Chef bags N1.3m fine after client finds wire in food

November 3, 2016 5:55 PM

Award-winning chef faces $1.3m fine after a client undergoes emergency surgery caused by wire in food.

A plate of Coq-Au-Vin

Award-winning French chef,

The customer, Barry Brett, visited DB Bistro Moderne on West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan, with his wife in February 2015 when the incident occurred, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

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Not long after he started in on his meal, Brett felt the wire get stuck in his throat and was forced to leave.

According to court documents issued by Brett's lawyers, the wire eventually led to a potentially fatal infection.

Following the emergency surgery, the surgeon said that the wire which was 2.5 cm long, came from a cheap grill brush.

AFP reports that a New York Jury asserted that the restaurant was negligent, and awarded the victim, $300, 000 for damages, fining the restaurant an additional $1m in punitive damages and another $11, 000 which went to Brett's wife.

However, the lawyer representing the restaurant has revealed plans to appeal the ruling.

J.P. Bottari said, “This was not intentional,” adding that Brett did not o to the hospital until after four days which was dangerous in and of itself.

Meanwhile, Brett's lawyer, Elizabeth Eilender, said she was “very pleased that the jury recognised how seriously injured Mr Brett was as result of that brush and how dangerous it is for a wire brush to be used around food.

“The restaurant never wanted to take responsibility for what happened and blamed the victim,” she said.

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Coq au vin is a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and, optionally, garlic.

Boulud has been around New York since the 1980's but also runs restaurants in Boston, Las Vegas, London, Miami, Montreal, Palm Beach, Singapore, Toronto and Washington.