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FeedToo Many Cooks …
How John Mims went from name chef to culinary outcast.
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There’s something a little odd about clicking on a restaurant’s homepage and seeing a photo of its chef lounging with a glass of wine. On the one hand, it says, “Welcome to my restaurant—come on in.” On the other, it makes you wonder what’s getting the bigger play: the art or the artist.
If you ask Penn Valley’s Howard Taylor, partner in Philadelphia’s Les Bons Temps and Carmine’s in Bryn Mawr, he’ll tell you it was the latter. “Was” because, as of last August, Taylor booted his chef, John Mims, from both restaurants, claiming mismanagement of funds, falsification of financial records and more. For the record, no formal allegations were presented in court, and Mims hasn’t been accused of any criminal activity, according to Mims’ lawyer, Albert Oehrle.
But Mims has been accused of breaching a no-compete agreement that prohibits him from working, consulting for or owning a restaurant or “competing business” within 10 miles of Carmine’s, should the partnership with Taylor be terminated. Oehrle argues that enforcing this requires “just cause”—which, despite the list of grievances, he doesn’t believe Taylor has.
From Taylor’s perspective, however, it’s clear-cut: partnership over, no-compete invoked. Done deal.
His name synonymous with Carmine’s, Mims has earned a reputation as the don of homestyle Cajun-Creole cuisine, operating out of modest digs in Havertown before moving to Narberth. And he’s not taking things lying down. “I’m really confused over the whole thing,” he says. “If the allegations were true, why didn’t he prove it?”
Taylor’s response: I just want this whole thing to go away.
In essence, it’s a classic “he said, he said” battle, with both sides pointing fingers. And from the minute the mudslinging began, foodies have jumped on the drama. “John Mims Out!” read an August post on Foobooz.com, confirming rumors that Taylor was unhappy with Mims’ handling of the kitchen—and the checkbook—at both restaurants. An attorney turned restaurateur, Taylor tried to play it down. But when asked about the rumors that Mims had burned through a lot of money, he didn’t deny them.
Then, in September, Mims resurfaced at Freehouse in Wayne, less than five miles from Carmine’s. At first, Taylor let it go as he focused on the stability of his restaurants—especially Les Bons Temps, which had been struggling.
“I didn’t have a problem with John working at Freehouse,” says Taylor. “I’m a lawyer running two restaurants, trying to recover my losses—my life. I really wasn’t prepared to be a full-time restaurateur. I wanted to do this for fun. This is not fun.”
Then the name on the Freehouse marquee changed—to Mims. Taylor sent over a note about the “restrictive covenant,” pointing out to the owners that hiring Mims was a violation. “Their [non-] response was a slap in the face,” says Taylor.
For his part, Mims laments the poor communication between he and Taylor. “If we had talked about things—the books, the rumors, breaking up the partnership—I wouldn’t be here today,” he says. “At one point, I asked him if he wanted me out, but he told me, ‘No, I’d have to sell without you.’”
