Union Square's Pure Food & Wine Currently Closed, After Staff Walks Out En Masse

Several tipsters are telling Eater that the front and back of the house staff walked out of vegan restaurant Pure Food & Wine after not being paid in a month. A small group of protestors are outside of the restaurant picketing now. Chris Zorker, who identifies himself as an ex-employee, told Eater: "No one has been paid in over a month, the management has promised to pay everyone on Thursday." According to Anthony Buison, a chef at the restaurant, the vendors and rent haven't been paid either, despite the restaurant having "had its busiest holiday season on three years." A similar situation occurred last July, but was apparently resolved quickly.

Eater reached out to the restaurant and the parent group, One Lucky Duck but neither has provided a comment. They did, however, declare on Twitter yesterday that the restaurant was closed for a very different reason:

Due to a kitchen flood, @OneLuckyDuck and @PureFoodandWine will be closed this evening. Please check back tomorrow for more information.

— Pure Food and Wine (@PureFoodandWine) January 12, 2015

But at least one person on Twitter corroborates our tipsters' stories:

Pure Food and Wine most certainly is NOT closed temporarily due to a 48hr flood. More so along the lines that workers have not been PAID.

— ja'mie (@jamieeallen) January 13, 2015

Still, it looks like tables are available for dinner tomorrow on OpenTable, so One Lucky Duck clearly thinks it can turn this all around overnight. Meanwhile, other staff members are talking to lawyers.

Stay tuned for updates.

Reporting help from Nick Solares.