Tavern on the Green’s Embattled Chef Leaves 5 Months After Reopening (Yikes)

And management seems pretty desperate to get a new executive chef in the door — one that can stand up to criticism.

The New York Times was the first to report on the change-up at Tavern on the Green, who says the split between the restaurant and executive chef Katy Sparks was “amicable.” Jim Caiola, who opened the restaurant with David Salama just a mere five months ago, said the mega-huge dining complex and level of fame made the job “not a good match” for Sparks.

Sparks will go back to food consulting, saying to the NYT that even the scathing reviews from Pete Wells, Adam Platt and just about everyone else weren’t a problem for her. And she was even a little optimistic about it all?

“It was a wonderful experience,” she said of Tavern on the Green. “I think they’re on a path to do fabulously well.

“Of course, it would have been better if everybody had been happy every single moment, but the restaurant is young. It will continue to grow and evolve.”

Caiola, on the other hand, seems less optimistic. Closing quote of the story: ““We need someone who has no conflict with the volume and the criticism and the pressure, who thrives on it … “Do you know anyone?” We think that advertising a bit of desperation in the NYT is not the way to get chefs in the door, but hey — maybe we’ll be wrong.

Sparks and the opening partners have been faced uphill battles in opening Tavern on the Green from the start. Even with Tweets of support from Danny Meyer, Sparks faced criticism of revamping a classic menu. She said to Zagat in an interview last year, “I don’t have any frame of reference [of Tavern on the Green] to hearken back to. We are going to celebrate the modern era of Tavern and move forward, … It will be a real fresh take on it.”

[The New York Times]

RELATED: Adam Platt’s Defense of Zero-Star Tavern on the Green Review: ‘In the End, It Came Down to the Prices’
Pete Wells Follows Suit with Zero-Star NYT Review of Tavern on the Green
Danny Meyer Voices Support For Katy Sparks, Tavern On The Green’s New Chef

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