All Is Not Well at the 5 & Diamond

Melissa Hom/Metromix

Trouble in paradise?

Well, that was fast. Scarcely a week after he opened the 5 & Diamond in Harlem, Ryan Skeen is already embroiled in a particularly heated round of "he said, she said" with his now-former GM, who allegedly punched him in the kisser.

Grub Street reports that the chef, who's no stranger to office politics, has accused the former manager, Gwen Butler, of "kind of attacking" him following an incident in the restaurant on Wednesday night. For her part, Butler, who departed the restaurant with her entire FOH staff, would only say, via e-mail, "Maybe I'm too street, but I respond in kind to someone putting their hands on me."

At issue, apparently, was Butler's desire to become a partner in the restaurant, which wasn't happening, and Skeen's quibbles with the way Butler was running the front of the house, which he says made "it difficult for me to be able to go to my partners and support her anymore." Allegedly, Butler "flipped out" and a physical altercation ensued.

Skeen told Grub he's "working on a partnership" with the owners, but from the sounds of it, he may want to work on his personnel issues.

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