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Chef Daniel Boulud AP/Press Association Images

Award-winning chef's restaurant fined €1.2 million after metal wire served in coq au vin

A diner who swallowed it needed emergency surgery.

A PIECE OF metal wire in a plate of coq au vin could cost award-winning French chef Daniel Boulud dearly: a jury has fined one of his restaurants  €1.2 million after a diner swallowed it and needed emergency surgery.

The customer, Barry Brett, went with his wife in February 2015 to db Bistro Moderne on West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan, not far from Times Square.

It is one of several Boulud restaurants in the Big Apple, opening in 2001 and known for its gourmet burgers.

Shortly after he began eating, Brett felt a foreign object lodged in his throat and had to leave the restaurant, according to court documents seen by AFP.

The wire eventually caused a potentially fatal infection, his lawyers argued.

The surgeon said the 2.5-centimetre wire had come from a cheap grill brush.

A New York jury ruled last week that the restaurant had been negligent, awarding Brett $300,000 and fining the restaurant an additional $1 million in punitive damages. Another $11,000 went to Brett’s wife.

JP Bottari, a lawyer for the restaurant, said he planned to appeal.

“This was not intentional,” he said, adding that Brett had waited four days to go to the hospital.

Brett’s lawyer Elizabeth Eilender said she was “very pleased that the jury recognised how seriously injured Mr Brett was as result of that brush and how dangerous it is for a wire brush to be used around food”.

“The restaurant never wanted to take responsibility for what happened and blamed the victim,” she said.

Boulud has made New York his hub since the 1980s, but also runs restaurants in Boston, Las Vegas, London, Miami, Montreal, Palm Beach, Singapore, Toronto and Washington.

© – AFP, 2016

Read: “I don’t see any possible future” – 15,000 people left homeless by Italy’s most powerful earthquake in 36 years

Read: Thousands attend funeral of fishmonger whose gruesome death in a rubbish truck provoked outrage

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    Mute LoyalIrish Citizen
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    Jan 20th 2012, 10:15 PM

    Its an awful shame that they choose to back down.

    Standing up for sovereignty is a worth while fight.

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    Mute eoghandee
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    Jan 20th 2012, 10:32 PM

    The current Hungarian government is running an authoritarian regime, the issue isnt about sovereignty, its about democracy and human rights, they have made numerous recent laws eg. criminalizing homeless people, control of media etc..

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    Mute LoyalIrish Citizen
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    Jan 20th 2012, 11:02 PM

    @eoghandee: How do you criminalizing homeless people? What would they do stick them in jail, give them a warm bed and 3 meals a day?

    Some media needs controlling. Irish Media for decades has always been the puppets of politicians. This sort of media is breaking down barriers and opening up the media for people.

    I still think it is a good thing that some countries take a stance and say no the Europe a little more often.

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    Mute Rob McDonagh
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    Jan 21st 2012, 2:17 PM

    I apologise if this sounds condescending, but I think if you read up on what the Hungarian govt has done in the last few months you’d be cheering for Europe here. The new constitution pretty much outlaws opposition parties, along with securing govt control of the press, judiciary and monetary system. The sort of stuff that Hitler might be proud of.

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    Mute LoyalIrish Citizen
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    Jan 21st 2012, 6:18 PM

    @Rob McDonagh: Any chance of pointing me in the right direction of some newspaper article or other material?

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    Mute Csaba Farkas
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    Jan 23rd 2012, 7:13 PM

    Ok, could someone explain to me what is wrong with the current Hungarian constitution? It`s quite interesting the EU didn`t have any problems with the previous one as it was written in 1947 when Hungary was ruled by cruel communists. Read it and then judge it if you`d like. Or you can follow the mainstream media and believe their lies. Here it is in English:

    http://www.kormany.hu/download/4/c3/30000/THE%20FUNDAMENTAL%20LAW%20OF%20HUNGARY.pdf

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