June 27, 2007
The Lobster Roll Wars
Rebecca Charles, NYC lobster roll pioneer and owner of Pearl Oyster Bar will do whatever it takes to protect the formula she has created to make Pearl such a success. She has brought suit in Federal court against Ed McFarland, her former sous chef and owner of Ed's Lobster Bar, claiming that he copied “'each and every element' of Pearl Oyster Bar, including the white marble bar, the gray paint on the wainscoting, the chairs and bar stools with their wheat-straw backs, the packets of oyster crackers placed at each table setting and the dressing on the Caesar salad," amounting to a theft of Charles' intellectual property.
According to the Times, one of the most brazen violations in Charles' opinion is McFarland's Caesar salad, made from the same unique recipe that was passed down from Charles' mother. If the case is successful, it could carry quite a bit of weight in the restaurant world, where chefs and owners are just scratching the surface to see how far their intellectual property rights extend.
Having been a longtime fan of Pearl, we were struck by the similarities when we visited Ed's, and a commenter even chided us for not recognizing more overlap on the menu. We'll be following this one closely, but may have to do some extra taste-test research to get to the bottom of it all.
Fun fact: David Burke is applying for a trademark on his bacon-flavored spray. And a while back, the success of Magnolia Bakery spawned off-shoots and lawsuits.
Photo of Ed's lobster roll -- or is it Pearl's?
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Pearl Oyster Bar sucks. I can't believe people actually line up before the 5 PM opening. The lobster roll should be called a mayonaise roll. The only way to get a seat at a table is bribe the maitre de a minimum of $20 otherwise you get the 8 inch wide counter with backless stools. Joy.
Well, Ed's right in one respect - it'll just draw more attention his lobster bar.
Commenter #1 obviously hasn't been there in years. First off, they open at 6pm for dinner. I went there at 5:30 on a Friday and there was a small line, and was seated immediately after doors opened. Plenty of tables now that they have the space next door. The lobster roll was good, but the steamers were simply killer.
"where chefs and owners are just scratching the surfact" ???
I believe that the picture is of Ed's lobster roll. The fries at Pearl are thinner.
So does Rebecca Charles want to receive a royalty for each roll sold by Ed's? I don't think that Pearl could sell more lobster rolls even if Ed's made significant changes to the style and substance of his rolls. Both places, and indeed other popular lobster roll restaurants are quite crowded both at lunch and dinner.
Perhaps it's time for an open source lobster roll.
it's pretty well established that one cannot copyright recipies. one might copyright a book of recipies, but the idea itself, of how to make a dressing, etc. is not protected by copyright law.
#6-I thought the whole purpose of copyright was to protect original ideas (i.e. original recipes) including their derivatives. However, if she doesn't lose any business over it, whats the damage?
Most people (including Tim Zagat) know that the food and decor is only part of the equation. What about service? What about location? Even if both places look exactly the same, they still have the ability to differentiate themselves to appeal to different clientele.
Anyway, if she was a good businesswoman and so concerned about her ideas being stolen/copied, she should have made her employees sign confidentiality and/or non-compete agreements.
sorry *typo*- food and decor ARE only part of the equation
I've been to Pearl Oyster bar twice and I have to say that the seared scallops are AMAZING. However, the service has been terrible both times. They really need to work on that.
#7, copyright (and limiting it) is also (arguably) about encouraging creativity by allowing for derivatives. When copyright gets to stringent, creativity suffers. Or at least that's how I tend to see it.
Also, she's almost certainly not losing much if any business over this. Let the better chef prevail.