Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, a much-praised tasting-menu restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, has been closed since July, when its chef, César Ramirez, was fired by the owner amid a legal battle over the finances and future of the enterprise.
Now the owner, Moneer Issa, says he has hired two European chefs who have worked at the restaurant to replace Mr. Ramirez.
Mr. Issa said Monday that Max Natmessnig, 35, a native of Austria, will be co-executive chef with Marco Prins, 37, who hails from the Netherlands. Both chefs have worked at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe and the United States; they have worked together in Europe and at Chef’s Table.
“Max and Marco are two of the best chefs in the world,” Mr. Issa said. “They’re going to impress a lot of people.”
Mr. Issa said he planned to reopen the restaurant on Oct. 4 with the new chefs. In the meantime, his dispute with Mr. Ramirez is playing out in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
Mr. Ramirez has sued Mr. Issa and the restaurant’s holding company, Manhattan Fare Corporation, claiming that he was arbitrarily fired and defamed, and is seeking tens of millions of dollars in unpaid wages and other damages. Mr. Issa has responded in court filings that he dismissed Mr. Ramirez because the chef had stolen company property, including dishware, oven parts and cases of expensive wine.
Mr. Ramirez said in a text message on Monday that on the advice of his lawyers, he would not comment on the matter or discuss his next move. The New York Post reported last month that he had signed a lease on a 5,000-foot space at 333 Hudson Street in Manhattan.
Mr. Ramirez was a star presence at Chef’s Table, personally serving each customer at the restaurant, in the back of a supermarket at 431 West 37th Street. Diners paid $430 for a multicourse tasting menu executed with lapidary precision. The restaurant, which first opened in Brooklyn in 2009, received three stars from The New York Times; the Times’s restaurant critic, Pete Wells, ranked it No. 6 on his recent list of New York City’s best.
Could the two new chefs generate the same excitement? Interviewed on Monday, Mr. Prins called Mr. Ramirez a great chef and considered him a mentor. “But we’re a new generation,” Mr. Natmessnig said.
He said he and Mr. Prins planned to create a “more positive” atmosphere than the reportedly stringent, autocratic regime imposed by Mr. Ramirez. An article published Friday by Business Insider reported that several employees said he could be angry and abusive on the job.
“There can be fun and warmth,” said Mr. Natmessnig, who most recently was the chef at Alois-Dallmayr Fine Dining, a restaurant in Munich, Germany, with two Michelin stars. Mr. Prins has been head chef and consultant at Grace in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The two chefs said they planned to maintain the restaurant’s 13-course menus. “Tasting menus are our natural habitat,” Mr. Natmessnig said.
The sleek kitchen underwent renovation several months ago, and is somewhat less industrial-looking now. There are 18 seats at the counter, and more seating at six tables. Reservations require a $200 nonrefundable deposit. A spokesman for the restaurant said that deposits from those whose reservations could not be honored because of the closing had been refunded.
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