US wine merchant sues Gordon Ramsay over £27,000 of unpaid bills

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is being sued by a US wine merchant over more than $40,000 (£27,000) of unpaid bills at his eponymous restaurant in New York.

Wineberry America is suing Ramsay and Blackstone Group, which now operates the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at the London hotel in midtown Manhattan after the chef handed its over control last year.

According to court papers filed at the Supreme Court of New York this week, the wine merchant was “fraudulently induced” to provide alcohol to the restaurant. The papers accuse both Ramsay and the Blackstone Group of never having had any “intention” of paying for the supplied alcohol.

A spokesman for Ramsay told the Daily Telegraph: “We are in the process of working through any outstanding claims in regard to the London NYC and bills will be paid in due course.”

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of problems Ramsay has faced at the London NYC hotel. Last year, the restaurant was being pursued by creditors and hit by complaints from customers about its service and quality of food.

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By Kerstin Kühn

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