6 June 19-25, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | HIT AGAIN West Palm Beach chef faces new charges after domestic violence arrest. BY ALEX DELUCA C hef Jacob Bickelhaupt, the founder of several Michelin- starred restaurants, is now fac- ing additional criminal charges related to a recent domestic vio- lence arrest — his second in the past decade. Bickelhaupt was arrested on June 2 by West Palm Beach police on felony charges of aggravated battery causing bodily harm and domestic battery after he allegedly beat a woman for two hours straight, causing her to suffer a seizure and leaving her with a subdu- ral hematoma (a collection of blood outside the brain). On June 7, the Palm Beach County State At- torney’s Office filed additional charges against Bickelhaupt: two counts of tampering with a witness, victim, or informant and one count of violating a domestic violence injunction. Although the court had issued a no-con- tact order prohibiting Bickelhaupt from reaching out to the woman, he violated the order by calling her twice on June 5, accord- ing to a police report. During both calls, he allegedly asked for help paying his bail. “This is Jacob. If you haven’t given up on me, please call the public defender...,” he said in the voicemail, according to the report. “I love you so much. I don’t know what to say, I don’t have much time. Again, call the public defender and tell them you don’t want [an] order of no contact, it’s a $90,000 bail, no or- der of contact, with [a] house arrest bracelet. I have nowhere to stay, nowhere to sleep. I need your help; I have a way to probably pay some of the bail. But we need someone to pay $1,500 of $9,000 upfront. I need a call back with a phone number so we can work this out. [I’m] just calling my business, and hope- fully I can work things out. Later that day, Bickelhaupt called a second time, according to the report, leaving another voicemail. “Hey, this is Jacob again, trying to get a hold of you. Here is the deal: I know there is a lot going on, and you’re in really bad shape. [I’m] going to be here for a very long time if you so choose, maybe a year. If not, then I don’t post my bond for 90k, so 10 percent [is] 9k. I have a way to get out for $1,500 with payments; I will explain how to do that. “When I get out, I have house arrest with [an] ankle bracelet and no order of contact. So I need to find somewhere else to sleep, and I can’t do the restaurant. I don’t have any money, they took all my [IDs] and I don’t have any shoes, it’s in evidence. You have to call this number if you want to help me out...and will Zelle and [Cash App] 1500, and the bail bondsmen will pay the 9k, and we’ll clear out the rest. I’m not trying to sound inconsiderate right now, I really don’t have a lot of time. I love you, please call that number. Okay,” Bickelhaupt said. Devereaux Stephens, a public defender representing Bickelhaupt, did not respond to New Times’ request for comment. Bickelhaupt — who founded two Mi- chelin-starred restaurants, including the now-shuttered 42 Grams in Chicago and Konro in West Palm Beach — was arrested last week after staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center notified police that fire-rescue work- ers had brought an injured woman into the intensive care unit from Palm Beach Interna- tional Airport. According to an arrest report, the woman had a seizure at a counter while trying to purchase a ticket to Denver, her hometown. While the woman told police she’d been in a car accident, medical staff quickly realized that her injuries weren’t consistent with that scenario. According to the arrest report, police ob- served 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 that beginning at 2 a.m., Bickelhaupt attacked her for two hours after she found him asleep on the couch and tried to wake him. “When she ap- proached him, they began to argue about marital prob- lems they were ex- periencing,” the arrest report reads. She said he fol- lowed her after she returned to the bed- room. “[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 mo- ments...,” the arrest report reads. “She tried to get away from J. Bickelhaupt by crawling out into the hallway, bathroom and the office ar- eas of the home, where the physical confron- tation continued until it stopped hours later.” According to the report, she said she packed a few belongings, called a ride-shar- ing service, and headed to the airport. At Bickelhaupt’s home, officers found blood splatter in the hallway leading to the bedroom and on the bed. Evidence photo- graphs “revealed fresh red swelling upon the exterior of his hands and wrists to indicate he’d recently been involved in a physical al- tercation,” 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 cur- rent condition remains unknown; a friend set up a crowdfunding effort on GoFundMe to aid in her recovery. Bickelhaupt is being held at Palm Beach County Jail on a $99,000 bond. His next court hearing is July 7. This isn’t the first time a domestic violence charge has derailed Bickelhaupt’s career. In 2014, Bickelhaupt and his then-wife, Alexa Welsh, launched a fine-dining restau- rant in Chicago called 42 Grams. After it earned two Michelin stars, Bickel- haupt quickly found himself a rising star in the culinary world. But in 2017, the restaurant abruptly closed. While the reasons were unclear at first, the circumstances came to light years later: Dur- ing a dinner service in June 2017, Bickelhaupt assaulted Welsh 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’s rapid ascent to fame and the personal costs that came with it (including the end of his marriage to Welsh) became the focus of a 2018 documentary also called 42 Grams. Bickelhaupt attempted a comeback with an 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. Later that year, Bickelhaupt’s story picked up with another documentary featuring him as the protagonist: 86ed. The two-hour film follows Bickelhaupt’s move to Colorado, where he and his new wife, Nadia, relaunched Konro from their home. The tagline on the documentary’s since- deleted website describes the film as “a story about a two-Michelin-star chef hitting rock bottom with cancel culture and finding re- demption.” “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 para- lyzed in his search for redemption. During these times of uncertainty and change, watch as Jake fights against all odds to rebuild his life,” the summary reads. In 86ed, Nadia tearfully recalls the nega- tive public reaction to the Bickelhaupts’ at- tempt at a fresh start. One part of the documentary chronicles how Bickelhaupt was selected to be part of the Colorado Five, a group of chefs meant to represent the best of the state’s culinary scene, before being asked to leave the group following public backlash. In October 2022, the Bickelhaupts moved to West Palm Beach and announced plans to open a restaurant there. The chef’s table omakase spot debuted in October 2023 and earned a Michelin star earlier this year. Konro has not reopened since Jacob Bick- elhaupt’s arrest. 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. [email protected] Chef Jacob Bickelhaupt (pictured above) is facing additional criminal charges after his recent domestic violence arrest. Screenshot via 42 Grams trailer/YouTube | METRO | WHILE THE WOMAN TOLD POLICE SHE’D BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT, MEDICAL STAFF QUICKLY REALIZED THAT HER INJURIES WEREN’T CONSISTENT WITH THAT SCENARIO.
