Unfare!
The owner of Brooklyn Fair's Chef's Table on Tuesday robbed the restaurant's former superstar chef Cesar Ramirez and his wife Adriana Rodriguez of $500,000 worth of fine wine, cookware and tableware. filed a lawsuit. That's even true of pots and pans, the Post has learned.
The lawsuit is the latest dramatic chapter in a long-running feud between Ramirez, a culinary genius described by some former employees as an overbearing taskmaster, and Brooklyn Fare owner Mo Issa. .
Last July, Mr. Issa fired Mr. Ramirez, ending a 14-year relationship that saw Chef's Table grow from humble beginnings in the back of a Brooklyn gourmet restaurant to a three-star Michelin restaurant.
Ramirez signed a deal to open a new restaurant at 333 Hudson Street last August, the Post first reported. It's not open yet.
Issa's lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn State Supreme Court by Glen Argre Bergman & Fuentes, alleges that Ramirez stole Brooklyn Fare's “proprietary” customer list in order to promote the restaurant's launch. He is accused of interfering with the store.
The lawsuit is in response to charges Ramirez filed last year, alleging that he and his wife committed “organized fraud” and “blatant theft” of wine, as well as “Devine caviar spoons” and “tableware.” He claims that he stole items such as “eggs”. Furstenberg cup. ”
“It's sad that this has happened, but we don't have a choice,” Issa told the Post.
Ramirez could not be reached for comment.
Chef's Table opened in downtown Brooklyn in 2009 and has since become one of the most exclusive restaurants in the United States. In 2016, Issa moved her 18-seat counter restaurant to 431 W. 37.th St. in Manhattan continues to receive praise from critics and customers who pay $430 for the tasting menu.
But last November, it lost its Michelin star after the pair's bitter divorce.
Issa and Ramirez had been at loggerheads over the terms of Chef's stock in the company and what Issa saw as attempts by Chef to undermine his authority.
The complaint alleges that Mr. Ramirez and his wife engaged in “secret misconduct, including corporate sabotage, in order to cause maximum financial and reputational harm to Manhattan Fair.”
Their goal, according to the complaint, was to “obtain an unjust and unfair advantage in the establishment of a long-planned competing restaurant.”
Immediately after Mr. Issa fired Mr. Ramirez, Mr. Ramirez fired his first legal salvo in the culinary feud. He accused Mr. Issa of illegally firing him, failing to pay him 17 months' worth of wages, “misappropriating” $400,000 in company funds, and maliciously closing the restaurant without warning and causing distress to customers.
Mr. Issa responded that he was “just protecting” the money from possible embezzlement by Mr. Ramirez. The judge rejected most of Ramirez's claims that Issa mishandled $400,000.
in the middle, Business Insider reported last August., Mr. Ramirez accused Mr. Issa of threatening his and his wife's lives. According to the site, Issa denied the charges, but later had police visit Ramirez's home to check for stolen items. The chef was detained for eight hours before being released.
Issa reopened Chef's Table last October with two new chefs, Max Natmesnig and Marko Prince, who previously worked there. Its 13-course “seafood-focused” tasting menu combines “international culinary traditions with classic French hauteur techniques,” according to its website.
