Chef José Andrés has been served by Donald Trump for $10 million.
Andrés was supposed to open a new restaurant inside the anticipated Trump International Hotel (historically known as the Old Post Office building) in Washington, D.C., but Trump’s immigration comments during his campaign kick-off speech convinced Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup to back out of the project on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The media mogul fired back with a breach-of-contract lawsuit on Friday, which would cover the costs of lost rent and finding a replacement restaurant.
“Mr. Andrés’ offense is curious in light of the fact that Mr. Trump’s publicly shared views on immigration have remained consistent for many years, and Mr. Trump’s willingness to frankly share his opinions is widely known,” the lawsuit states.
Andrés and the ThinkFoodGroup team learned the possibility of a suit when Eric Trump -- the Trump Organization's executive vice president for acquisitions and development -- suggested it in June.
"Our relationship with José Andrés has always been a good one, but simply put, José has no right to terminate or otherwise abandon his obligations under the lease,” Donald Trump Jr. -- another executive vice presidential in his father's empire -- wrote in an email about the 10-year contract breach.
“In the event Mr. Andrés defaults in the performance of his obligations, we will not hesitate to take legal action to recover all unpaid rent for the entire 10-year term together with all attorneys’ fees and additional damages we may sustain. We will also enforce the exclusivity provisions preventing Mr. Andrés from opening a competing restaurant anywhere in the D.C. area,” he added.
The suit didn’t sway Andrés, though, who is standing by his first statement that he will not tolerate such comments.
“This lawsuit is both unsurprising and without merit,” Andrés said in a statement released by ThinkFoodGroup. “Simply put, Mr. Trump’s comments made ThinkFoodGroup’s participation in this project impossible and constituted a breach which the landlord, Trump Old Post Office LLC, refused to remedy. And despite our attempts to negotiate an amicable resolution, we were ultimately forced to terminate the lease.”
Andrés, a world-renowned chef known for his decadent Spanish dishes, immigrated to America from Spain in the 1990s and gained full citizenship in 2013. In addition to opening a restaurant, he also taught culinary courses at Harvard, the International Culinary Center, and George Washington University.
"Donald Trump's recent statements disparaging immigrants make it impossible for my company and I to move forward with opening a successful Spanish restaurant in Trump International's upcoming hotel in Washington, D.C.," the chef said after Trump made his first comments about immigrants being “rapists” and “drug dealers.”
“More than half of my team is Hispanic, as are many of our guests,” Andrés added. “And, as a proud Spanish immigrant and recently naturalized American citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status.”
ThinkFoodGroup’s contract drop makes Trump’s list of lost causes a little longer. NBC, Univision, PGA, and Macy’s all split following his June remarks.
Trump’s International Hotel and the restaurant were set to debut mid-2016. No announcements have been made about a later opening date or a replacement restaurant.
This story was originally published by RealClearPolitics.
