Kris Serviss Out at Blue Duck and Its Sister Restaurants
The chef, who says he was forced out of his managing partner role at all three of his restaurants, is pursuing new ventures.
Kris Serviss
Since the opening of Blue Duck in 2014, chef and co-owner Kris Serviss has always been the — let’s call it “unofficial” face of the Blue Duck empire, which over the last six months has grown to three spots after he and his partner, Joe Callahan, opened Blue Duck on Broad and Ugly Duckling.
Not only is the Twitter-savvy chef well connected in Philly’s restaurant industry, but he was able to bring some much-needed attention to the Northeast’s strip-mall dining scene with his much-loved New American cookery. That’s why it’s such a surprise that Serviss hasn’t been in any of his kitchens in more than a month — and he says he was forced out of his managing partner role with the company but remains a shareholder.
Serviss says that his “last day” was October 13th, but neither he nor Callahan would comment in detail on what spurred the move.
“I’d like to keep that stuff private,” says Callahan. “It doesn’t do anyone any good to know how things run on the back end. It doesn’t necessarily affect customers or patrons. Nick Cammarota has been the general manager of the Northeast for the better part of two years, and Tim Schmid was promoted to chef de cuisine back in June. They’ve been running the Northeast with minimal oversight since we decided to expand and grow. The Ugly Duckling is being run by Mike Gasiewski, and he’s been the chef de cuisine since day one — so that restaurant has basically been his since we opened.”
As for Serviss: “I just want to say that I love my staff, and I’m currently pursuing new ventures.”
