Chow Threat To Wok-star Chef Options

[six]

from http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm

CHOW THREAT TO WOK-STAR CHEF
June 8, 2006 -- THE food feud between high-end Chinese eateries Philippe and Mr. Chow is taking a wok on the wild side, with Mr. Chow chief operating officer Michelle Chun allegedly threatening to hit rival chef Philippe Chow on the head with one of her cooking pots if he walks past her restaurant.
The bad blood between the two lo mein meccas started soon after Philippe Chow left Mr. Chow on East 57th Street, where he'd been executive chef for 27 years, to open Phillippe on East 60th Street. Philippe's partner Stratis Morfogen claims that Mr. Chow owner Michael Chow (no relation to Philippe) has been pressuring Phillippe's suppliers to stop selling to him.

"I just want Michael to move on with his life and stop using gangster tactics against us," Morfogen says. "Our suppliers are being harassed and my partner [Philippe] is being harassed. Basically, he has the same butcher, fish guy and produce guy as we do, and he's been telling them, 'Stop selling to Philippe or you'll lose my account.' What he's doing has crossed the line."

Things nearly turned physical on Sunday night when Philippe was walking by Mr. Chow to go to work at his namesake place. Morfogen says Philippe spotted one of the Mr. Chow chefs he had worked with and talked to him outside the restaurant. When he got to work, Philippe got a call on his cellphone from Chun, who is Michael Chow's sister-in-law.

"She started cursing him out and said, 'Don't you ever walk by here again. Don't speak to my chefs,' " Morfogen relates. "Philippe said, 'You don't own 57th Street.' She said, 'We do own 57th Street. And the next time you walk by, I'm gonna hit you on the head with a wok.' "

Morfogen said tensions had increased since Chow learned Philippe was opening a restaurant at the Gansevoort Hotel in South Beach, less than 100 feet from Mr. Chow at the W Hotel. He said Philippe's Miami satellite will open well ahead of Mr. Chow's place there, which is to bow in 2008.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Chow told Page Six: "The whole thing is ridiculous and we have no comment."