6/28/2007 - I had the pleasure of speaking to Chef Rebecca Charles the proprietor of Pearl Oyster Bar. There has been much talk about the lawsuit that was filed against Ed McFarland from Ed’s Lobster Bar. I figured the best way to clear up misconceptions was to ask her about it directly. Here is what I found out:

Chef Rebecca Charles has been the proprietor of Pearl Oyster Bar in NYC since 1997.

The state of Maine was the inspiration for her Pearl Oyster Bar, her family has vacationed there since 1917. Her grandparents used to frequent there and it was a family tradition to go there every year. Her mother who will soon have her 85th birthday retired and moved there. Rebecca herself lived there for about 10 years between the 70’s and 80’s. She fell in love with the state and its food. So when she moved back to New York in 87, she wanted to honor the culinary traditions of Maine and her grandmother Pearl after whom the restaurant is named. Her restaurant was the first of upscale New England clam or lobster shack to be opened in New York City, filling a need for the hungry bellies of New Yorkers.

FE: What is the exact reason for the lawsuit filed against Ed McFarland?

RC: He was my sous chef for six years. I am suing Ed because the restaurant that he opened is not just a knock-off; it’s really an exact duplication of Pearl Oyster Bar. That means that of the 34 menu items on his menu 31 of them come from Pearl. The menu items that he has on his menu that are not on the Pearl menu now have been in the past. They are Pearl menu items that are in my cookbook. That is a lot of sameness. He is making the same recipes that he had been making at Pearl for the six years that he worked there in his own restaurant. The food is not only made the same way with food and supplies from all of the same purveyors but everything is actually plated the same way and presented the same way. In addition to that the physical layout of the restaurant was deliberately made to look like Pearl Oyster Bar. We are talking about hundreds of little details in the décor, the style of service, the wine list. If you took the opportunity to really compare the two restaurants you would be flabbergasted. They are not just similar they are virtually the same. Some of the photographs that I received early on I had to do a double take. It looked like my restaurant.

FE: There are some chefs that are taking a step ahead and making their employees sign non-disclosure agreements as part of their contracts, is this something that you plan to do in the future to protect yourself?

RC: It’s just never been the norm in the food industry to have contracts. You rarely see that sort of thing. Very, very high level chefs with big companies for instance you might see a contract on that level. But on the level that we are talking about here, a little 50 seat restaurant in the Village you know, a sous chef position, it is just not traditional in the business. Maybe it’s time. It is probably important to start thinking about taking those measures.

FE: I love cooking and eating, it is a bit sad though, that we have gotten to the point where people have to sign contracts.

RC: It makes it extremely business like. I understand what you are saying about the business of food. One of the reasons I think a lot of people get into it because it is so very un-business like. It has always been a very humane service to be a chef, to feed people. I guess it is a job, but it has quite a different connotation than for instance working for IBM or Dean Witter. You are doing something for people it is sort of a public service and it is a people oriented profession and you expect people to behave honorably. It has been my experience for 30 years that for the most part, people did. But the last 10 years or so I am starting to see a very different attitude out there. It has nothing to do with anything more than money. It is about seeing a successful business model that works and appropriating that.

FE: You have published cookbooks, how do you feel about copyrighting recipes, this is something on a more slippery slope, the question of how to copyright something that has been handed down and is so inspirational?

RC: Well it is a very complicated issue, truth be told I don’t know exactly how I feel about copywriting recipes. The jury is still out for me. Just to clarify this lawsuit has nothing to do with copyrights.

The complaints that have been filed (there are about 12-15) more have to do with business law than food. Things like unfair advantage, fiduciary responsibility. It also has to do with intellectual property, but the case itself is anchored by some very firm business principles that there are laws about. That said the other things are thrown in there for good measure. Because I think intellectual property is important and needs to be more defined within the law. But as far as copywriting recipes; this suit has nothing to do with the fact that I brought the lobster roll to New York so I should have dibs on being able to serve it, that is nonsense.

FE: Where do you draw the line between knock-off and just similar?

RC: My restaurant has probably been more knocked off than any other restaurant in NYC in recent history. A lot of these people came into my restaurant they liked what they saw and they went and opened their own place, served lobster roll and steamers and all of the regional New England food that I like to serve, put their own spin on it. That is fine, that is what business is all about. But to take a business that you have worked for and spent years and have someone privy to all my information and open a copycat restaurant across town. For him to take that information and open a copycat restaurant across town, there are laws against that. We are not talking about copying a recipe or two recipes or three or four even, we are talkingabout 31 dishes served in a setting that was meant deliberately to mimic Pearl Oyster Bar.

He asked every one of my staff to work for him over there. When he gave me his notice he told me he was opening up an Italian seafood restaurant. He lied about it not just to me, to all of the staff, even a lot of my customers that had relationships with him. When I was not at Pearl he was the one there, that was the management. It was a vicious and insidious thing that he did, itwas mostly hurtful as well.

FE: What else would you tell the people of FriendsEAT?

RC: Pearl is a really great place to visit. The lawsuit is something we will take with a grain of salt and not let it hang over us every day that we do business. Pearl has been here for 10 years and will probably be there for another 10 if I have anything to say about it. It is the original, there are so many different restaurants that serve that kind of food. Stop into mine and you are stepping into a little piece of Maine it is a very personal reflection of my family and the kind of food that I always thought was so wonderful about the state. It is a good experience.

FE: I thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure to speak to you and I will see younext week for your anniversary.