With a line out the door and its now-iconic sunny, farmer-forward cuisine, Sqirl's sorrel pesto rice bowls and jam-spread ricotta toasts quickly rocketed to the top of L.A.'s most recognizable dishes. As of Sunday, the chipper all-day café from chef-owner Jessica Koslow is famous for something far less savory: mold growth atop its artisanal jams.
A series of Instagram stories posted by scientist, writer and self-proclaimed "food antagonist" Joe Rosenthal shared anonymous accounts from former Sqirl employees who recounted their experiences of the moldy jam, which they were allegedly advised to scrape mold off of and continue to serve. Here's what you need to know about what’s happening at Sqirl now.
1. Yes, there was really moldy jam
The proof is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding is both a photo of a large plastic bucket full of discarded mold, and a statement from Koslow herself (more on that below).
One of Rosenthal's most startling reveals depicts what is allegedly a bucket of Sqirl jam covered in mold, posted to his private server (warning: It isn't for the faint of heart). A number of unnamed accounts by way of quote and screenshot shared that Koslow personally instructed kitchen staff to scrape off the mold, and told employees that the health department had approved the mold and their storage methods. These accounts are still available on Instagram under Rosenthal's saved stories button titled "The Fungal."
2. Koslow confirms the mold, elaborates
In a public statement posted to Twitter and Instagram on Sunday, Koslow shared that Sqirl's lack of stabilizers or added sugars makes their jams more susceptible to mold, adding that all jam is currently made offsite in a separate and certified kitchen; prior, when it was made in the Sqirl kitchen, jams were made "always legally and always labeled."
Koslow also admitted to running an unsanctioned kitchen, and stated that the mold found on her jams are safe and "the same types of mold that develop on some cheeses, charcuterie, dry aged beef, and lots of other preserved foods." According to several health and preserves experts, this isn't entirely accurate.
3. Experts apparently did not approve the moldy jam
Koslow name-checked one expert in Sqirl's Twitter and Instagram statement, though when reached for comment by the Washington Post, the mycologist responded that he had never spoken to Koslow and was unaware of the restaurant's practices.
"With this bulk jam, over time, mold would sometimes develop on the surface that we handled with the guidance of preservation mentors and experts like Dr. Patrick Hickey," Koslow posted, "by discarding mold and several inches below the mold, or by discarding containers altogether."
The Post spoke with Dr. Hickley, who posited that Koslow pulled that guidance from a 2014 BBC interview where he demonstrated that once mold is removed from many household items—such as bread and certain cheeses—the dishes are more or less safe to ingest. A commercial jam operation, he says, is something different entirely.
4. This isn't just about moldy jam
Moldy jam is attention-grabbing, sure, but throughout the week, additional concerns have surfaced regarding recipe authorship and Koslow’s role in gentrifying Virgil Village, the L.A. neighborhood where Sqirl is located.
Former Sqirl chefs Javier Ramos and Ria Barbosa are speaking publicly about their recipes being credited to Koslow, both in her first cookbook as well as national publications, despite Koslow allegedly not actively participating in the kitchen.
Barbosa helped open Sqirl as the chef de cuisine and says she developed many of the restaurant's recipes over her two-year tenure, including the jam-stuffed French toast, which was a favorite at the café, as well as the carrot pancake featured in Bon Appétit. Barbosa, now chef-partner in L.A.'s new Petite Peso restaurant, says she can recall a handful of conversations she had with Koslow in which she requested fair credit and acknowledgement not only for her but the rest of the staff.
"I even told her, 'You don’t even have to use my name,'" Barbosa says. "'Just say you have a really awesome team, but please, I don’t think it’s fair for you to keep taking that chef title when you’re not the one really back here.'"
Koslow is also under fire for not only gentrifying the predominantly Latin neighborhood of Virgil Village but disparaging it: In a recently resurfaced Eater feature from 2016, she remarked that her restaurant's cost-cutting method is her choice in location. "My cheat is this shitty corner on Virgil and Marathon," she said. "The cheat is, like, I pay two dollars per square foot."
5. Here's how Sqirl has responded
Koslow addressed the issue of taking recipe credit in a statement, writing that "This model where gifted chefs create and the restaurant becomes known for their food is not a new phenomenon in our industry. Unlike the vast majority of restaurants, I have done my best to regularly credit our chefs in our social media as recognition for their contributions to Sqirl and will continue to do that."
As for jam production, a statement outlines the restaurant's new practices, as shared by Eater LA: All jams will now be sealed using the hot-pack method, which entails sterilizing glass jars in hot water, filling them with just-cooked product and sealing immediately.
"I eat the same jam I serve my customers, family and friends and would never knowingly serve any food that would put their health at risk," Koslow wrote as part of a longer statement. "I realize that I was wrong and I am sorry. We have already thrown out any jam with mold on it and will continue to do so moving forward. Jam with mold will not be permitted in any of our kitchens or our restaurant."
"It sucks that it went down this way," Barbosa says. "I'm nowhere near happy about it because it could have been prevented from the get-go, from the conversations that we could have had, but she always deflected and it was unfortunate the behavior continued until she did it to enough of us and now we’re here and some of us are madder than others. It’s been six or eight years for me, so I've had some time to sit and think about it. There are still some upsetting things, but you have to choose what eats up your energy."
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