D.C. Eatery sues chef for taking trade secrets to new job

To what degree can/should a chef carry over recipes and past experiences to a new restaurant gig?

Acclaimed Washington DC restaurant Rasika is suing former chef Manish Tyagi — who is currently the chef at San Francisco’s Amber Dhara — for $34,000, accusing him of breaching his contract and “of exploiting Rasika’s name and ‘confidential business secrets’ for personal gain.”

Tyagi came aboard the Mission’s Amber Dhara in March. This week, Rasika owner Ashok Bajaj tells Washington City Paper that Tyagi “disappeared” after a two-week vacation earlier this year, only to resurface in San Francisco. The lawsuit claims that Rasika recruited Tyagi from India and agreed to pay for immigration costs, housing, and training. The deal was that Tyagi must stay for three years; he left before the three-year mark.

Beyond the contract kerfuffle, the lawsuit also accuses Tyagi of swiping intel from the restaurant that DC critic Tom Sietsema once declared the best Indian restaurant in the country.

The Legal Times reports:

Rasika alleged that Tyagi exploited “the name and reputation” of Rasika West End and “used the proprietary and confidential business secrets and information relating to Rasika West End’s business plan and operation, to obtain and continue his new position.”

So, a question (or several) to chefs and restaurateurs: Where is the line for what a cook can and cannot “carry over” to a new job? Where does learning stop and stealing begin? Are techniques allowed, but not specific recipes? Must the recipes be personalized, or should they simply be credited?

In terms of exploiting the “name and reputation” of a well-known restaurant to get a new job, that seems pretty common today, seeing as how every single chef in the Bay Area seems to highlight either Chez Panisse or the French Laundry on his/her resume, even if it was a one-day stage. (Amaryll Schwertner mentioned the mixed motives of young cooks these days when it comes to embellishing resumes versus gaining experience and contributing to a restaurant.)