Noma's head chef resigns amid abuse fallout as protesters gather at L.A. pop-up

LOS ANGELES — Wednesday was supposed to be an exciting day for Los Angeles’ food scene as Noma, an acclaimed restaurant, opened its doors to Southern California foodies for a 16-week pop-up experience

LOS ANGELES — Wednesday was supposed to be an exciting day for Los Angeles’ food scene as Noma, an acclaimed restaurant, opened its doors to Southern California foodies for a 16-week pop-up experience.

Instead, the opening day was marked by a protest led by former employees who claim working for Noma’s founding chef, René Redzepi, “broke” them. Hours later, Redzepi announced he’s resigning from the head chef position.

“After more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I decided to step away and allow our extraordinary leaders to now guide the restaurant into the next chapter,” Redzepi said on social media, promising fans the new team will “carry forward together” into its L.A. residency.

Noma, one of the most extravagant restaurants to have started in Copenhagen, Denmark, is enormously popular despite its $1,500-per-person price tag. All the tickets to the L.A. pop-up in Silver Lake have been sold out.

Despite having been selected as the top restaurant on the list of World’s 50 Best Restaurants, what happened behind the scenes was violent and abusive, according to former employees, as first reported by The New York Times.