What The Heck Is Going On With Karyn's Raw Food Empire?
By Anthony Todd in Food on Dec 14, 2015 3:36PM
Karyn's day spa
Last week, we brought you the news that Lincoln Park's fancy vegan raw food restaurant, Karyn's, had started a GoFundMe campaign to stay in business. Since then, it's come to light that Karyn's is facing multiple lawsuits and a litany of fraud accusations from someone who claims to be a former employee.
Karyn Calabrese is the raw food guru behind the Karyn's empire, which includes the restaurant, a spa, a store and a line of cleanses. Her GoFundMe page, started by Calabrese on Dec. 5 but populated with testimony from loyal, anonymous client "S.F.", explains the current business woes in one sentence: "Karyn's is now in need of our help." The page set a fundraising goal of $300,000, of which $6,000 has so far been raised.
Last week, though, someone writing under the pseudonym Benjamina Banneker cast a shadow over the fundraising campaign, posting a long litany of grievances to Facebook in a note entitled "The Real Karyn's." Among other things, the author calls out unsanitary practices at the restaurant and spa, claims that paychecks often bounced or couldn't be deposited right away, and alleges that the soups are not homemade (and not gluten-free, as the menu claims).
Though the note comes with supporting photos, we can't ascertain the veracity of the claims. Sanitation-wise, the restaurant has passed its two official health inspections in 2015.
One claim from the note that also cropped up on Twitter: Calabrese's taste for expensive cars:
@DNAinfoCHI isn't this a pic of Karyn's Bentley? https://t.co/3ulr4ISL1a Maybe she can sell n use some of the proceeds to help save her biz?
— Samir Jain (@dangerjain) December 8, 2015It gets more complicated. Eater Chicago reported that Calabrese was the subject of a series of lawsuits, including one asking for more than $100,000 in back rent for her now-closed Karyn's on Green restaurant. The complaint alleges that the restaurant failed to pay its rent for almost a year between 2014 and 2015. Calabrese has also faced a lawsuit this year about unpaid fees to the Park Astor Condominium Association, and another about a potential violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act at the restaurant.
This could be part of the reason the restaurant is in financial trouble, though unsurprisingly, there's no mention of the lawsuits on the GoFundMe page.
Calabrese did not respond to Chicagoist's requests for a comment on this story; Eater couldn't get ahold of her either.