There is some legal drama happening in the local restaurant world, with the widow and children of late celebrity chef Michael Chiarello filing suit against three investors in Chiarello's restaurant group who they say wrested control of his businesses "in a hostile takeover" after the chef's death.

The lawsuit, filed this week in Napa County, was brought by the estate of chef Michael Chiarello, who passed away at age 61 in October 2023 of a reported allergic reation that resulted in anaphylactic shock. Chiarello made his name at the now defunct Tra Vigne restaurant in St. Helena, before becoming a TV personality on PBS and the Food Network. (He competed on Top Chef Masters in 2009, coming in second to Rick Bayless.)

In the Bay Area, at the time of his death he had his flagship Italian restaurant Bottega in Yountville, companion restaurant Ottimo, also in Yountville, along with Spanish restaurant Coqueta on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

His estate, the trustee of which is his surviving spouse and business partner Eileen Gordon, contends in the suit that investors Rich Frank, John Hanson, and Peter Crowley wrongfully took control of Gruppo Chiarello, the late chef's restaurant group, after his death.* And the lawsuit arrives just a month after the Press Democrat published a story in which Frank and Hanson announced their full ownership of Bottega.

Per the lawsuit, Frank and the other defendants, "immediately and maliciously embarked on a campaign of coercion, fraud, and interference to try to trick, intimidate, and pressure Chef Chiarello’s Estate to surrender to Defendants’ efforts to wrest control of the valuable assets rightfully belonging to Chef Chiarello’s Estate."

The suit further alleges that, "within days" of Chiarello's death, the investors "began a sustained war on the Estate" in order to seize the restaurant assets and prevent Chiarello's four children from inheriting them. The investors, according to the suit, then "falsely and fraudulently" claimed they had purchase options for the restaurants, and have, since then, given themselves "sizable cash distributions" from the restaurants. There is also an allegation of recently discovered "financial improprieties" that have "diminished the value of the Estate."

"Michael honored his family heritage, and we created our family trust 15 years ago to hold the business assets so they would be passed down to the next generation, not sold off in the event of his death," Gordon in a press statement. "Given the devastating circumstances, I expected cooperation from these investors, especially considering that over the years Michael had treated them like family."

Gordon's statement adds, "The people he trusted took everything for themselves, depriving all other shareholders including Chef Chiarello’s children. I cannot allow their unjust and malicious acts or their attempt to profit from Chef Chiarello’s legacy go unpunished and look to the court for justice."

Frank, a former president of Disney Studios, is the owner of Frank Family Vineyards in Calistoga. And the lawsuit further contends that Frank and the other defendants cut ties with Chiarello's own family winery, and directed the restaurant to sell Frank Family wines instead.

Bottega, which opened in 2008, has been led by executive chef Alex Espinoza since Chiarello's death.

Speaking to the Press Democrat last month, Frank said, "We are excited to work alongside chef Alex and the talented team at Bottega, many of whom have been with us since the beginning."

It seems that Frank and Hansen believe that their ownership of the restaurants was settled with an arbitration that took place in 2024, in which Crowley did not take part — which the new lawsuit contends was part of a "war of litigation with the intent to overwhelm, outspend, and exhaust" the Chiarello family.

The defendants have not yet offered public comment on the suit.

Previously: Napa-Based Celebrity Chef Michael Chiarello Dies at Age 61

Top image: Chef Michael Chiarello attends Delta Presents Food with Altitude featuring Michael Chiarello, Michelle Bernstein, Linton Hopkins, Andrea Robinson and Jean-Paul Bourgeois during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival Presented By FOOD & WINE at Union Square Events Kitchen on October 16, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for NYCWFF)

*This article has been corrected to show that Eileen Gordon was still married to Chiarello at the time of his death, though she had filed for divorce, and the divorce was not finalized.