Top chef loses sense of smell and ability to work after assault
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A partner and former chef de cuisine of the Michelin 2-star restaurant Chez Dominique, Matti Wikberg, is demanding compensation amounting to approximately EUR 80,000 from a man who is being charged with aggravated assault at the Helsinki District Court.
According to the prosecutor, the accused man caused Wikberg a brain injury on May Eve 2006, as a consequence of which the chef lost his ability to work, concomitant with his loss of the sense of smell.
The glorious career of the chef, now in his thirties, came to an abrupt end on Helsinki’s Tehtaankatu late on May Eve when he was walking home from a party with a close relative.
A stranger walked towards the two men and attacked them without any reason or provocation, according to Wikberg.
The prosecutor reported that the man struck Matti Wikberg in the face with his fist, whereafter Wikberg fell on his back and hit his head on the asphalt.
The man twice kicked the victim, who was lying on the ground. At this point Wikberg lost consciousness. Wikberg's relative also received a punch in the face.
Matti Wikberg was taken to hospital by ambulance.
"The doctors told me that the severity of my head injuries would become clear in a matter of months. Later it became evident that the sense of smell would not come back. It goes without saying that my career as a chef was over", said Wikberg.
It became impossible to work as a chef, as besides the sense of smell Wikberg lost also much of his sense of taste. It is not humanly possible to distinguish the aroma of food without the sense of smell.
"I have given up my job as chef de cuisine and gone more into administration. However, sometimes I also help out in the kitchen", Wikberg describes his current job.
The former chef can for instance cut meat and handle vegetables at Chez Dominique, while he cannot take part in actual cooking.
"This has been as great a change of life as anything could ever be. Over the previous ten years, I had done only cooking, nothing else. Now I have had to reconsider almost everything on which I had based my life", Wikberg reports.
Wikberg is demanding that the man charged with aggravated assault be ordered to pay him EUR 45,000 for loss of earnings, EUR 26,000 for a permanent injury, and EUR 5,000 for pain and suffering.
The defendant regards himself as a victim, claiming that he was forced to defend himself against Wikberg and his relative. However, the police and the prosecutor have not found his allegations credible at all.
The prosecutor demanded a suspended prison sentence for the defendant. The court will give its verdict next week.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 4.10.2007 - TODAY |
 Top chef loses sense of smell and ability to work after assault |
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