Mr. Seibel owns the Serendipity chain of restaurants and invested $800,000 to open Fat Cow together with Ramsay in September 2012 based on a 50/50 partnership.
Ramsay insisted on naming the new venture Fat Cow, although he knew that this would create trademark issues with a Florida restaurant that already had rights to the same name in Spanish — Las Vacas Gordas.
According to court papers, Ramsay assured Seibel not to worry about the name, bragging, “Don’t worry, I’m the trademark queen”.
But less than two years after opening, Ramsay announced — without consulting his partner — that he would shutter Fat Cow, citing the trademark problems.
According to the lawsuit, Ramsay also used his personal interior decorator for the LA space and turned the restaurant into a TV studio for his reality show “Hell’s Kitchen”.
In his lawsuit, Seibel states: “Ramsay fraudulently induced Seibel to invest over $800,000 in Fat Cow Restaurant — an investment that went towards an expensive build-out of the lease space with a new kitchen, new fixtures and furnishings, and to train the restaurant staff — but then intentionally forced Fat Cow Restaurant to close so that he could use Seibel’s investment to benefit another Gordon Ramsay restaurant”.
The lawsuit also claims that the celebrity chef is planning to reopen a second eatery in the same location with the same staff – under the name “Gordon Ramsay at the Grove” or “GR Roast”.
Seibel wants his investment back plus $10 million in damages for Ramsay’s “egregious misconduct, fraud, self-dealing and theft of corporate opportunity.”
A Ramsay spokeswoman responded: “We’re surprised that Mr. Seibel has the audacity to file this ridiculous suit when he and his team were responsible for the day-to-day running of The Fat Cow and spectacularly mismanaged it, resulting in a string of financial and legal issues. Gordon Ramsay and his team immediately stepped in and tried to resolve these issues, but Seibel refused to engage in any meaningful conversations, rendering the restaurant unsustainable.”
According to the lawsuit, Ramsay also used his personal interior decorator for the LA space and turned the restaurant into a TV studio for his reality show “Hell’s Kitchen”.
In his lawsuit, Seibel states: “Ramsay fraudulently induced Seibel to invest over $800,000 in Fat Cow Restaurant — an investment that went towards an expensive build-out of the lease space with a new kitchen, new fixtures and furnishings, and to train the restaurant staff — but then intentionally forced Fat Cow Restaurant to close so that he could use Seibel’s investment to benefit another Gordon Ramsay restaurant”.
The lawsuit also claims that the celebrity chef is planning to reopen a second eatery in the same location with the same staff – under the name “Gordon Ramsay at the Grove” or “GR Roast”.
Seibel wants his investment back plus $10 million in damages for Ramsay’s “egregious misconduct, fraud, self-dealing and theft of corporate opportunity.”
A Ramsay spokeswoman responded: “We’re surprised that Mr. Seibel has the audacity to file this ridiculous suit when he and his team were responsible for the day-to-day running of The Fat Cow and spectacularly mismanaged it, resulting in a string of financial and legal issues. Gordon Ramsay and his team immediately stepped in and tried to resolve these issues, but Seibel refused to engage in any meaningful conversations, rendering the restaurant unsustainable.”
Stay tuned!
