Celebrity Chef David Burke's Name Removed From Restaurant at The Preserve
GoLocalProv Business Team
Celebrity Chef David Burke's Name Removed From Restaurant at The Preserve
David Burke was taking over and the restaurant was being renamed for him.
Paul Mihailides, the CEO and founder of The Preserve, made the big reveal -- just months before he was hit by a federal lawsuit, which GoLocal was the first to report.
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According to The Preserve’s announcement last February, “Chef Burke has signed a fifteen-year partnership with the four-season sporting club situated on 3,500 acres, and is overhauling the culinary operations of the Preserve through his restaurant operating and consultant company, David Burke Hospitality Management (DBHM).”
Burke and Mihailides exchanged compliments at the time of the announcement.
"The Preserve is an intriguing new partnership for us, because, in addition to Double Barrel Steak, we'll be in charge of two of the most extraordinary private dining venues I have ever seen," said Burke. "The Maker's Mark Hobbit Houses an enchanting space where a memorable meal becomes a once-in-a-lifetime bourbon-infused experience. And the Cohiba & Laphroaig Safari Tasting Tent, highlighting a scotch and cigar pairing with intriguing finger food. Another bonus of the partnership is my longstanding relationship with Chairman of The Preserve, Paul Mihailides. I am looking forward to working with him to further enhance The Preserve's status as a world-class sporting club."
"The Preserve is honored to welcome David Burke and his team, there is no greater compliment than chef Burke's willingness to lead our culinary programs," said Mihailides. "We look forward to welcoming our members and guests of The Preserve to enjoy the renowned stylings of Chef Burke."
The Double Barrel Kitchen, the main restaurant at The Preserve, was rebranded into the "Double Barrel Steak by Chef David Burke," and Burke was splashed all over social media promoting The Preserve and the restaurant.
On his social media, the bigger-than-life Burke can be seen hobnobbing with celebrities and giving talks all over the world. In recent months, he has had social media posts with actor Kelsey Grammer, cooking on Fox & Friends, and with Martha Stewart and receiving an honorary degree from Johnson & Wales University's Charlotte campus.
Burke today lists 17 restaurants on his website, including one and Saudi Arabia, but no longer one in Rhode Island -- that has been removed from the website. He is also associated with a restaurant under his name at Foxwoods.
Now, his name is off the restaurant at the Preserve, and no one is talking.
GoLocal reached out repeatedly to Burke and his public relations team for comment. And, GoLocal reached out to Mihailides. No one responded to questions.
The unraveling of the partnership between the Preserve and Chef Burke comes just weeks after Alison McDaniel had previously filed a ten-count federal lawsuit alleging that she was repeatedly sexually harassed and publicly humiliated by Mihailides, the CEO and founder of the company that claims it is the “most amenity-rich, life-enhancing resort oasis in the nation."
According to McDaniel's lawsuit, she was hired for a top marketing position at The Preserve, and alleges she was then subject to nearly non-stop graphic sexual harassment.
She is a professional model and actress.
The Preserve filed counterclaims -- which included photos of McDaniel's modeling work -- her lawyer Mark Gagliardi said the inclusion of the racy snaps was not only extraneous, it paints a picture of "victim-blaming' by the defendants.
“The Preserve’s retaliatory counterclaims filed [this week] are just another sad example of how Paul Mihailides bullies and punishes people who stand up for themselves and call him out for his bad behavior,” said Gagliardi. “Ms. McDaniel claims that Mr. Mihailides has regularly threatened other employees with legal action when they voluntarily ended their employment at the Preserve. Here, the counterclaims are all lies.”
"I am also deeply troubled by The Preserves’ attorneys’ attempts to 'victim shame' my client by including in the counterclaim decade-old photos of Ms. McDaniel in a swimsuit, implying that she did something wrong by posing as a swimsuit model,” said Gagliardi of photos contained in the countersuit. “These photos serve no legal purpose and are sexist, classic victim-blaming.”
In the response for Mihailides and the Preserve, Nicole Benjamin, an attorney at Adler, Pollock & Sheehan, points to McDaniel’s work as a model — and her close relationship with the Mihailides family.
“During the Alison McDaniel Agency’s consultancy, McDaniel tried to infiltrate the Mihailides family by developing a close personal relationship with them,” alleges Benjamin in one section of the countersuit.
“On August 3, 2021, while the Mihailides family was having a family dinner for Mihailides’s birthday, McDaniel sought out the family to wish Mihailides and his daughter a happy birthday. Although she was not invited to join the family, she stopped and posed for a photo and brought gifts,” wrote Benjamin. “On August 28, 2021, McDaniel took selfies with Mr. and Mrs. Mihailides and joked that she was in the family’s last will and testament.”
It was only when McDaniel, a contract consultant who had wanted to be hired as a full-time employee with benefits and did not get a position, began to retaliate, according to the countersuit.
That lawsuit is now in the discovery phase.