Chef Jacob Bickelhaupt, the founder of several Michelin-starred restaurants, including Konro in West Palm Beach, has been arrested on charges related to domestic violence.
This is not the first time.
Bickelhaupt, who was previously arrested for attacking his ex-wife and business partner, was taken into custody by West Palm Beach Police on June 2 on felony charges of aggravated battery causing bodily harm and domestic battery. According to an arrest report, staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center had notified police that fire-rescue workers had brought an injured woman into the intensive care unit from Palm Beach International Airport, where she'd apparently had a seizure at a ticket counter while trying to purchase a ticket to Denver, her hometown.
According to the arrest report, the woman told police she'd been in a car accident. But medical staff quickly realized that her injuries weren't consistent with that scenario. Police were dispatched to Bickelhaupt's West Palm Beach home to conduct a welfare check, where they detained him for their investigation. The arrest report indicates that police observed that the woman had two blackened eyes, multiple bruises across her face, dried blood under her nostrils, and swelling around her face. Her arms, shoulders, wrists, and hands were also bruised.
In a sworn statement, the woman said Bickelhaupt had attacked her for two hours, from 2 until 4 a.m., after she found him asleep on the couch and attempted to awaken him. "When she approached him, they began to argue about marital problems they were experiencing," the arrest report reads.
She said he followed her after she returned to the bedroom. "[S]he advised J. Bickelhaupt began to hit her on her head and face multiple times with open and closed fists and kick her, which caused her to fall onto the bed, before ultimately falling to the floor, and losing recollection for a few moments...," the arrest report reads. "She tried to get away from J. Bickelhaupt by crawling out into the hallway, bathroom and the office areas of the home, where the physical confrontation continued until it stopped hours later."
She said she packed a few belongings, called a ride-sharing service, and went to the airport.
At Bickelhaupt's home, officers found blood splatters in the hallway leading to the bedroom and on the bed. Evidence photographs "revealed fresh red swelling upon the exterior of his hands and wrists to indicate he'd recently been involved in a physical altercation," according to the report.
The report further notes that the woman was being treated for a subdural hematoma and was sent in for emergency surgery after her condition began to decline owing to "the presence of an irregular heartbeat."
Her current condition remains unknown. [The woman’s friend has set up a GoFundMe to help support her recovery].
Bickelhaupt, who asked to consult an attorney when advised of his rights, is being held at a Palm Beach County jail on a $90,000 bond. Reached by email Wednesday afternoon, Bickelhaupt’s public defender, Devereaux Stephens, declined to comment on the case. “Thank you for reaching out, but I am unable to comment on open cases,” Stephens wrote in an email to New Times.
An Illustrious — But Violent — Past
Bickelhaupt made waves on Chicago’s food scene with an underground supper club he launched alongside his first wife, Alexa Welsh. That paved the way for the couple's next venture: 42 Grams, a high-end restaurant that opened in 2014.Less than a year later, 42 Grams earned two Michelin stars, and Bickelhaupt found himself a rising star in the culinary firmament. His rapid ascent to fame, and the personal costs that came with it — including the dissolution of his marriage to Welsh — became the focus of a 2017 documentary also called 42 Grams, which chronicled the transformation.
That same year, the restaurant abruptly closed. While the reasons were unclear at first, the circumstances eventually came to light: In June 2017, during a dinner service, Bickelhaupt assaulted his ex-wife in the restaurant’s parking lot, dragging her by her hair and striking her with a bottle. That night, he posted a tweet from the restaurant’s account announcing its closure. He later pleaded guilty to battery.
Bickelhaupt attempted a comeback with another underground supper club, Konro, followed by another restaurant, Stone Flower, in 2019. He also sued Welsh for going public about the assault, which he claimed cost him $250,000 in lost business. (He dropped the lawsuit.) Stone Flower closed in January 2021.
As Molly Martin, food editor at Westword, our sister paper in Denver, noted in a story published earlier this year, Bickelhaupt's story picked up with another documentary featuring him as the protagonist: 86ed.
The two-hour film follows his move to Colorado, where he and his new wife, Nadia, relaunched Konro from their home.
The tagline on the documentary's since-deleted website, 86edfilm.com, describes the film as "a story about a two-Michelin-star chef hitting rock bottom with cancel culture and finding redemption." The summary reads, "After being canceled in Chicago following a violent incident with his ex-wife/business partner, 42 Grams chef Jake Bickelhaupt moved to Denver in the midst of COVID-19 for a fresh start. However, his past continues to haunt him as the cloud of cancel culture and online bullying renders him nearly paralyzed in his search for redemption. During these times of uncertainty and change, watch as Jake fights against all odds to rebuild his life."
In 86ed, Nadia tearfully recounts the negative public reaction to the Bickelhaupts' attempt at a fresh start, including a episode in which Bickelhaupt was chosen to be part of the Colorado Five, a group of chefs meant to represent the best of the state's culinary scene, who would cook at a series of annual pop-up dinners and other events. After public backlash, Bickelhaupt was asked to leave the group.
The film ends with Jacob and Nadia hosting a Konro dinner in their Denver home.
In October 2022, the couple moved to West Palm Beach and announced plans to open a restaurant there. That chef's-table omakase establishment debuted in October 2023. Earlier this year, the restaurant earned a Michelin star.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 800-799-7233 (SAFE). Counselors can also provide support via online chat. The confidential services are available 24/7.
