Chefs Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian, partners in business and marriage, have garnered national attention and are celebrities following their exquisite, intimate dishes at Catbird Chair in Nashville, Mimi in New York City and Horse in Los Angeles.
But that announcement made headlines this week as sensational and intense personal allegations pulled from public documents began to circulate around the internet. Ms Johnson has accused Mr Aghajanian of assaulting her, visiting prostitutes and torturing several kittens to death. He accused her of threatening to kill him and intentionally burning him with kitchen utensils.
In November, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Ms. Johnson requested and was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband, requiring him to stay 10 feet away from her at work and 100 yards away from her. their three dogs at all other times.
In January, Mr Aghajanian responded to a similar request as part of his divorce petition, saying Mrs Johnson had abused him verbally and physically for years, both at home and at their restaurant. In that filing, he said the couple were no longer living together and asked for sole custody of the dogs. A judge denied his request for a restraining order “because it failed to demonstrate sufficient good cause.”
In the documents, Ms. Johnson said the restaurant’s staff went out in November to protest her husband’s presence in the kitchen; he said she provoked the walkout as part of a premeditated plan to remove him from the business.
Since opening in October 2021, Horses has attracted the attention of Los Angeles celebrities like Polo Lounge and Jon & Vinny’s, with its vintage feel and trendy kids’ clientele that includes Will Ferrell, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson. It has appeared on many Best New Restaurant lists and received positive review; last year, Times call it’s “a rare animal in Los Angeles: a fascinating reservation with serious behind-the-scenes cooking.” (It later became known that disgraced restaurateur Ken Friedman was related In restaurant.)
After the Los Angeles Times news about the dispute in court on Wednesday, a statement was posted on the restaurant’s website Instagram account, says Mr Aghajanian left the restaurant last November and Mrs Johnson was instructing the restaurant to “continuously create Horses as she always intended – A place of joy and celebration.”
Mr Aghajanian denied the allegations and in a written statement said: “I do not and have never abused animals, nor has my wife.” Ms Johnson said she stands by her accusations.
The couple met in 2011 while interns at Noma, an influential restaurant in Copenhagen. Plan to close in 2024. Since 2015, they have led — and abruptly left — several kitchens, including those in Mimi, the Catbird Chairand Freedman’s, a modern Jewish deli in Los Angeles, where Ms. Johnson was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 2018 Best New Chefs (Owner of Food & Wine magazine). Mimi and the Catbird Seat did not immediately respond to phone messages requesting comment.)
Last fall, Mrs. Johnson announced that she would be opening a new restaurant in Manhattan, in the West Village space, which has by chumley, one of the few Prohibition-era speakers to last into the 21st century until it closes in 2020. The future of that project remains unclear, but Thomas Carter, who served as a consultant for the opening ceremony, is still unclear. , said Thursday that he is no longer involved. (Mr. Carter face many charges about workplace abuse in 2018, as a partner in Estela and other Manhattan restaurants with chef Ignacio Mattos.)
Mr. Friedman did not respond to a request to confirm his involvement in the Horses. He co-owned restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles until the attorney general of the state of New York, Letitia James, found out that he was sexually harassed 11 employees at Spotted Pig in Greenwich Village. The restaurant closed January 2020.
