The dishwasher at one of the world's best restaurants is now its co-owner

A chef inside a kitchen.
(Image credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Ali Sonko started the day as a dishwasher at Copenhagen's Noma restaurant, and ended it as co-owner.

See more

Sonko, a 62-year-old father of 12 who moved to Denmark from Gambia 34 years ago, has been with Noma — named the best in the world four times by Restaurant magazine — since it opened in 2003. Noma is moving to a new location and opening as an urban farm, and during a party to celebrate the occasion, chef René Redzepi announced Sonko's new role. He was rewarded for his hard work and dedication, and Redzepi said it was "one of the happiest moments of my time at Noma" when he told Sonko the news.

It came as a major shock. "I cannot describe how happy I am to work here," Sonko told the Danish website BT. "These are the best people to work with and I am good friends with everyone. They show enormous respect towards me and no matter what I say or ask them, they are there for me." Redzepi also made two other employees partners in the business — the restaurant's service director and its manager.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.