Chef Marc Forgione Explains Kicking A <i>Times</i> Writer Out Of His Restaurant

Earlier today on Diner's Journal, Times financial writer Ron Lieber complained about Marc Forgione's kitchen and dining-room manner, and now the restaurateur shares his thoughts with Grub Street. According to his account on Diner's Journal, Lieber was dining at Forgione's eponymous restaurant when he heard the chef-owner dressing down a kitchen staffer. Fed up, Lieber up and walked into the kitchen and "told the chef that his behavior was making me and others uncomfortable. I let him know that I thought it was mean. And I asked him to cut it out." Forgione immediately went to Lieber's table and, per Lieber, "let me know that he thought it was incredibly rude of me to come into his kitchen and tell him how to do his job." He then asked Lieber to leave.

Yesterday, Lieber called Forgione for his version of the story ("you came into my kitchen and spoke to me very disrespectfully in front of my cooks," Forgione is quoted as saying. "The kitchen is a sacred space"). But Forgione has more to say, and he tells Grub Street he's not happy that Lieber is "making me sound like I'm some psycho."

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