Katy Sparks, the chef at Tavern on the Green, has left the restaurant just five months after it opened.
Sparks rook on a herculean task when she was named the head chef at the restaurant, which has 350 seats and is one of the most famous eateries in the city. Her previous cooking at restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn was praised, but early reviews of Tavern’s “new American” food and its service were almost universally bad. Yelp doesn’t have much love the place either. The size and high level of scrutiny weren’t “a good match for Katy,” co-owner Jim Caiola told the Times.
The restaurant had been closed for almost five years after the previous owners filed for bankruptcy protection.
The owners are still looking for a new chef. Caiola said: “We need someone who has no conflict with the volume and the criticism and the pressure, who thrives on it. Do you know anyone?”
They won’t last. No way.
Re: ““We need someone who has no conflict with the volume and the criticism and the pressure, who thrives on it. Do you know anyone?”
YES, Indeedy! Recruit any of the NYC public school “Cafeteria Ladies”, those noble over-worked and under-appreciated working-class souls who:
-work each morning to prepare dozens of meals;
-serve them to the students and staff in the all-too-brief and chaotic “lunch times”;
-and spend the rest of their work day cleaning up so that they’re ready to start all over again the next day!
If they can survive that sort of pressure they surely could survive ‘Le Tavern(e) Sur La Green(e)…as long as they don’t have to deal with the fancy-shmancy patrons!
This place needs new, young blood, with a thirst for a challenge of this magnitude. Out on the streets there have been talks about some chef who reaped some praises as the Executive Chef at the Strand American , , , Chef Kelvin. Though I never watched the show, I think he placed top 2 or 3 on one of those tv shows.
The last thing TOTG needs is a celebrity chef. Their best bet will be someone who worked on a naval vessle. I mean that seriously and with respect. The quality of the food needs to match TGI Fridays, not Blue Hill. The clientele is mostly out-of-towners looking for an “experience”, not necessarily the best meal of their lives. A chef who is accustomed to volume and can cook decently will excel at a place like Tavern. my 2 cents…
You make a good point Cara , , , this is indeed a touristy attraction. They’re coming for the view and pictures and not necc the food.
Carmine’s seems to be able to handle large crowds. Maybe offer it to them, and forget about gourmet food over there?
Having had dinner twice at TOTG, I wasn’t surprised to learn about the departure of Katy Sparks. I agree with Cara- how about great salads, burgers, something for everyone? Take the CHEESECAKE factory menu , call it TOTG and they would have a hit!
Kelly should take some of the awful wait staff with her.
How about if the Culinary Institute takes over and they breakout Tavern on the Green into 3 different restaurants and have the CIA run different menus by CIA chefs – like a local NYC branch of the Culinary Institute upstate. The location may be too large for one chef/one restaurant.
Tom Colicchio could do it.