A battle of the Graffitis is shaping up on our shores. Today a lawsuit came to light between two celebrity chefs over a similar dish at their similarly-named restaurants. Jehangir Mehta, of Graffiti, is suing Graffit USA, Madrid-based chef Jesús Núñez's first New York restaurant for trying to confuse and poach his customers. In question? A dish involving an "extremely obscure ingredient" called... Pop Rocks.
Mehta, who has been serving a Pop Rocks-based dish at his tiny East Village restaurant for years (he also made it when he was a contestant on The Next Iron Chef in 2009), has filed a trademark-infringement suit against the new Upper West Side eatery that was recently made public. He finally had had enough when he found out the that Núñez was planning on serving a Rocks dish of his own. He's seeking unspecified damages and an order "barring Nunez from 'any trade practices' that hurt Mehta's business."
While you can not copyright a recipe—especially not a recipe where the main ingredient is a commercial product!—Mehta might have some ground to stand on thanks to the restaurant's similar names and fare. We wouldn't be surprised if this settled with a quick restaurant name change/clarification like when Marc Forgione's restaurant Forge became Marc Forgione.
And while we are on the topic, here's a fun and easy recipe for fava beans with Pop Rocks and seaweed.
