mistreat their staff without consequence.

“The idea behind the brigade system is to prioritize efficiency above all else,” says Aviles. “The idea was to keep people in their places. To keep order in the kitchen, and it’s just been used in such a dangerous way … There’s other ways to organize professional kitchens.”

A broken system

Some chefs insist that working under demanding, even harsh, conditions is a choice — a necessary step in pursuing excellence.

It’s an argument that surfaced again in the wake of the Noma allegations.

“It was mentally and physically challenging, without question,” award-winning chef Ali Dey Daly wrote on Instagram, describing his formative kitchen experiences. “But it was also my choice to be there, to learn, to grow, and to be part of high-performing teams striving for excellence.”

He added that such experiences “contributed greatly to the professional and the person I am today,” arguing that “the highest levels of excellence are rarely born from comfort” but through “discipline, sacrifice and standards that few are willing to endure.”

Daly acknowledged that some complaints of toxic behavior were valid but did not necessarily indicate a broken system.

“Those voices deserve to be heard with seriousness and humanity,” he added. “But we should also be careful before tearing down those who have given so much to elevate an entire profession.”

The image of the volatile, exacting chef has also been reinforced — and, at times, celebrated — in popular culture.

Kris Hall, founder of The Burnt Chef Project, a nonprofit focused on mental health in the hospitality industry, points to the “caricature of Gordon Ramsay” in shows like “Hell’s Kitchen.”

“That dramatization of how a kitchen is supposedly run in sort of a degrading, aggressive manner does seem to have become almost an accepted way,” he says. Millions of viewers have laughed along at this behavior while watching these shows for entertainment, he adds. “They’ll tune in regularly for it. Yet the reality is that it is happening in real life.”

Hall says the question of whether this is due to individuals “trying to emulate that behavior” or a lack of understanding of how to “run an effective, productive kitchen that values the individuals that work in it,” is a longstanding debate.

“But I definitely don’t think it helps,” he adds.

Brutal economics

More recently, the comedy-drama “The Bear,” has depicted kitchen life in ways that some in the industry find uncomfortably accurate.

“I could barely get through ‘The Bear,’” Genevieve Yam, who graduated from International Culinary Center, wrote in an article for Bon Appetit. “Not because I thought it was bad television — but because it was the most accurate portrayal of life in a restaurant kitchen I’ve seen in a while. It was so accurate that it was triggering.”

There are signs that the industry is shifting, particularly as more kitchen workers voice concerns over behavior they’ve experienced or witnessed.

“There’s a lot of people coming out who have experienced either psychological or physical harm within those environments,” The Burnt Chef Project’s Hall says.

“Which, in some cases, has become culturally the norm or accepted. But through the work that we’ve done over the last seven years, we’re certainly starting to see a change that is showing that people are recognizing that these environments are unsustainable.

“They are not conducive to health and to wellbeing, and also the profitability and the commercial aspects of running an organization.”

For Hall, working environments that “run on a fear and a school-of-hard knocks culture” are simply unacceptable, “especially when they’re having such a profound impact on human beings within the sector.”

He notes that at Michelin star level, the “smallest mistake can make the biggest difference” and those who’ve “put their life, drive and passion ahead of everything else” will likely expect the same of their teams.

“I think as a result of that, people who are running these environments lose sight of the fact that they’re working with human beings that require respect and where abuse shouldn’t be tolerated…” Hall adds, before stressing that these are in “increasingly isolated cases.”

“In reality, whilst that is the case for some organizations and some individuals, what we’ve actually seen is that it’s not the majority, it’s the minority, and it is a rapidly changing culture within hospitality.”

Others echo that sense of progress. “I think those days are gone, and rightfully so,” English chef Simon Rogan said in a 2023 interview, referring to the normalization of abusive behavior in kitchens. “The movies and dramas are entertaining, but they aren’t a true picture of what’s going on in the industry these days.”

At the same time, the underlying pressures of fine dining remain intact. Michelin stars, global rankings and the increasingly brutal economics of high-end restaurants continue to reward precision, control and consistency at an intense level.

‘We’re all complicit’

Market forces work both ways, though. As Hall points out, the hospitality sector has been experiencing both a recruitment and economic crisis since the global pandemic, with a “mass exodus of individuals leaving the sector looking for other working opportunities.”

“I think operators are starting to realize now that whilst they’ve put their time, effort and money into creating the most memorable experiences for diners, they’ve inadvertently left their teams behind,” he says. “And it’s actually the teams who need that investment in time.”

Aviles has also noticed some significant changes in recent years, pointing to social media as one of the key influences.

‘I think we’re heading in the right direction, which is what gives me hope,” she told CNN. “I think younger generations are way more intolerant of putting up with what I had to deal with.”

However, she feels that there is too much focus on short-term solutions. “If we really want to progress in this industry, I think we need to focus less on individuals and really start looking at this as an industry-wide problem,” she adds.

“Really start re-examining the brigade system influence … Really talk to trade organizations … It’s on so many different levels. It’s not just on one restaurant and one chef. These stories exist everywhere.”

It’s unclear what’s next for Noma — sponsors American Express and hospitality company Blackbird reportedly cut ties with Noma’s Los Angeles pop-up following the allegations against Redzepi. A spokesperson for the restaurant earlier told CNN that it had “made meaningful changes to transform our culture and workplace over the last several years.” CNN has reached out to Redzepi for comment.

Redzepi’s decision to step back has been cited by some as evidence of progress.

“I think René’s is the first time where we’ve actually seen someone admit and take action based on their previous actions,” Hall says.

And while Hall accepts that “you wouldn’t have to dig too hard to find the old-school culture lurking,” he remains optimistic about the future.

“I think that the industry as a whole is changing, and that people are starting to be better leaders and treat people with the dignity and respect that they deserve,” he says.

For Aviles, it will take action not only from the industry itself, but everyone who comes into contact with the world of fine dining.

“I really believe we’re all complicit in how we got here,” says Aviles. “Including myself. There were a lot of times I stayed silent about a lot of things that I saw and experienced. And I think that even diners play a role. You vote with your wallet, and I think it’s important to ask questions.”

But questions of accountability remain. An apology by itself does not address the circumstances that allowed the behavior to occur or the structures that may allow it to continue elsewhere.

“You can break things in minutes,” Redzepi told staff during his exit speech. “And to build it up again can take forever. Please, please, please, please, fight. Be in this.”

Whether the industry’s latest reckoning leads to change may depend less on individual chefs than on the systems that continue to reward them.

Vivian Song contributed to this article.

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