Have Todd English and MXDC Parted Ways? (Updated)

Have Todd English and MXDC parted ways? The restaurant says no, but a press release seems to indicate as much. The release was republished on Seattle Pi and Newsday, but appears to have been taken down from PR Web. The statement reads:

Chef Todd English's consultancy with Washington, DC-based Mexican restaurant MXDC has been fulfilled, and he will no longer be associated with the establishment owned by Aziz Safi. "Aziz and I have been friends for a long time, and I have no doubt he will continue to "wow" Washingtonians with MXDX and Chef Pavlovich," says Chef English. "But my goal right now is to keep focused on our core restaurant brands.

Update: Erika Paola Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for MXDC, has seen the press release, but says that according to owner Aziz Safi, English is still associated with the restaurant, and has told them as much. Eater has reached out to Todd English's team for any further information.

In the pulled release, Vice President Oliver English says the company has three new openings planned for 2014, with more to come. "This is the fastest we have ever grown, and as much as we would love to work on all types of projects, we need to be focused on the projects at hand. Our current expansion here, in Asia and in the Middle East requires all our attention."

The chef is still listed prominently on MXDC's website; MXDC is branded "A Todd English Restaurant" there. The chef was recently in town for the Capital Food Fight.

This wouldn't be first time that English's association with a D.C. property was short-lived. He was supposed to be the chef for the opening restaurant of the Donovan House hotel years ago, but pulled out of the project before it opened. It was rebranded as Zentan.
· Chef Todd English Parts Ways with MXDC [Seattle PI]
· All Previous Todd English Coverage [-EDC-]

Todd English [Photo: R. Lopez]