ARIANA Madix and Katie Maloney’s former chef spoke out after the grand opening of Something About Her.
Chef Penny Davidi had a falling out with Ariana, 38, and Katie, 37, after the reality TV stars stopped communicating with their chef about business matters they “didn’t see eye to eye on.”
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After Something About Her officially opens on May 22, the former chef muses about the new menu and predicts the future of the Los Angeles cafe.
Vanderpump Rules fans flocked to the store to try sandwiches like The Reese, The Diane and The Kate.
But after looking closely at the menu, chef Penny, 52, is convinced it’s “not her menu” and “not the sandwiches” she had originally curated when she was hired to help the owners.
“This is not what I created. This is not the vision I had for this place,” the celebrity chef told The US Sun in an exclusive interview after the opening.
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“People wanted something spectacular. The sandwiches looked sexy, but unfortunately, they looked underwhelming.”
Chef Penny believes the menu “doesn’t make sense” in some ways, including the “many different types of bread” used in each sandwich.
“They don’t know how to cross-use it. I wouldn’t bring five different types of bread for 10 sandwiches,” she noted.
“I also wouldn’t put certain sandwiches on certain types of bread because the bread to meat ratio is completely different from what I’ve seen in photos and people’s posts.”
For example, she said she would “never put a Greek Goddess sandwich in a lavash wrap as it is too moist and could fall apart.”
The store’s new version of its Greek Goddess sandwich it previously created is called The Meg.
According to the new menu, The Meg is a Greek salad sandwich made with signature tzatziki, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, mixed herbs and romaine lettuce on traditional lavash.
Penny continued: “The sandwiches are not my creations, but they definitely use some ingredients in each one that I present to them, like Boursin cheese.
“I can say that 50% of the menu are items I gave them and they changed some things.”
FACING CHALLENGES
After more than a year of delays and permitting issues, the long-awaited opening left fans – some of whom waited more than four hours just to get into the cafe – disappointed, The US Sun can exclusively reveal.
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A source revealed: “The store opened 30 minutes late, leaving everyone waiting outside frustrated.
“And on top of that, the store’s POS system wasn’t working at the time, so everything was very chaotic and disorganized.”
Chef Penny, who has no plans to join, believes the store may not be as successful in the long term because Katie and Ariana “are not restaurant operators.”
“Keeping the business afloat will be a challenge,” she said.
“At some point, fans will realize that the only person they will see in the store will be Terry, Katie’s mother.”
She added: “It’s a turnkey kind of place.
“It’s not a business that can be scaled. Unfortunately, their overhead will be very high and they will not be able to produce enough products.”
TAKE PART
Lisa Vanderpump, who introduced the VPR stars to her now-former chef, has been by Chef Penny’s side since their fallout.
During the first part of the three-part Season 11 reunion, Lisa even got into an argument with Katie and Ariana about what caused the opening to be delayed.
After Katie told host Andy Cohen that it was a “bunch of red tape” and that Penny is “not a problem,” Lisa clapped back, saying, “I disagree.
“I think it was a multitude of things, disagreements, Ariana’s absence. Look, you can overcome your sewage problem and your health problem in a year.”
The former RHOBH star added that she will “regret” doing the performance if “Penny ends up hurt.”
Lala Kent also supported the chef by slamming Katie’s claims that she was only involved for “two months,” especially since the cast tried out Penny’s menu this season and season 10.
Chef Penny told The US Sun: “Lisa has been supportive of all the women she works with.
“If it wasn’t for her, they wouldn’t be on a TV show and wouldn’t have the success they did.
“They didn’t listen to her when she advised them to talk to me and work things out so they could have a successful business and not run out of sandwiches and serve stale bread.”
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ARE YOU STILL A PARTNER?
As previously reported, the Food Network chef stated that she is still a partner in the business and has “evidence” that she owns “10 percent of the business,” although Ariana and Katie denied the claim.
“We didn’t sign a contract…There is an intention I sent to them [and] they say, ‘Okay, just email us everything you want and we’ll work it out with our lawyers.’
“So I got the email. I sent them everything I wanted, which was a monthly fee, and then the percentage for the entire Something About Her brand, not one store,” she shared earlier this month.
Penny and her husband, attorney Jonathan Lee Borsuk, helped register the trademark for Something About Her in August 2023, after the pair gave her permission to fill out an application and proceed with filing.
As of May 28, the trademark has been published and anyone has 30 days to file an opposition.
At this point, Chef Penny said she’s not sure what to do with the brand because the girls haven’t reached out.
She is also working on “bigger things” coming in the near future.
It’s also unclear how much of the VPR stars’ store will be filmed going forward, as filming for season 12 has been delayed.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
