Gordon Ramsay sues former Montreal partner

Given that Gordon Ramsay’s temper is the stuff of reality-television legend, we can’t say we’re shocked that he has the legal muscle to back up all that tough talk. The Globe reports that Ramsay has filed a massive lawsuit against Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ, the Montreal restaurant the chef helped rejuvenate before leaving—rather unceremoniously, we might add—last month. According to the Globe, Ramsay is seeking more than $2.7 million: “$2.25 million in lost licence fees through 2016 along with $500,000 in damages for defamation.”  Dish readers might recall that back in February, Ramsay’s public relations people promised that the chef’s legal team “will be watching all comments made publicly extremely carefully,” so it looks like they’re making good on that one. Although Laurier owner Danny Lavy has said that Ramsay was a poor consultant who spent barely any time at the restaurant, Ramsay counters that actually, “he was to be paid $48,214 per month to lend his name, likeness and recipes to the restaurant.” Apparently, both sides are pointing out that the lawsuit goes deeper than some squabbling about a chicken restaurant—Lavy filed a lawsuit last year that had something to do with his license to manufacture Ramsay’s kitchenware in North America (the details are suitably murky). This seems like the final nail in that whole jealous-of-Montreal-for-having-a-Ramsay-restaurant coffin. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »