S. Samuel
Rap mogul Jay-Z's 40/40 Club $1.5 million lawsuit against a former employee has taken a spicy twist with reports now claiming the chef walked away with secret recipes.
According to reports, ex-40/40 chef Mike Shand is specifically in the hot seat over a chicken wing recipe.
Nothing comes between business associates like chicken wings. Jay-Z is suing chef Mike Shand for, among other things, allegedly stealing the 40/40 Club’s prized chicken wing recipe and spice-mix. Jay apparently hired Shand, who previously worked as his personal chef, to make changes to 40/40 as part of a $10 million renovation to Jay’s chain of sports bars. Now Jay is claiming that Shand never actually did that and he’s suing the chef for $1.5 million for “taking the recipes to popular menu items such as chicken wings.” (Complex)
Shand’s attorney Vik Pawar has since released a statement defending his client.
“The spice-mix recipe that Mike developed is his own recipe. 40/40 terminated him, then had the audacity to sue him for his recipes. He gave them all apart from this spice mix because it is his own. Mike had a wonderful relationship with Jay-Z and Beyoncé for many years.” (Prefix Mag)
Initial reports of the pricey lawsuit surfaced online earlier this week.
Jay-Z’s relationship with his personal chef has ended on a sour note. The hip-hop star’s famed Manhattan 40/40 Club yesterday served up a $1.5 million federal lawsuit against Mike Shand, who was tapped to run the nightspot’s kitchen after cooking on tour for both Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé. But court papers charge that Shand “failed to perform on significant aspects” of a deal to beef up the menu for the luxury sports bar’s $10 million reopening earlier this year. As a result, Jay-Z and partner Juan Perez were unable to deliver promised offerings, “costing the club lost profits, loss of good will [and] alienation of clientele,” the suit says. The Manhattan court filing adds, “The club has not been able to adequately replace the items and services defendant was paid to provide.” (New York Post)
Jay’s renowned sports bar continues to grow in popularity and will open its doors at the Brooklyn Nets’ Barclays Center this fall.
The 40/40 Club will open its new location at the Barclays Center, the new sports and entertainment venue and home to the Brooklyn Nets. The $1 billion arena will house the 9,000 square-foot restaurant slated to debut on the arena’s opening night when Jay-Z performs in concert on September 28, 2012. “There is no better home for another 40/40 Club location than the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn,” stated Jay-Z. “The 40/40 Club has revolutionized restaurants in a way I anticipate Barclays Center to transform the arena watching experience.” (Inside Hoops)
