Matthew Kenney: In Bad Taste

William Charleton

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Matthew Kenney: In Bad Taste

AUGUST 15, 2015
“Do no harm, but take no shit.”
— Anonymous
So this is what it feels like to be a “whistleblower.”  I can’t say it’s a pleasant feeling, but it does provide some relief.

Matthew Kenney is a well known chef and entrepreneur currently based in Venice, California.  His raw vegan culinary school is internationally known, as are his many cookbooks.  From October 7, 2014 until June 22, 2015, I was employed as his personal assistant and chef.

Matthew Kenney owes me $13,105.60, and has for the past 5 months.  This makes me angry and that’s ok.  Until it manifests as me yelling and swearing at his CFO’s receptionist for telling me that Don is not in the office.  That makes my success rate for getting ahold of him 0%, which also happens to be his rate of returning calls.  Don Fields is the Chief Financial Officer of Matthew Kenney.  According to Cooked Raw: How One Celebrity Chef Risked Everything To Change The Way We Eat, he came to the position in 2013 after the previous CFO "vanished into thin air."

To make matters worse, Matthew is not taking this seriously.  When I first confronted him, telling him I felt taken advantage of, he turned it on me saying I don’t realize all he’s done for me.  I beg to differ, I realize that he’s done a lot for me, and am appreciative.  He let me stay in his second apartment when it was vacant, although looking back, I wish he rented it out so he could at least have some money to put towards his remaining balance.  He was accommodating when my car regularly broke down, when I wanted to leave early to try new restaurants.  I also really honed a lot of my culinary skills, and had access to nearly any gadget.  He's actually a nice guy and I enjoyed working for him.  But he also taught me how not to treat people, and that projection is very real.

When Sarma was having her issues at Pure Food and Wine, Matthew had me call several consecutive days to see if they were open.  Sarma Melngailis operates New York City's Pure Food and Wine, a fine dining raw vegan restaurant she opened with Matthew in 2004.  Earlier this year, she faced some financial trouble, with employees walking off the job for non-payment.  Well, it looks like the tides have turned, except that Matthew let me go before I decided to walk away.

He also taught me that actions speak louder than words, inadvertently.  He aways told me how important honesty was, but does not live by those standards himself.  Let me back track and give some context.

In February, Matthew moved into a new townhouse.  Part of my job was to order most of the furniture and decor.  I did.  Between March and April he had me spend $6500 for drapes, plus $500 to install them, $500 cashmere pillows, $1200 coffee table, $2700 rug.  Those were the larger charges, the rest were for food, cat food, Le Labo, Aesop.  Our arrangement, until this point, had been that I charge these on my American Express, and at the end of the week he would reimburse me.  I used this card exclusively for his purchases.

The bill came due, and he didn’t have the money.  He fed me some story about waiting for a wire from Thailand that got held up 2 weeks for some national holiday.  As far as I know, I didn’t see any of that.  As of June 22, the day he told me without warning that he would no longer employ me, he said everything would be paid back in 15 days.  I can only assume he “let me go” for financial reasons.  We’re getting close to 60 days now.  A month ago, he was waiting on an overdue payment from London.  Haven’t seen any of that either.

I don’t know why Don Fields, as the CFO of Matthew Kenney Cuisine, deals with Matthew’s personal expenses, but he does.  Matthew regularly had to confirm with Don before I could deposit any checks.  And when checks bounced, Don would reissue them.  So getting nowhere with Matthew, I emailed Don.  Matthew now refers me to Don, when he does answer my phone calls.  Apparently Don and Matthew have the same MO.  Don's reply to my initial email on July 30th states: “I have reconciled the accounts and have several checks which have cleared, so I need to get this cleaned up.”  In the meantime, I asked to meet with both Don and Matthew, requesting signed statements taking responsibility for Matthew’s debt.  Both refused to meet with me and refused to sign anything.  The next, and last time I heard from Don was on August 3rd, when he said, “I would like to put a plan in place this week for sure.”  Two weeks later, I have yet to see a plan, or even a returned phone call or email.  I have reached out to Matthew several times, as well as a few members of his team.

