Let's cut to the chase.
...another more traditional ghost kitchen appears to be thriving. Located in a 2,700-square-foot building in Northwest Portland, Homage Industrial Kitchen is booming, says owner John Wirtz....cooks food that’s branded under 76 distinct virtual restaurant names on apps such as Grubhub and Uber Eats
....“This place takes the cynical approach, which is throwing a thousand things at the wall and seeing if any stick. It feels deceptive,” says Kurt Huffman, the Portland restaurateur who founded Lardo, Ox and Grassa and runs a management company that helps open restaurants. “The whole thing is profoundly uninteresting and hopefully something that will die a fiery death. These are the perversions of ghost kitchens.”
Over the past two years, seven former employees of Wirtz’s filed complaints with the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries, alleging withheld paychecks, unpaid overtime and stolen tips. All complaints remain under investigation.
Wirtz is not new to the food business. The Oregon native, 30, has worked as a line cook, chef and waiter in restaurants since high school. But in 2017, according to a court affidavit by then-Washington County deputy district attorney Kevin Barton, Wirtz invited a 14-year-old runaway girl to his Beaverton apartment, agreeing to let her stay there in exchange for sex.
Wirtz spent a year and a half in custody while awaiting sentencing, according to the prosecutor in the case. In July 2018, Wirtz was sentenced to five years’ probation minus time served. However, the Oregon State Police’s Sex Offender Registration Section tells WW that Wirtz’s probation ended Sept. 23, 2020.
WW asked if he employs any minors. Wirtz said he does.
This spring, Wirtz brought in a “chief operating officer” to help out at Homage: former Salem cop Seth Thayres.
Thayres appears to have little experience in the food business and, in February 2019, retired after five years with the Salem Police Department when he was arrested by authorities. Two months later, Thayres was convicted in Clackamas County Circuit Court of theft after he and an accomplice stole more than $30,000 worth of equipment from two businesses.
Much more at the link.
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