Plans appear to have been called off for the popular restaurant Warlord to expand to Humboldt Park. The news comes months after Trevor Fleming, chef and co-owner of the Chicago restaurant, was charged with sharing sexually explicit images of a woman without her consent.
During dinner service last week, co-owner Emily Kraszyk confirmed with a Sun-Times reporter that Fleming previously signed a lease for the space at 2803 W. Chicago Ave., the former home of Feed diner, without consulting with her and her business partner, John Lupton. Fleming did not appear to be in the building when a reporter approached the staff.
Kraszyk said that she and Lupton are not involved in anything related to Lords, and the lawsuit they filed in February against Fleming says “the Company and Kraszyk and Lupton have been forced to cancel the Lords expansion project entirely.”
In a now-deleted Instagram post in December, Warlord announced it would be opening a second concept called Lords in Humboldt Park to feature live-fire dry-aged burgers. But Ald. Gilbert Villegas, whose 46th ward would house the eatery, said he would block any of Fleming’s attempts to open his own restaurant in his ward, which includes the vacant space on Chicago Avenue.
His office sent out a statement of support for the victims, “once I found out about some of the serious concerns and allegations,” Villegas said in an interview.
“We [are] not gonna support any business that treats their employees in that fashion,” he continued, noting that he’s met with concerned residents and local hospitality industry groups to make sure that any licenses or activity under Fleming’s name, in his ward, would be denied. “We will always stand with victims of this type of assault.”
As first reported by Block Club Chicago, Kraszyk and Lupton have fallen out with Fleming and are suing their former partner, citing in the complaint breach of fiduciary duty. In the lawsuit filed on Feb. 19 in the Cook County Circuit Court, Kraszyk and Lupton are seeking to expel Fleming from their company and bar him from Warlord.
Kraszyk and Lupton allege Warlord “has lost favorable media coverage and industry recognition.” The complaint also states that employees have told Kraszyk and Lupton that they’ll walk out if Fleming ever sets foot in the establishment again.
Kraszyk and Lupton have not responded to multiple follow-up interview requests, nor have their lawyers. Fleming’s own plans remain unclear. Attempts to reach Fleming through his lawyer were not successful.
Villegas said that the “Lords” name for the restaurant is a poor choice, given the Humboldt Park neighborhood’s history with the Young Lords, a street gang that fought gentrification and discrimination in the 1960s and 70s. The Young Lords were led by Cha-Cha Jiménez, who was once married to Villegas’ grandmother.
“[If] they’re gonna utilize their name, then there should be discussions around what benefit it is gonna [have] to the community,” Villegas said. “Based on what I saw, there weren’t really those efforts to put forward a plan that would give back to the community, similar to what the Young Lords were attempting to do back in the 70s.”
Villegas said there have not been any applications submitted to the city for a new restaurant at the former Feed space. He said his office is in contact with the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
And in their lawsuit, Kraszyk and Lupton allege that their third partner, Fleming, has nearly ruined their hospitality company, Diamond Hands, LLC.
Fleming’s alleged actions have turned Kaszyck and Lupton’s restaurant dreams into a “nightmare,” according to the lawsuit. The two allege that Fleming’s conduct “has been nothing short of reprehensible” in their complaint.
According to Kraszyk and Lupton’s lawsuit, business at Warlord has fallen off by 46% since reports of Fleming’s misconduct first surfaced in January. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, and the wait times for a table at the establishment — once as long as two hours — are not nearly as in demand as they once were.
On a recent weeknight, wait times were nonexistent, the bar was empty, and the chef’s counter, where Warlord chefs prepare food in front of guests, had plenty of open seats up for grabs.