Chef Gordon Ramsay, right, speaks to reporters during a cooking demonstration at restaurant 'Laurier Gordon Ramsay' (now Laurier 1936) in Montreal, Tuesday, August 9, 2011 as head chef Guillermo Russo looks on.Graham Hughes/THE CANADIAN PRESS
The next episode of Gordon Ramsay's Canadian foray might aptly be called Hell's Courtroom.
The trash-talking celebrity TV chef has filed a $2.7-million lawsuit against the owner of a landmark Montreal chicken joint who broke ties with him last month.
Mr. Ramsay is suing Danny Lavy, his former associate in the restaurant long known as Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ, and his holding company, for $2.25-million in lost licence fees through 2016 along with $500,000 in damages for defamation.
Mr. Lavy cancelled his contract with Mr. Ramsay and abruptly renamed the restaurant to remove any reference to the foul-mouthed chef in February, saying he'd contributed little since he helped reopen the restaurant to much fanfare six months earlier.
Mr. Ramsay says he was to be paid $48,214 per month to lend his name, likeness and recipes to the restaurant.
The suit details how Mr. Ramsay was not responsible for operations or management, but offered frequent consultations by his staff on basic restaurant operations.
Mr. Lavy has not filed a defence to the allegations, and he declined an interview request. His lawyer, Suzanne Côté, said Mr. Lavy "intends to contest the allegations with vigour."
Both Ms. Côté and Mr. Ramsay's lawyers point out the lawsuit is part of a wider dispute between the two sides. Mr. Lavy owns a company called Sensio Inc. that had a license to manufacture Ramsay-named kitchenware in the United States and Canada in 2009.
Mr. Lavy filed a lawsuit over the licence in Cook County, Illinois, last October. Neither side would disclose the precise nature of the dispute Wednesday, and the court records Mr. Lavy broke his Laurier BBQ agreement with Mr. Ramsay "as part of the wider fall-out between the parties, rather than any genuine believe (Mr. Ramsay) is in breach of the agreement," the claim says.
Neither side, including Mr. Lavy's lawyer in Illinois, would elaborate on that dispute Wednesday.
Mr. Ramsay, the host of the popular restaurant reality show, called Hell's Kitchen, made a 24-hour media blitz when the restaurant was relaunched in August.
Long a faded family eatery, the restaurant relaunched as Laurier Gordon Ramsay had undergone a $1.5-million facelift. It suddenly became busier than it had been in years, even if the signature barbeque chicken had changed little.
On Feb. 15, Mr. Ramsay's name was abruptly scrubbed from every menu and the sign out front. The restaurant was renamed Laurier 1936, after the year it was founded.
In court documents, Mr. Ramsay says his agreement with Laurier BBQ was supposed to last 10 years, and contained only three escape clauses. The agreement could be cancelled by either side if the restaurant went bankrupt, if it failed to earn $4-million in net sales over five years, or if one of the parties breached the agreement.
Mr. Lavy has said Mr. Ramsay broke his end of what was actually a six-month consulting contract by failing to make regular visits or offer much advice.
Mr. Lavy showed "a fundamental lack of understanding of (Mr. Ramsay's) obligations," the chef's statement of claim says.
Les Perreaux