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Chew on this.
The owners of a Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant are accusing a Big Apple tavern of stealing their name and reputation — deliberately cashing in on their culinary fame, according to a new federal lawsuit.
JK Shields, LLC, which owns ritzy Windy City restaurant Smyth, claims that Smyth Tavern in Tribeca is leaving diners confused and knowingly coasting on their well-earned accolades, the suit filed last month in Illinois federal court alleges.
“Defendants’ use of an identical and confusingly similar imitation of the SMYTH Marks is likely to cause confusion, deception, and mistake by creating the false and misleading impression that defendants’ services originate from or provided by plaintiff,” the complaint said, “or are associated or connected with plaintiff, or have the sponsorship, endorsement, or approval of plaintiff.”
Husband and wife duo John Shields and Karen Urie Shields opened Smyth in 2016, and went on to earn three coveted Michelin Stars — a designation reserved for some of the world’s finest restaurants.
The top Windy City eatery is one of just 13 three-star-restaurants in the United States.
In the lawsuit, JK Shields claims that the accolades were what John McDonald and partners Mercer Street Hospitality had in mind when they named their neighborhood haunt Smyth Tavern in 2022.
“Upon information and belief, defendant John McDonald intentionally adopted, or directed the corporate Defendants to intentionally adopt, the term ‘SMYTH’ in order to benefit from and ride off the goodwill of the well-known SMYTH Marks and restaurant,” the lawsuit claims.
JK Shields claims that the website for another Mercer Street restaurant, Chicago-based Lure Fishbar, advertises on the same site as Smyth Tavern, adding to the confusion for its upscale patrons.
“For example, customers who have come to dine at plaintiff’s Smyth restaurant have asked plaintiff if it is associated or affiliated with the ‘Smyth Tavern’ referenced on the website of the Chicago location of Lure Fishbar,” Smyth’s owners said in the suit.
JK Shields claims Smyth Tavern’s continued use of the name is likely “to tarnish the distinctive character” of the restaurant and “dilute the distinctive quality” of its name.
They’re asking for an undetermined amount of money in restitution for the alleged rip-off.
McDonald and his investment group own several other restaurants, including Bowery Meat Company and the recently launched Seahorse, according to a report last week by food website Eater.
Smyth Tavern lawyer Anthony LoPresti told the outlet that the two businesses could hardly be confused with each other — and noted that both have coexisted for four years without confusion from diners.
LoPresti said one is a fancy restaurant, the other a more casual neighborhood eatery.
The Tribeca tavern is named for the Manhattan hotel where it is located — the Smyth Hotel.
LoPresti said Mercer Street received a demand letter from the Chicago company about a month before the lawsuit was filed — but never bothered to allow negotiations to get underway.
“They rushed into court,” the lawyer told Eater.
English (US)