Hate cuisine

Rocco DiSpirito vs. Jeffrey Chodorow

Photo: Cinzia Reale-Castello

New Yorkers may be more familiar with foul-tempered Gordon Ramsay than his quarrel-ready mentor, English chef Marco Pierre White. Across the pond, White is as renowned for hot-blooded antics as he is for his three Michelin stars—the retired chef dishes the dirt in his memoir, The Devil in the Kitchen, which comes out this week. But Brits aren’t the only ones who play nasty. Here’s a look at some of New York’s memorable food feuds.

1876

Lobster Wenburg vs. lobster Newburg
In 1876, fruit merchant and Delmonico’s customer Ben Wenburg shared his technique for making a creamy, cayenne-enriched lobster dish with restaurant owner Charles Delmonico. Impressed, Delmonico added lobster à la Wenburg to his menu. The homage persisted until the two had a nasty break. Delmonico then reclaimed the famous entrée by flipping the Wen—and lobster Newburg was born.

1950

Zabar vs. Zabar
Following the death of Louis Zabar in 1950, sons Stanley and Saul took over the legendary Upper West Side nosh emporium (youngest brother Eli was a student at the time and working the night shift). When Eli later asked to become a partner, he was offered bubkes. In response to the snub, the family renegade bolted and went on to open a chain of competing high-end specialty shops across the Park, including Eli’s Vinegar Factory and E.A.T. on Madison Avenue. The tension has since faded, and Saul now claims that Zabar’s is one of Eli’s best customers.

1985

David Bouley vs. Drew Nieporent
For more than a decade, these restaurant heavyweights and former partners were giving each other the silent treatment. In 1985, unknown San Francisco chef Bouley joined up with Nieporent, a budding restaurateur, to transform Montrachet into a dining destination that put newly minted Tribeca on the map. But the collaboration didn’t last long. The two disagreed on how to run the eatery, and when Nieporent got word that Bouley was starting his own restaurant, the merde hit the fan and the chef was sacked. It took 15 years for the squabblers to reconcile.

2002

Bar Pitti vs. DaSilvano
Seizing on the success of the Tuscan celebrity favorite, DaSilvano owner Silvano Marchetto partnered with former employee Giovanni Tognozzi in 1992 to open Bar Pitti, a cheaper version next door. But the bright idea had some flaws. Ten years later, Tognozzi filed a suit to end the partnership, accusing Marchetto of failing to split profits and—the ultimate slap in the face—stealing secret family recipes. The two never kissed and made up, but the suit was quietly dropped in September when Marchetto agreed to sell his half of the restaurant.

2004

Rocco DiSpirito vs. Jeffrey Chodorow
Onetime It chef Rocco DiSpirito was at the peak of his career when he left acclaimed restaurant Union Pacific in 2003 to star in NBC’s vocational reality show The Restaurant. For two seasons, cameras followed DiSpirito, his mama and firebrand restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow—the real-life business partner behind said eatery, Rocco’s. In 2004, the DiSpirito-Chodorow partnership ended in disaster. Chodorow sued the chef for mismanaging the place and closed the tourist trap the following year. DiSpirito’s culinary flame was snuffed out, and Chodorow maintains his status as a restaurant giant ready to scrap. Hello, Frank Bruni.

2006

Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich vs. landlord Blenheim LLC
Two months after the opening of Del Posto, the $12 million, Batali-Bastianich behemoth, building owner Blenheim LLC claimed that the tenants violated the agreement of their $130,000-a-year lease, and followed up with an eviction notice. (In a fishy turn, Del Posto had to cancel its reservations one Saturday because the property managers had scheduled “electrical work” that very night.) The duo filed a lawsuit against their landlord in State Supreme Court in 2006, scoring an injunction that allowed them to keep Del Posto open...for now. The two sides are preparing to duke it out in court.

2007

Jason Neroni vs. Marco Rivero
Until recently, chef Jason Neroni was enjoying a fine career at pig-centric restaurant Porchetta: His cooking was positively reviewed and he was even nominated for a TONY Eat Out Award. But in a swift reversal of fortune, Neroni is now out of a job and faces a year in jail for allegedly stealing close to $1,000 from his employer. The drama began on April 6, when Neroni tipped off food blog Eater that he was quitting over a disagreement with owner Rivero. Within a week, the chef was arrested on charges of forgery and petit larceny and has since been released. Is this the end of Porkgate, or just the beginning?

Marco Pierre White discusses The Devil in the Kitchen with chefs Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain on May 17 at 7pm at Borders (Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle at Broadway, second floor, 212-823-9775).