So, super fancy, exclusive restaurant catering to wealthy diners rips off its customers, harasses and steals from its employees, then washes its hands by gifting real estate to a proselytizing Christian organization that provides housing and meals to people who have been pushed down, abused, and displaced by the kinds of people who endure a waitlist of up to year, jet to a dining destination, and pay $500 for dinner. Can’t help but think this illustrates the capitalism circle of life.
The Willows Inn, a super fancy, fine-dining, farm-to-table, restaurant on a remote island near Bellingham, WA, that the New York Times in 2011 labeled "one of 10 Restaurants Worth a Plane Ride,” had a precipitous fall from grace in 2022. Now, the property is selling, and the proceeds will benefit Lighthouse Mission Ministries, a shelter for the unhoused.
In its heyday, as it topped the culinary world's best restaurant lists, fraud and abuse festered behind the scenes.
Employees alleged a nightmare environment of sexual harassment, bullying, misogyny, and racism.
The Willows Inn paid $1.37 million to settle a class-action lawsuit for wage theft.
Turns out, the restaurant's "farm-to-table" claims also fell short. Some of the supposed locally sourced and foraged food actually came from random grocery stores and even Costco. At $500 a plate, that’s not what you bargained for.
To make amends, the former owners, Tim and Marcia McEvoy, donated the property to Bellingham’s Lighthouse Mission, a Christian organization that provides shelter and services to the unhoused (and only hires Christians). The property, reportedly worth about $2.4 million, has accepted an offer and is expected to change hands soon.
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