Weeks after Noma’s world-famous chef René Redzepi announced he was “stepping away” from the restaurant amid a series of scandals, an LA shop selling their pricey goods will open up.
Northwest of downtown LA in Silverlake, the first ever-US based Noma Projects store plans to set up shop where it will sell fancy sauces and vinegars for eye-popping prices. The shop is just down the way from where the Michelin-starred Copenhangen pop-up restaurant is operating.
“Opening April 9, the shop extends the work of our Test Kitchen and Fermentation Lab — bringing our staple flavors from Copenhagen alongside new ones developed for our limited time in Los Angeles,” a post on the shop’s Instagram read.
“Built as a place to explore and taste what we’ve been working on, it’s a way to bring the flavors of @nomacph into your own kitchen.”
Some of the shocking things that stood out on the shop’s website, included a 3.38 oz bottle of their Barrel aged wild rose balsamic vinegar for $150.
“Noma’s limited, luxurious ode to Italian balsamic,” a description of the product read. “Aged in Emilia-Romagna casks and made with wild Danish roses.”
A person can also purchase a monthly Noma Kaffe subscription for $70.
The monthly subscription is described as a chance to “Join the Noma Kaffe team as we build lasting relationships with coffee farmers across the globe. Each month, you’ll receive two 250g bags, curated by our roasting team in close collaboration with our producer partners.”
Other Copenhagen goods one can get their hands on includes an 8.4 oz bottle of Mushroom Garum cooking sauce for $25 or what’s described as a nutty Pumpkin Seed praline spread for $37 for a 5.92 oz container of the stuff.
There’s also various merchandise that people can score, including books, a Noma Projects baseball cap for $42 or David Shirley Tote bag for $26, which consists of a tote that has a sketch of a tongue licking a frog on it.
The limited pop-up shop in Sunset Row will be open Thursday through Friday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sat-Sun from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., starting this week. It will run from April 9 to June 26, when Noma’s LA residency comes to an end, per the company’s website.
Last month, protestors gathered outside the shop to protest it’s opening, LAEater.com reported.
It came following the bombshell report over allegations of long hours, unpaid labor, harassment, and abusive kitchen culture at Noma against the chef.
Former staffers came forward with harrowing accounts of “psychological warfare,” claiming Redzepi’s kitchen was less of a culinary lab and more of a torture chamber.
The last post Redezpi made on his social media account was on March 11. It included an emotional video he posted telling his staff he was leaving the restaurant ahead of the LA opening that day.
Video captured the moment the visionary behind the Danish institution delivered a speech to his employees pleading with those in the room to “fight” and “find strength in each other as a team” because each of them is “running the show now.”
In his post on Instagram, the chef wrote that “after more than two decades of building and leading this restaurant, I’ve decided to step away and allow our extraordinary leaders to now guide the restaurant to its next chapter.”
In his emotional speech to his team, Redzepi said he was “sorry everyone is in this situation…I don’t think this represents our team.”
He also stressed that he’s “so proud of where” they are as an organization.
“In order to make sure that you guys are a hundred-percent feeling safe, I am going to step away,” Redzepi said. “But running of this restaurant, for now, will sit on you guys. And I really, really, really, really hope with every fiber of my body that you’ll fight for it.”
In his written statement, the chef said that “the Noma team today is the strongest and most inspiring it has ever been.”
He concluded that “Noma has always been bigger than one person. And this next step honors that belief.”
The Post has reached out to Noma for further comment.
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