Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio is changing the name of his NYC restaurant after learning about its racially charged connotations
Colicchio opened what was then called Fowler & Wells in the newly renovated Beekman hotel and condo building last October. According to The New York Times, it was named for a publishing company and scientific institute that once operated on the site.
Lorenzo and Orson Fowler and Samuel Wells, who started the institute, were practitioners of phrenology, a school of thought that said you could understand aspects of a person's personality and mental strength by examining the shape of their skull. Phrenology was often used to justify slavery and racial discrimination in the 19th century.
Shortly after the restaurant's opening, a review by Pete Wells pointed out the name's racial implications.
"This is obviously not a side of phrenology that Mr. Colicchio, who is outspoken about his progressive politics, embraces," Wells wrote.
That, plus other suggestions from staff, caused Colicchio to rethink the name. A section of Fowler & Wells' cocktail menu bore a diagram of the brain and had been called the "Phrenological Cabinet."
"I don't think it was a bad idea to start with because we didn't have any of the information we have now," Colicchio said to the NYT. "I have a fairly liberal persona and never in a million years would consider myself a racist, so it never crossed my mind."
Colicchio and his restaurant group, Crafted Hospitality, announced they would be changing the restaurant's name to Temple Court, a reference to The Beekman's original name. New logos, menus, and signs have been put in place.
Colicchio commented on the change in a press release:
Temple Court serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At dinner, guests can order a la carte or enjoy a five-course, $99-per-person tasting menu, which includes dishes like a lobster thermidor with chanterelle mushrooms and tarragon.