I wish I didn’t feel that writing this is my best option, but I see no signs that Matthew plans to take responsibility for his actions.  I’m not trying to make Don and Matthew look bad, they did that on their own.  I don’t want to negatively impact the many great members of Matthew Kenney Cuisine, several of whom I’m friends with.  I want to move past this.  I don’t think it’s fair that a 50 year old “celebrity chef” is taking advantage of a 24 year old kid.  I don’t think this was intentional, but I don’t know.  My research has shown me that Matthew has a history of this kind of behavior.

Please, if you know Matthew, ask him to take responsibility for his actions.  I’m not mad that he borrowed the money.  We all make mistakes.  Matthew and I are actually pretty similar, in that we both have good taste, and spend a lot of money, so I can’t blame him for that.  I’m mad that I’m being lied to, that his has gone on so long and that I’m the only one that’s upset about it.

Again, Connie, I’m really sorry for raising my voice and swearing at you.  I didn’t mean to, it was misplaced anger.  In fact, you’ve been the most helpful of anyone so far.  Every time I called looking for Don, Connie would answer the phone and tell me that Don was not in the office but she would take a message.  I never explained to her why I was calling so incessantly, and the last time we spoke I said that ideally, I would like to meet with Don in person.  When she told me she thought that would be nearly impossible, I lost it.

Matthew, Don, if you’re reading this, no need to reach out.  You have all the necessary information, including an itemized list of charges and my address, to mail a check.



Plus, here's a recipe that has helped me calm down whenever I start ruminating about this:

400mL Gynostemma Tea

1/2 Tbsp Honey

1/2 tsp He Shou Wu

1/2 tsp Reishi

1/2 tsp Mucuna

1/8 (or more) tsp Sea Salt



Use the cleanest water you can to brew the tea.  Don't mix the ingredients until the tea is cool enough to drink.  It's worth blending, as the he shou wu is pretty resiny and can clump and stick.  Each of the four herbs has calming effects, and salt is known as an "anti stimulant."




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Bill Champagne 5 hours ago · 1 like

Willy,
Time to take the gloves off, these guys have gone waaaaay too far. Think surfer justice!

 Brett Morrison 20 hours ago · 1 like

It was brave of you to spell your truth out on the Internet. I applaud you for that. Bad behavior is transparent. You cannot hide anymore. Well done!

Kippy A day ago · 1 like

Willy! I think Phil and Molly have a brilliant idea about the Board of Labor and maybe we can help you do that. I hate hearing about this. Its bad as a human being, an entrepreneur, and a chef for healing foods. This is why Main Street America can never "get" food is healing, because of energy of these things. Its too low vibrational and its raising the bar at all.

Genevieve Muñoz A day ago · 1 like

A splendid call to justice Willy. Huge learning lesson and I see it all being resolved in the highest for you:)

Winnie A day ago · 1 like

Not everyone is brought up with good moral values as you were. Sorry that you experienced this betrayal. I say take Phil and Molly's advice--and keep drinking that tea! It will all work out.

William Charleton A day ago

Thank you!

Elizabeth A day ago · 1 like

I'm so sorry Willy! Remember karma is real, and the universe knows what to do with people like him. I do feel bad for Matthew, it must be hard to be so mean and to live such a lie!

William Charleton A day ago

Thank you!

Phil & Molly A day ago · 1 like

Willy, you DO have other options - the California Labor Board. A quick visit there with a concise written history of your employment with Matthew Kenney Cuisine, a detailed accounting of what they owe you, and your attempts to get same (and their responses) will get this cleared up fast. Unless they have declared bankruptcy, you will get your money and they will probably pay a fine as well. You are NOT a "24 year old kid." You are an adult, and we would urge you to handle this like one.

William Charleton A day ago

I had not thought of that, thank you!

Laurie A day ago · 1 like

The sadness in all this is realizing someone you've admired for years turned out to be such a fake.