Explaining the brigade system

On March 11, the 5-time World’s Best Restaurant, Noma, began a 3-month Los Angeles residency. The vanguard establishment of New Nordic Cuisine, was finally available to Americans without an international flight. All-inclusive bookings—sold out well ahead of opening day—went for $1500 per person.

Diners, arriving in luxury vehicles with tinted windows, anticipated the hyper-local, painstakingly presented menu designed by Noma’s celebrated chef René Redzepi. But first, they had to make it past the protesters. They held signs that said, “Noma broke me,” “Prestige is not a paycheck,” and “No Michelin stars for violence.”

The allegations of psychological and physical abuse by Noma’s Redzepi weren’t exactly news. They came to light in drips and drabs over the last decade or so. What’s more, the hostile and often violent environment of commercial kitchens at all levels of service has become fodder for TV and film. But Noma LA provided an event to organize around, a point of focus for demanding attention, action, and restitution.

There are a bunch of reasons I wanted to dive into this story on What Works. First, this is a labor story. It’s about what’s acceptable and what’s not when it comes to how we work and why we work. Second, and closer to my literal home, it’s a topic that my husband Sean is super passionate about, having spent the bulk of his working years in restaurants before I rudely relocated him to central Pennsylvania.

Last Thursday, I texted him a link to one of many stories about Noma by New York Times food writer Julia Moskin, and said, “We need to do an episode.” So here we are.

Sean and I talked through his own experience in restaurants, his long-time interest in the Noma project, what we understand of the past abuse at Noma, the response from Redzepi, and how this all ties in with the constructions of work-life we all experience.

Spoiler: it’s a story about hierarchy and making sure everyone is in the “right” place.

Footnotes:

• Read the essay version of this episode.
• Read Julia Moskin's reporting at the New York Times (all gift links):
  • On the abuse allegations
  • On industry responses
  • On René Redzepi's decision to leave
• The Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen
• "Noma Abuse" website created by One Fair Wage
• "What Noma did next" by Kieran Morris in The Guardian (2020)
• Making It by Ellen Meiser
• "Culture of the Kitchen" by René Redzepi in Lucky Peach (2015)
• "Essays on Marx's Theory of Value" by I. I. Rubin
• Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
• The Story of Capital by David Harvey

• (00:00) - Most Expensive Meal
• (05:56) - A Brief History of Noma
• (10:40) - Work-Life in the Kitchen
• (15:47) - The Brigade System
• (23:08) - Abuse Allegations Against Rene Redzepi
• (48:54) - Unpaid Labor