-In a threatened but still shocking move Thursday, Feast Fest fixture Stephen Dreim has announced his resignation from Feast Fest after being investigated as part of a bribery scheme that led to the Monday firing of two Dutch newcomer chefs.
"This was Mr. Dreim's choice," said Arthur Ayeiy, Feast Fest Executive Assistant, who spoke on behalf of Head Scouter Jim Dall, who is in the middle of an East Coast contract negotiation swing. "We never said to Mr. Dreim that he was obligated to leave our event, and the fact that he has chosen to do so is to us deeply saddening." Ayeiy said that the FF team was not going to let the issue drop, however. "Mr. Dreim claims wholeheartedly that he has no connections to the bribery scandal involving [Dutch newcomer chefs Anah] de Vri and [Peter] di Vris, and we wish to believe him. However, Dreim resigned before we were able to reasonably conclude our investigation. We will be continuing our investigation into this incident, and, if we find, as we believe, that Mr. Dreim is innocent, we will try to pursue renegotiation and re-signing to the event for Mr. Dreim."
Dreim received a $50,000 raise one day after de Vri and di Vris each received $469,000 raises. Those raises were illegitimately received due to bribes the Amsterdam-based newcomers had issued to scouters. Dreim was included in the investigation for three reasons: 1) His raise, though $419, 000 less than de Vri and di Vris' raises, still falls considerably above the average one-year raise range for a Feast Fest chef, which is $5,000 to $25,000, 2) the raise's proximity to the Dutch chefs' raises, and 3) the fact that none of the three questioned raises were preannounced to Feast Fest executives, as is policy, before being announced to the public. This last factor happens occasionally and is not unheard of; for example, completely legitimate Jim McAllister and Lynn Avi raises in 2007 and 2010, respectively, failed to be preannounced simply because of clerical errors.
Head Scouter Dall released a brief statement by phone from Tunbridge, Vt., saying in part, "The resignation of Steve Dreim is a true sorrow. I hope that we can clear his name in this scandal and get him back in the kitchen on Nov. 22, given, of course, we can patch up our shaken relations with him."
The consensus across Feast Fest's hierarchy early Thursday seemed to be that Dreim was never under serious interrogation, that he was only included in the investigation as a precaution and to wholly ensure that he did NOT have connections to the de Vri/di Vris incident, and that Dreim can and should be signed back once the investigation is over. The investigation, scheduled to conclude sometime next week, is widely expected to find that Dreim has no connections to the bribery incident.
Dreim, however, has other plans. "I gave Feast Fest the best years of my career," a defiant Dreim cried Thursday before storming out of the Beachview Resort in Marina del Rey, where Feast Fest was convening. "To be betrayed like this, to be slandered and grouped in with these lowdown, shameless chefs... it's a branding that I cannot believe and that I refuse to receive. Thus, for the good of my career and to dispel any 'controversy' that Feast Fest seems to believe I am connected to, I am resigning."
When asked if he would consider re-signing with Feast Fest should he be found innocent and should Feast Fest wish to patch up relations with him, his answer to reporters was one word: "No."
He then slipped into a private limousine, and he had the chauffeur drive Feast Fest straight out of his life.
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