Noma's René Redzepi Teams Up With Yale University For Chefs' Leadership Institute

René Redzepi, the ever-evolving chef of Noma — the Copenhagen restaurant, named the World's Best Restaurant four times, that will transition into an urban farm by 2017— has announced yet another new project: a collaboration with Yale University.

Through Mad — Redzepi's non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the world's understanding of food and its cultural and environmental impact — the chef has partnered with Yale to develop a new "leadership institute for chefs," the university announced in a release.

Beginning with a pilot program in 2016, a group of six to eight "top chefs and food leaders" will be asked to help develop a curriculum for the institute during a weeklong summit. In 2017, the program will last two weeks and host 15 to 18 participants, selected through an application process, every two years.

"Our goal is to help chefs take action," said Redzepi. "Partnering with Yale is an opportunity to realize the potential we believe the chefs have to influence how we eat now and in the future. Combining this with the university's fantastic legacy and educational resources, we think can provide a new knowledge base — one that has often been overlooked — that will reinvent the leadership role of chefs in initiating new conversations on topics like kitchen culture, sustainability, inclusiveness, and respect."