Le Maraislll: The Lawsuit continues...

The Le Marais debacle continues with a $10 million lawsuit pending a state judge issued what is essentially a gag order. The mashgiach, Mr. Bitton was ordered to stop posting anything about Le Marais or its employees - including the restaurant's head chef, Mark Hennessey, whom Bitton called "a Jew hater." This is certain to be a big chillul hashem and hopefully we can get some clarity on the issues at hand. The NYPost article sounds scary as it reveals:

One of Bitton's allegations is that dairy margarine "was placed in a pot with other food" in the restaurant's kitchen several months ago. Kosher law forbids mixing dairy and meat.

But the OU said it was an honest error, and the food was not served.

Bitton also complains that Hennessey ordered non-kosher fish to be delivered to the restaurant during the Sabbath, when Le Marais was closed. But the fish company said the delivery was a mistake.And, Bitton says, strawberries arrived in the kitchen without having been checked by Bitton or the eatery's other mashgiach. "When I later checked those strawberries I found several worms in them," Bitton said.To make matters worse, says Bitton, Hennessey sometimes lit the restaurant's ovens. Under kosher law, that's a job for the restaurant's mashgiachs.