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The restaurateur who sent out an obscenity-laden missive against his employees last week stands by his angry rant, which he has defended as his food industry version of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." Vadim Ponorovsky, owner of the Meatpacking District eatery Paradou, told the Post that he has been receiving death threats because of his email to staffers, which goes something like this:
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU ASSHOLES?!?!?! How many times do we have to tell you how important it is that you collect emails. Everytime we have a slow night and you make no money and you sit there bitching about how you make no money, remember its because youre fucking lazy motherfuckers. YOU SHOULD ALL BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY!!!!! ALL OF YOU, INCLUDING THE HOSTS!!!!"
"This was my 'Howl!'" said Ponorovsky, who according to the Post didn't apologize, but only "lamented that he was seeing the best minds of his generation failing to collect e-mail addresses." "How many times can you say the same thing and not get results? You get frustrated ... My e-mail conveyed the seriousness, the anger, the despondence I felt. Collecting e-mails and reaching out to clients that way is an integral part of promoting my business," he told the tabloid.
Though his screed has irked a handful of diners, at least one of his employees said the vulgar letter worked: "We know the type of relationship we have with our boss," bartender Damien Bertolaso, 27, told the Post. "He was asking us to do something, and we weren't doing it. He sent us e-mail, and we started doing it, so it was a good move for all of us."
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too late, schmuck. neither i nor the 100+ people in my office will be going there- period.
I still don't get why he thinks that everyone who goes to the restaurant will give the email address, and that the waiter has anything to do with that. I don't give my email to restaurants unless they're absolute favorites (like Rosewater in Bk), and I won't especially if the waiter tells me to. Don't blame it on the waiters asshole!
This. Chances are, the waiters are asking and most of the diners are declining to provide that information. I certainly wouldn't give them my email; I don't intend to be in touch with a restaurant forever just because I've dined there one night. That's not the servers' fault.
Considering the type of email messages this idiot sends out, his staff was doing him a favor by not collecting email addresses from customers.
Look on the bright side Vadim, look how well known your restaurant is now. That's one heck of a p.r. job you did.
I think it's important to note the comment from the bartender. While we all beat our breasts and cry "oh, the humanity!" it sounds like the staff has an understanding of how their boss operates, as he does them.
You don't like it, guess what? You don't have to work there.
and there's no reason to eat there, which i did once. seriously, the place is nothing special. with as many dining options as we have here, there's no reason to give that guy any of my $$$.
I hope Damien's comment is legit and supported by other employees (INCLUDING THE HOSTS!!!!) If that's the case, good job for standing by your boss. But it could also be that he's so worried about losing his job that he lost his dignity. Unless Ponorovsky does some serious damage control and apologizes, he will be out of a job in less than a month when this place shuts down.
He's a dick. Waiters are supposed to be knowledgeable about the menu and move quickly. That's fucking it. Anyone here really want their waiter to try to drum up business and annoy you while you're trying to eat?
It's the fucking boss who is supposed to do the marketing and outreach. He's pissed that it's hard to promote the restaurant. Well, it's his fucking job, not the waitstaff to get people in the door. He's a childish dickhead.
I'll never go there and plan to spread the word.
Who says what a waiter is supposed to do? It's his business and he's the boss. If he wants his wait staff to be doing outreach and marketing as well then he is entitled to have that expectation of them, provided that's communicated in the interview. If you don't like it A) don't work there B) start your own business where everyone works exclusively within their job description. Good luck.
You think during the interview his waiters are told they'll be asked to do stupid shit? By your reasoning, there's nothing a boss can't ask you to do. It's either do what the boss says or leave.
Fortunately, there are laws regarding these things despite dickhead bosses like this guy. How's you like the part where he threatened to "fine" his staff? I guess you're cool with that, 'cause...you know...he's the fucking boss.
He's a dick and deserves all the bullshit he's getting even if he's staff puts up with it.
Call me naive, but why does anyone have to stand by the boss, Juliec? Basic Marxism (No, I'm not a Marxist), employees are commodities, like food; they can be fired or laid-off at any time, for any reason--often to cut costs. So what's up with any of this worker loyalty B.S.? That's why we have unions.
I like my boss. She and I both know she can fire me at any moment, just like she knows I can rob her blind because I have a key to the front door. Quite honestly, your comment really upsets me. I'm sorry if you've been burned by a boss before, but humanity depends on our ability to get along, regardless of our place on the totem pole.
No waiter has ever asked me for my e-mail address. Ever. I'd like to keep it that way.
Vadim Ponorovsky; go back to the Ukraine where you can pay your employees in toilet paper and coffins.
So? This is totally spot on for neu Meatpacking District douchebaggery. It should be expected, even celebrated.
I'm sure Hell and Dizzy Izzy's and Florent owners never sent emails like that. Then again, we didn't have computers back then.
Come on, compared to "Kurt the Asshole" at the Austrian Vomitorium at Washington and West 11th, this guy is a choirboy.
Get used to it, the West Village (RIP) has become the Upper East Side that West Villagers used to make fun of in the '80's.
I can't stomach the palace anymore. It was so great, it's now so sad.
ditto, all those low class European transplants destroyed the West Village.
Waiters and Emails? Am I reading it right? What the hell
WTF, you bunch of sissies--that note is hilarious! why would that keep you from going to that restaurant??
Ponorofsky's language skills are perfect for The Gothamist, he should be recruited as commentator.
Here's the deal, folks: what a lot of people on here are not grasping is that it is alright for an employer to ask his employees to help out with promoting the business. If he feels they are not doing what he would like, it is OK for him to remind them repeatedly and in a civilized, professional manner to hold up their end of this deal. Beyond that, he cannot force the customers to give up their email addresses, so he has no way of knowing for sure if that is the case vs. employees not asking. Nor is he legally able to dock pay or "fine" his employees for not collecting email addresses. He wants them to do it? Give them an incentive, not threats.
What is NOT OK is for him to harass them. And yes, the email is harassment. On top of that, unless each of these employees has a business email address that he sent this letter to, it is PERSONAL harassment. He violated the law by not only threatening his employees and creating a hostile work environment, he did it through their personal emails. Even if it wasn't their personal emails, he threatened people with not only firing but name-calling. NOT OK!! I work in HR, and this story is a huge lawsuit waiting to blow up in this douche's face. If any of his employees are reading this, get together and get an attorney.
an email like this is NOT harassment, nor is it actionable. It is arguably abusive, but it isn't discriminatory since he sent it to everyone.
Also, the fact that he sent it to their "personal" email address is irrelevant. Presumably they gave him the address, so there's no personal/privacy issue. There's no such thing as "personal" harassment - an inappropriate email would be inappropriate regardless of the address used.
You are correct, however, that he can't "fine" them $100 for failing to collect 20 emails a week.
I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know if the jerk's email is actionable in a legal sense, but it certainly is actionable in a social sense.
That is, the staff can resist, reform, organize, or maybe just quit. All are options. Furthermore, people like me who are not dependent upon this vengeful guy for a paycheck can agitate, picket, ridicule, criticize, and badmouth him and the way he runs his business. These actions are all options for those of us who think this kind of thing truly matters and that he deserves the results of his actions, whatever they may be - legal or other.
I hope this notoriety causes him trouble.
if email is this place's genius marketing strategy then it will unlikely be around long enough to actually hate
This amuse bouche was probably the only thing ever served at the proper temperature at Paradou.