Todd English Slapped With $1 Mil Lawsuit

Todd English is being slammed with a million dollar lawsuit over unpaid rent for his former Faneuil Hall restaurant Kingfish Hall, says the Globe. Despite months of rumors that Kingfish Hall was tanking and would finally bite the dust once English's Olives reopened, which is exactly what happened, Todd English Enterprises insisted to various members of the local media that everything was fine. Clearly, not so. The Globe reports that the building's owner "began eviction procedures" back in 2011 and that English still hasn't paid up despite a judgment filed against him over a year ago. And this is by no means English's only legal trouble. "It is the latest crack in his restaurant empire, with at least five suits filed against the celebrity chef over claims of unpaid bills and the closing of several restaurants in recent years," says the Globe.

The New York Times made a similar observation last May, saying "While he [English] does not have as many lawsuits against him as he has restaurants, there is a striking variety of them." The lawsuit validates input from a tipster back in February who claimed to be a laid-off Kingfish Hall employee. He or she wrote "Todd was threatened with a lawsuit by FH for improper closing" and told of bounced paychecks and vendors refusing to deliver. English's string of disasters - recall that Olives took two years to reopen - seem proof that he is incapable of successfully running his company, and one wonders how long the remaining Bostonians who still frequent his establishments will remain supportive. In the words of a recent commenter, "Todd English's marketing team needs to do some major repair in Boston."

· Todd English sued for $1m over unpaid rent [BG]
· Todd English, chef in motion [NYT]
· All coverage of Todd English on Eater [~EBOS~]