*Noma is a two-Michelin-star restaurant run by chef René Redzepi in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ali Sonko, an immigrant from the Gambia, will become a partner in the establishment when it reopens in December, Redzepi announced this week.
via CNN:
“It gives me incredible joy to let the world know that our restaurant managers Lau and James, and our dishwasher, Ali, have become partners in NOMA,” Redzepi said Tuesday on Instagram. A spokesperson for the restaurant declined to disclose the financial terms of Sonko’s partnership.
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Sonko, 62, has been working as a dishwasher at the restaurant for more than a decade. Opened in 2003, Noma is known for its reinvention and interpretation of the Nordic Cuisine. In 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, it was ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine.
Redzepi described the dishwasher as the “the heart and soul of Noma” when announcing the news to staff, according to Danish newspaper Berlingske.
“I don’t think people appreciate what it means to have a person like Ali in the house,” Redzepi said. “He is all smiles.”
Prior to opening Noma, Redzepi worked in the kitchens of famous restaurants elBulli and The French Laundry.
Noma closed its doors last month, but will reopen at a new location with a new menu.
A video posted by Redzepi on Instagram shows Sonko removing a letter from the restaurant’s sign.
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