Food Fight

D Magazine, Jan 01, 2004 by Nichols, Nancy

BATTLE OVER DOUGH HAS erupted at Eatzi's-not just money, but bread and the ingredients that go into it.

First the bakers left the kitchen. Rose and Peter Nyberg came to Dallas from Atlanta's Buckhead Life Restaurant Group to open the Oak Lawn Eatzi's in 1995. Rose became an executive pastry chef, Peter was head baker, and the Nybergs' signatures appeared on the Eatzi's bakery packaging. But in late 2002, corporate asked them to cut costs by downgrading the ingredients they used-lower-grade chocolate was substituted in some baked goods, and shortening was used in cookies. Worse yet, Rose says, "There were no real pecans in the orange pecan Tolls."

Unwilling to compromise-but still on good terms with Eatzi's-the Nybergs resigned in June and moved to Vancouver to start their own bakery. Before they left town, they helped the company "transition the recipe changes."

Then the focaccia hit the fan. Eatzi's co-CEOs Rick Claes and Phil Romano asked the Nybergs for 100 days to go through the backlog of packaging that bore the couple's autographs. In good faith, the Nybergs agreed without signing a licensing agreement. But the deadline came and went. And the Nybergs learned from their former coworkers that inferior products were still being sold under their names.

"They were no longer using our recipes, but they wouldn't take our names off the bags," Rose says. "They said they would change the packaging after 100 days, but each time a deadline comes up, they just keep asking to extend the deadline. They know we don't have the money to sue them, so they are just stringing us along."

Claes maintains that Eatzi's has made no substantive changes since the Nybergs left. "They've heard rumor or third-hand information on what proposals we are working on. In fact, we are going back to more scratch cooking."

Going back after nothing changed? No wonder the store's in a tumult. It's been that way since Eatzi's changed hands in November 2002. Longtime employees watched their stock options become worthless; a select few, though, were reimbursed with generous severance packages. Hard feelings remain, and word on the street is that many Eatzi's employees are looking for work elsewhere.

Back at the bread counter, the battle about the bags should end this spring. After receiving calls from D Magazine, Claes decided that it was in Eatzi's best interest to settle with the Nybergs. The couple accepted an undisclosed payment for use of their names through February 29. Come March 1, we'll see.