WINDSOR - Renowned Chimney Park Bistro chef Florian Wehrli is out of a job following a shake-up with other co-owners who fired him July 3.

Swiss-born "Chef Florian," as he is known to Chimney Park diners, had been negotiating the purchase of Chimney Park from the ownership group headed by Eric Markley and including Matt Rausenberger and Dan McNerney. Wehrli was a minority shareholder with what he called a "small piece" of the business.

Wehrli said he enlisted the help of some Windsor business people to evaluate a purchase offer that the other owners had presented to him, "but when they looked at the numbers, they advised me not to go down that road," Wehrli told the Business Report Daily.

When Wehrli declined the owners group's sale offer, they terminated him in a letter July 3, Wehrli's last day as Chimney Park's chef. The letter extended his salary and benefits through July 31.

The termination letter, provided to the Business Report Daily by Wehrli's lawyer, Kenneth Lind, also spells out some details of a non-compete agreement that Wehrli signed with other owners in December 2003 when Chimney Park formed.

The agreement prohibits Wehrli's employment in the restaurant business in Colorado for a two-year period following his departure from Chimney Park. Lind said he and his partners at Lind, Lawrence & Ottenhoff LLP were exploring the validity of the non-compete agreement.

Wehrli's firing came just as he, and other Colorado chefs, were preparing for the fourth annual Chef4Students Culinary Extravaganza, a sold-out fund-raiser scheduled for July 31 at Chimney Park. The event last year raised more than $12,000 for scholarships for students to attend culinary schools.

In firing Wehrli, the remaining Chimney Park owners also cancelled the July 31 event. Lind said he and Wehrli were working on arrangements to hold the event at another restaurant on the same date, and was optimistic the fund-raiser would proceed as planned.

Wehrli, a 30-year-old European-trained chef, has won numerous accolades for his culinary art, including the "Steel Chef" title at the 2004 Taste of Fort Collins event. He is also known for his commitment to using local sources for his restaurant selections, including bison from a Milliken ranch, Colorado trout and locally grown produce.