By Dylan Bailey
Le Clos has made another official statement on its Facebook page, retracting and deleting the previous post about their permanent closure and immediate firing of employees.
The owner, Katherine Ewing, says the restaurant is not closing permanently and is currently shut down for renovations, and will be open again in October. News that the beloved restaurant will not be permanently closed has brought much joy to long-time patrons.
From her statement, it is evident that someone had used the restaurant’s Facebook page to defame Le Clos, and Katherine is looking to handle them appropriately.
Katherine has since come forth and renounced the previous post with the following statement:
“This is Katherine Ewing, owner of Le Clos. Earlier posts notifying the community that Le Clos was closing permanently, as well as comments suggesting that I fired my entire staff without notice, were untrue. I do not take lightly the airing of personal or personnel matters publicly, which others have attempted to do in this forum. I have strived to make Le Clos a special part of this community; however, we are still a business which, like any other business, experiences internal and external challenges. I am confident that we will overcome our challenges and, once again, serve and thrive in this amazing community. We welcome our existing staff, and potential new family members, back as we reopen. While I prefer to address the misinformation that has been posted on this page privately, persons responsible for seeking to harm Le Clos will be handled appropriately. I’m so proud of the employees who have helped me and grateful for the community support. I look forward to inviting everyone to our reopening in the fall.”
Sue for defamation.
What is going on in Fernandina…lies about Le Clos…late night firing of the City Manager..questions concerning the Mayor…there seems to be something rotten in this beloved little town.
if complaints from a restaurant employee and local politics make a place rotten then you must see rot everywhere you go.
First of all..I did not say the place (Fernandina) was rotten..I said SOMETHING might be rotten ..meaning the behavior of SOME in the town doesn’t smell good. I have never seen so much duplicity in Fernandina before and as I have not conducted studies in other towns… I am sure the same things occur elsewhere..probably everywhere but the recent spate of these strange occurrences is not the norm in this town.
It’s the norm sorry. There are lovely people and scandalous people here. Always has been probably always will be. #local
The places you’ve been sound like they must not be too nice.
I knew that the first time I ran across the Dave Scott Blog. A small group of ultra right wing folks spewing pure hatred and rottenness!
Agreed. His blog is horrible. I don’t understand the nastiness.
Late night firing of city manager? We anticipated it was going to happen with the new commission and it NEEDED to happen. He had bloated our city personnel numbers beyond what our small city needs, bloated our budget, charging almost double the impact fees that county residents have to pay, the list goes on and on. Yes we need to get our budget under control and the person at the helm was to blame and that was the city manager. A restaurant closure is hardly an issue here.
Impact fees in the city should be much higher than county. The land is precious as are the few remaining trees that hold up the island. Otherwise, it will be a free-for-all and it will be a mini Manhattan.
It’s unfortunate that Fernandina Observer would publish a story sole based upon a Facebook post without checking their facts. You owe the owner an apology
Great news! Our community needs and cherishes the fine dining opportunities in our community of which Le Clos is among the best.
This just isn’t true, I’ve heard from first hand account a disgruntled Ewing closed the restaurant & told the staff they’re DONE because of a selling deal falling through. She does things like this constantly, she’s an incredibly rude and inconsiderate Machiavellian narcissist
I am so happy to hear this news!!! We, who have loved and dined at this amazing restaurant for many years rejoice that Le Clos will be back!! My husband and I and so many of our friends would dine at Le Clos for the most precious celebrations and bring all of our friends who visit here . . . it really disturbs me that there is now disinformation going out on our Fernandina Observer!!! MIKE, please know that you have our attention and we need you to be our voice of balanced reason.
It is not disinformation to quote an establishment’s own Facebook site — which appears to be the owner’s preferred way to communicate with the public. It’s a shame that somebody within her organization put out disinformation. We corrected it as soon as the owner did.
You acted responsibly. Le Clos has been a favorite of many for quite awhile. An abrupt closure is worth reporting and a message on the establishment’s restricted Facebook site is fair game.
How do you know which Facebook Posts were disinformation? Were any employees contacted or interviewed? Was Ms. Ewing contacted to provide more detail or add a personal statement? Simply republishing Facebook posts doesn’t appear to be very thorough journalism.
You should consider gathering statements from the former Le Clos staff. 20+ employees’ word vs the owner. Someone should be acknowledging and telling their story.
Katherine will say or do anything in the act of self interest
The word will get out thru the servers grapevine of connections. That small population is always comparing notes about where they work(ed). But you won’t get them on the record for reporting purposes.
I’ll guess there are two sides to the “Dirty trick” story. You most likely need inside access to make a Facebook post on their site. Whatever was rotten, was inside the establishment. Very glad the employees found safe landing places to help pay their bills.
Maybe some of the players should be interviewed for the article rather than publishing Facebook posts only.