Max Natmessnig moves to New York

The news that Max Natmessnig is leaving Alois Fine Dining in Munich after less than a year came as a surprise to many gourmets in mid-July. Now it is clear which attractive opportunity will arise for the top chef from Austria: Max Natmessnig will become co-chef de cuisine at the three-star New York top restaurant Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare. The background to the personnel is a legal dispute between the restaurant's operating company and the previous chef Cesar Ramirez, because of which the restaurant has been closed since July. Max Natmessnig's departure in Munich had already been announced in mid-July.

"I am delighted to announce that Marco Prins and I will be joining Brooklyn Fare as Co-Chefs at the Chef's Table in early October. Marco and I have already spent a total of six years at Brooklyn Fare and previously at Oud Sluis in the Netherlands worked together. We both look forward to this next chapter, to working together as a team and to ushering in a new era of fine dining at this traditional institution," Max Natmessnig posted on Instagram on Tuesday. According to his Linkedin profile, Marco Prins was Sous Chef at Chef's Table from 2014 to 2018 and then Executive Chef at the one-star restaurant Ukyio in New York. Since September 2022, the chef of the restaurant Grace is in Rotterdam. The Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare is scheduled to reopen on October 4, and Max Natmessnig and Marco Prins are two of the best chefs in the world," owner Moneer Issa told the New York Times.

Since the beginning of July, a lawsuit has been pending with the previous head chef of the Chef's Table, Cesar Ramirez, about which the New York Times first reported on Monday. As a result, Ramirez has sued Issa and the company that operates the restaurant. According to the report, he had become a partner there last year. But now he accuses his partner or previous employer of being arbitrarily dismissed and defamed. He demanded an outstanding salary in the tens of millions and further claims for damages. According to court documents, the New York Times report said, Issa responded that he fired Ramirez for stealing company property, including dishes, kitchen equipment and fine wine. Ramirez declined to comment on the matter when asked by the newspaper. In late July, however, the New York Post reported that Ramirez had signed a lease on a Manhattan property. According to the report at the time, it is unknown what he is planning there.