The Willows Inn Closes After Abuse Allegations and Lawsuits

The inn’s corporate entity, Freshore LLC, received federal paycheck protection loans of $359,623 in 2020 and $270,309 in 2021, both now forgiven.

Neither Mr. McEvoy nor Mr. Wetzel responded to requests for confirmation or comment. (McEvoy Oil, Mr. McEvoy’s family business, was founded in 1932 and bought in 2019 by Coleman Oil, one of the largest fuel distributors in the region.)

At a recent gastronomic conference in Mexico, Ms. Soto-Innes announced that she and Mr. Wetzel were opening a restaurant and farm in Nayarit, north of Puerto Vallarta.

According to Toby Marshall, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, the remaining individual lawsuits over wage theft and wrongful termination, brought by three former employees, had as of last month been “resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all sides.”

The lawsuits also named the longtime Willows general manager, Reid Johnson, who left this year for the upscale Friday Harbor House, a popular destination on San Juan Island. That restaurant’s executive chef, Jason Aldous, who worked at the Willows from 2013 to 2015, was arrested in June and is charged with multiple counts related to a sexual relationship with a female employee, a minor whom he and his wife had invited to live in their home.

The Willows was one of the main inspirations for the recent movie “The Menu,” exploring the dark side of fine dining and celebrity-chef culture.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/dining/willows-inn-closes-allegations-abuse.html