Celebrity Chef Sues Her Own West Village Restaurant

MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NY — Celebrity chef Cat Cora is suing her own Meatpacking restaurant just months after it opened, accusing her business partners of bilking her out of $400,000 and blaming them for the restaurant’s “lackluster performance.”

Cora, a former contestant on “Iron Chef America,” helped to launch Fatbird Southern Kitchen and Bar, located at 44 Ninth Ave., in June. The restaurant, which serves fried chicken and upscale Jell-O shots, opened to mediocre reviews. A food critic for Eater New York excoriated the restaurant, saying Fatbird “flies and crashes” in the Meatpacking District.”

Cora alleges in a new lawsuit filed this week that her business partners failed to pay any of the $400,000 they were supposed to in exchange for the use of Cora’s name and image on Fatbird promotional materials. The New York Post was first to report news of the lawsuit.

Cora also accuses the Fatbird operators of running the restaurant poorly and serving items she had not approved.

Watch: Celebrity Chef Sues Her Own West Village Restaurant

“Fatbird has been operating the Fatbird Restaurant in a substandard manner, but Cora has received the brunt of the blame for the restaurant’s lackluster performance,” the suit says.

Cora is seeking the $400,000 she said she is owed plus interest and fees, along with other damages, in addition to an injunction that would force Fatbird to stop using her name and image with restaurant materials.

Fatbird's managers could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Image credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Fatbird. Photo caption: Chef Cat Cora attends the Grand Opening Of Fatbird Restaurant at Fatbird on July 12, 2017 in New York City.