Immigrant dishwasher becomes co-owner of world's top restaurant

An immigrant dishwasher at one of the world's best restaurant was recently promoted to the status of co-owner after working there for 14 years.

Ali Sonko, fondly called the "heart and soul" of Denmark's Noma restaurant, is now a partner at the Michelin starred eatery.




Noma's chef and co-owner Rene Redzepi said it was "one of the happiest moments" to announce that Sonko was to become one of his new business partners, saying it was in recognition of his hard work and enduring smile, The Guardian reported.



"Ali is the heart and soul of Noma. I don't think people appreciate what it means to have a person like Ali in the house. He is all smiles," Redzepi told Danish newspaper Berlingske.

On his part, Sonko described his experience at the Noma a happy one and his co-workers as "the best people" and "good friends", who showed him enormous respect and were always there for him.



Sonko emigrated to Denmark from the tiny West African country of Gambia and joined the restaurant, which has two Michelin stars to its name, when it opened in 2003. Since then, Noma has been named the world's best four times by Restaurant magazine and three times in the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best.



The restaurant recently closed its doors, as it plans to reopen at a new location in December this year. Chef Redzepi shared the news on Instagram with a picture of Sonko and new co-owners Lau Richter and James Spreadbury.

"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. This is only the beginning, as we plan to surprise several more of our staff with a piece of the walls that they have chosen to work so hard within," Redzepi's post read.

This isn't the first time 62-year-old Sonko has made news. In 2012, when Noma won the title of World's Best Restaurant for the third time, Sonko came to be known as "the most famous dishwasher in the world" after making the acceptance speech in front of global media.