Chef Mike Isabella Cut From RAMMYs After Sexual Harassment Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington, DC, celebrity chef Mike Isabella's restaurants are no longer nominees for a top industry award following a sexual harassment lawsuit against his company. A woman who previously worked for Isabella, Chloe Cara, recently filed a lawsuit in DC Superior Court that alleges Isabella and his partners repeatedly sexually harassed her. The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington said Thursday it will rescind two nominations for its annual RAMMY Awards for Isabella's restaurants in light of the allegations of sexual harassment in his workplaces.

Isabella, a runner-up on the reality TV show "Top Chef," runs a $30 million restaurant empire in D.C. with about a dozen restaurants. His restaurant Arroz was nominated for the RAMMY award for best new restaurant and G by Mike Isabella was nominated for favorite fast bites.

Cara worked as a regional general manager for Mike Isabella Concepts from January 2015 to July 2017, and as director of operations for Isabella Eatery in McLean, Virginia, from July to December 2017.

The lawsuit says that Isabella and his partners touched Cara in inappropriate ways, made vulgar and explicitly sexual remarks to her, called her sexist insults and made up rumors about her sexual history, according to The Washington Post.

“On multiple occasions, Mr. Isabella sexually propositioned Ms. Caras and subjected her to degrading acts, including pulling her hair while standing behind her in a clear pantomime of having penetrative sex from the rear,” the lawsuit says.

Cara filed the lawsuit against Isabella, CFO Johannes Allender, Director Nick Pagonis, Executive Chef George Pagonis and Beverage Director Taha Ismail.

Isabella, his partners and his company denied the allegations. “Simply put, the allegations of an unwelcoming or hostile work atmosphere are false,” the statement said.

Isabella and his partners told the Post that Caras is a "single disgruntled co-owner of the company" and that the allegations are only backed by former employees who are her friends.

Cara said she left the company in December 2017 after she allegedly asked Isabella to stop making sexist comments.

“I told him to stop, and he immediately got angry,” Caras told the Post. “I tried to walk away, and he followed me into the kitchen, calling me a ‘bitch.’”

Caras said Isabella then fired her.

“Women generally do not make it into the higher management ranks of Mr. Isabella’s establishments and when Ms. Caras did, she became the target of extraordinary sex-based hostility and abuse,” the lawsuit said.

Isabella was honored in 2016 by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington as Restaurateur of the Year. He competed on season six of "Top Chef" and was the runner-up on "Top Chef All-Stars."

The RAMMY panel announced Thursday that they will rescind the nominations for Arroz and G by Mike Isabella "in order to maintain the high standards that are associated with the nominations."

"The panel will keep the Rising Star of the Year nomination in place for Michael Rafidi, former executive chef of Arroz and Requin. The judges decided that this category, based on individual talent and performance, is focused on the individual and can be evaluated separately from the restaurant(s) and or company of employment. Rafidi was not named in the lawsuit which brought these allegations to light," a statement said.

Other partners have distanced themselves from Isabella in the wake of the lawsuit. The Washington Nationals striped Isabella's eateries from their ballpark, Eater D.C. reports.

Mike Isabella Concepts owns the following restaurants:

• Arroz - Washington, D.C.
• G by Mike Isabella - Washington, D.C.
• Graffiato - Washington, D.C.
• Isabella Eatery - Fairfax, VA
• Kapnos - Washington, D.C.
• Kapnos Taverna - Arlington, VA
• Kapnos Kouzina - Bethesda, MD
• Pepita - Arlington, VA
• Requin - Washington, D.C.
• Requin Brasserie - Merrifield, VA
• Yona - Arlington, VA

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