A Santa Monica chef was sued Monday by a construction company that alleges it is owed more than $120,000 for improvements at Andrew Kirschner's new restaurant,
In a breach-of-contract suit, Sarlan Builders Inc. claims the chef and new restaurateur owes at least $122,355 for work done at the eatery at 602 Santa Monica Blvd.
Kirschner, through a publicist, wrote in an email that Sarlan Builders' work was "defective, delayed and incomplete."
"I haven’t seen a formal complaint nor do I have any notice or knowledge of a pending lawsuit, therefore it makes it very difficult to respond to any allegations," he wrote. "Tar & Roses will be filing its own claims against Sarlan Builders, Ben Lunsky, and Sarah Lunsky in the near future."
He declined to comment further.
In the suit, Sarlan Builders claims to have entered into a verbal contract with Kirschner last April to make improvements at Tar & Roses. The Beverly Hills-based company accuses Kirschner of not paying the full balance even though the contractor says it performed all the work it was required to do, according to the builder's attorney, Joseph Rossini.
"Hopefully the parties will be able to negotiate the differences," Rossini said, declining to comment further because of the "ongoing nature" of the case.
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Kirschner was a contestant on Food Network's cable TV show Next Iron Chef and was the executive chef at before he opened Tar & Roses Jan. 24. At the corner of Sixth Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, its opening was anticipated by Los Angeles foodies.
It specializes in serving modern rustic wood-fired offerings such as pork knuckle, ricotta gnocchi and charred baby broccoli.
Sarlan Builders is reportedly the same company hired to rehab several other popular eateries in Santa Monica, including at least two of those owned by Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan, the couple behind , and
— City News Service contributed to this report.
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