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Obscene Restaurateur Not Sorry For Mean Email


By

Ben Muessig

Published Nov 22, 2009

Modified Nov 22, 2009


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By

Ben Muessig

Published Nov 22, 2009

Modified Nov 22, 2009


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The restaurateur who sent out an obscenity-laden missive against his employees last week stands by his angry rant, which he has defended as his food industry version of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." Vadim Ponorovsky, owner of the Meatpacking District eatery Paradou, told the Post that he has been receiving death threats because of his email to staffers, which goes something like this:

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU ASSHOLES?!?!?! How many times do we have to tell you how important it is that you collect emails. Everytime we have a slow night and you make no money and you sit there bitching about how you make no money, remember its because youre fucking lazy motherfuckers. YOU SHOULD ALL BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY!!!!! ALL OF YOU, INCLUDING THE HOSTS!!!!"

"This was my 'Howl!'" said Ponorovsky, who according to the Post didn't apologize, but only "lamented that he was seeing the best minds of his generation failing to collect e-mail addresses." "How many times can you say the same thing and not get results? You get frustrated ... My e-mail conveyed the seriousness, the anger, the despondence I felt. Collecting e-mails and reaching out to clients that way is an integral part of promoting my business," he told the tabloid.

Though his screed has irked a handful of diners, at least one of his employees said the vulgar letter worked: "We know the type of relationship we have with our boss," bartender Damien Bertolaso, 27, told the Post. "He was asking us to do something, and we weren't doing it. He sent us e-mail, and we started doing it, so it was a good move for all of us."

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