Former Noma employee and rising star of Danish cuisine dead at 32

Young chef succumbed to stress

The Danish culinary industry is in mourning after one of its young stars, Martin Bentzen, was found dead at his home in Shanghai, China last week.

Bentzen – a former chef at world-renowned Copenhagen gourmet restaurant Noma – apparently died of stress at the young age of 32. Bentzen worked as the head chef at the Napa Wine Bar in Shanghai.

”Our former sous chef Martin Bentzen died suddenly yesterday – rest in piece old friend," Rene Redzepi, the head chef of Noma, wrote on Facebook.

"You will be missed tremendously! Thank you for everything that you've done for us. Thank you for being such a friend and leader. May your last journey be a good one."

READ MORE: Aarhus finally gets some Michelin stars

One last trip
According to Bentzen's sister Nina, the family has needed to raise at least 100,000 kroner in order to have his remains transported back to Denmark.

After several stressful days, that has now been accomplished thanks to donations from Napa Wine Bar and other generous people in the culinary industry and beyond.

”This means that I can concentrate on mourning and I now know that Martin is coming home,” Nina Bentzen said on Facebook.

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