Pearl Oyster Bar Lawsuit
Albert pointed me to a story in The New York Times about a lawsuit filed by Rebecca Charles, owner of Pearl Oyster Bar in Manhattan, against her former sous-chef Ed McFarland for ripping off not only her recipes and menu but even her decor.
I had already heard about the striking similarities between McFarland’s restaurant and POB via a discussion on Serious Eats, but this was the first I had heard of the suit. The piece by Ed Levine provides some background on copycats of all stripes and demonstrates that this clone of POB is only just the latest in a long line of imitators.
I encountered a more modest example of the temptation to trade on Pearl Oyster Bar’s fame when I happened upon a restaurant in Charleston called *cough* Pearlz Oyster Bar. Admittedly, “pearl” is an appropriate name for an oyster bar, and if we’re feeling charitable, that’s all there is to it, but I doubt it. (The Pearl in Pearl Oyster Bar is actually an homage to Rebecca Charles’ grandmother, nothing to do with the product of oysters.)
Pearlz Oyster Bar in Charleston. Wow, what an original name! They do make a decent lobster roll, I have to admit.