Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)
For the second time in a week, the Trump Organization is settling with a celebrity chef who pulled out from a restaurant deal at the company’s D.C. hotel following remarks made by Donald Trump when he launched his presidential campaign. Much like the José Andrés settlement, the terms of the deal with restauranteur Geoffrey Zakarian were not disclosed.
“After an intense, two year legal battle, we are pleased we were able to amicably resolve our differences and wish Geoffrey continued success,” said Donald Trump Jr. in a statement released by lawyers. He is the president’s eldest son, who now co-runs Trump Organization with his brother Eric, and is the head of Trump Old Post Office LLC, which operates the hotel.
Zakarian was the second chef, following Andrés, to back out of his intended restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in D.C. in July 2015. Famous for his judging on Chopped, he told The Village Voice that he nixed the deal “because my buddy Donald, he f*cked up. He opened his f*cking mouth.”
Trump kickstarted his campaign in June 2015 with this now-famous rant about Mexican immigrants: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
After Zakarian decided his restaurant, The National, would not be making a home in the Old Post Office Pavilion, Trump filed suit in D.C. Superior Court for breach of contract. Initially, it was a $10 million suit, raised to $14 million, based on court filings, reports The Washington Post. Zakarian, like Andrés, countersued.
While the Trump Organization has now settled with both of the restauranteurs who were originally going to set up shop in the D.C. hotel, the Old Post Office LLC is facing a suit from a local wine bar over unfair competition.
Rachel Kurzius