Chef Kate Williams (Facebook photo)
That was quick. Republic on Grand River in Detroit opened in February. Now this, Michael Jackman reports at Metro Times:
Kate Williams, the talented and talked-about local chef who headed up the kitchen at Republic (and was to do the same at the long-anticipated Parks and Rec Diner), will be leaving the restaurants inside downtown Detroit's GAR Building. Republic's general manager Lisa Carleton confirmed today that the rising culinary star put in her two-week notice at 6 p.m. last night.
Williams tells Brenna Houck of Eater Detroit that she wants to focus on a new project.
"I'm choosing to leave and it's on really great terms," she adds. Williams would not elaborate on her new venture at this time, she does confirm that it will keep her in the Detroit area.
The restaurant also says it was her decision. Metro Times adds:
Carleton says that revenue problems played a role in the management's decision to bring in certified master chef Kevin Gawronski, formerly of Schoolcraft College, as a consultant. Carleton says, "He taught at Schoolcraft for a number of years. He’s consulting at places in Chicago, all around Detroit. He’s a very well-respected master chef who has a lot of experiences with getting finances in line."
Carleton says, "We were not trying to change the restaurant. We were not trying to change what Kate was doing. We were just trying to make it so we could sustain. She is wonderfully creative and she is a wizard with food and flavors and textures and we wish her nothing but the best in what she chooses to do. And we’re sorry we that she has decided that she can’t do it here with meeting the needs of the owners."
The abrupt departure is reminiscent of Williams' exit a year and a half ago from Rodin, a former bistro in the Park Shelton Building just north of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Here's what Nicole Rupersburg reported in November 2013 at her Eat It Detroit blog, which no longer exists:
Kate and Rodin owner Torya Schoeniger wanted to go in different directions with the restaurant/bar. As a French-trained chef, Kate understandably wanted to focus more on the dining end of the business, but with a tiny kitchen she was limited.
Both she and Torya said she couldn't do what she really wanted to do there, which was basically to have a full restaurant. The parting of ways is wholly amicable.
