Tom Miller (left), opened Bulle earlier this with his wife Davita Miller, aiming to bring a high-class dining space to Fresno. Photos by Frank Lopez. Composite by Cecilia Lopez

Just five months removed from their buzzy grand opening, the executive chef at Fresno’s newest high-end restaurant is out.

Max Wasco McCarthy revealed, in a brief statement to Fresnoland, that he and Bulle Restaurant, owned by Tom and Davita Miller, also of Press Box, have parted ways. McCarthy, the former executive chef of Bulle, on Herndon and Marks, explained that he had voluntarily stepped aside at the beginning of August.

McCarthy’s departure comes amidst what appear to be some financial challenges for the restaurant. In a message to Fresnoland on Wednesday, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office confirmed that it “has identified three pending wage claims involving Bulle restaurant.”

“The earliest claim was received in April 2026, and the other two were received in July and August 2026,” the office spokesperson reported, adding that the claims are still pending.

Meanwhile, there had been chatter online along similar lines, with some self-identified Bulle employees alleging problems with returned paychecks, such as in this Reddit post from July 28.

Asked to comment, Tom Miller verified that the post was genuine, saying it referenced “A July 8th message I sent to staff.”

He added, “Out of roughly 120 team members, five payroll checks bounced. Even one is too many, and I take full responsibility for that. We immediately issued cashier’s checks, and in some cases I personally hand-delivered them or deposited the funds for the employee. As of today, I am not aware of any unpaid employees.”

In regards to the payment difficulties, Miller cited “the normal cash-flow pressures” of running a restaurant at Bulle’s level, adding, “The combination of high overhead under our previous chef, the natural slow season, and the demands of a new opening created the most difficult cash-flow stretch we have faced.”

Wasco McCarthy, meanwhile, said he was moving on from the restaurant, but chose not to delve into the details surrounding his departure.

Regarding his former chef’s exit, Miller wrote, “Chefs are artists, and not every style of art resonates with every audience. His menu was brilliant but restrictive. In a 20 or 30-seat tasting room it might have sold out every night. In a 160-seat restaurant in Fresno, we needed broader appeal to sustain the business. Max and I had discussed the possibility of needing to pivot long before we opened. When the time came to adjust the menu, it no longer aligned with chef Max’s brand that he wanted to build. We parted ways amicably.”

McCarthy’s resume at acclaimed fine dining restaurants had been a key selling point for Bulle during its first months in business. In April, the Millers told The Fresno Bee that they aspired for Bulle to be “the highest end, most upscale restaurant in Fresno.”

Michelin aspirations were a frequent theme of Bulle’s early press coverage, and much of the basis for that possibility came from McCarthy’s own professional history. The Millers had previously worked in real estate before opening Press Box Grill in 2009.

Wasco McCarthy, an Orange County native, reportedly earned himself a partial scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York by placing in the top three of a cooking competition while he was still in high school. Prior to joining Bulle, he had worked at several Michelin-recognized restaurants, from Alinea in Chicago (two stars) to Quince in San Francisco (three stars) to Le Jardiniere in Miami, where McCarthy was chef de cuisine in 2023 when it retained its Michelin star two years in a row.

The setting for the cooking competition that helped set Wasco McCarthy down his path as a professional chef was reportedly Fresno. Now, it seems, his return to the Central Valley will end up being short-lived.

As for where that leaves Bulle now, Miller writes, “We have since brought in an experienced consultant group. Including a Michelin chef and a very well known chef from Fresno with over 40 years of running one of the most successful restaurant groups in Fresno history. Our current culinary team is genuinely excited about the new and improved menu that will be released this Sunday.”

Few would argue that opening a restaurant is a tough business, with the degree of difficulty rising alongside the price point, where food, labor, and decorating costs all require larger investments. Bulle, by the Millers’ own admission and in keeping with the theme of most of its news coverage, was always an ambitious project.

If the Millers have had difficulty managing Bulle’s cash flow, they would be far from the only Fresno restaurateurs to face such issues.

Horn Barbecue, from acclaimed Bay Area pitmaster Matt Horn (Michelin recognized, though not starred, for his Oakland location in 2021) is currently the subject of a wage theft probe by Fresno’s City Attorney. Horn was forced to close his last Bay Area location as of last week.

Elsewhere, a wage theft lawsuit was filed against Mirchi Massala, an upscale Indian restaurant that was evicted from its location on Shaw and First. The complaint accused its owners and a manager of labor code violations, from underpayments to stolen tips, impacting at least seven workers between December 2024 and March 2026.

At the time, The Fresno Bee noted that Mirchi Massala complaint was “at least the fifth wage theft complaint that City Attorney Andrew Janz has filed against local businesses since May 2025.”

Earlier this year, Tacos El Cabezón closed its Shaw and Maroa location amid permitting issues and unpaid rent. The Bee reported a past court judgment of more than $500,000 against owner Armando Arias, Jr. in connection with earlier businesses. Amid the drama, Arias briefly went missing. As of this writing, his downtown location is still operating.

The buzz surrounding Bulle has seemingly been somewhat polarized in its first few months of existence. While some critics have bashed it as out of touch or pretentious, advocates have also praised it for raising Fresno’s quantity and average quality of higher-end restaurants.

For our part, in my own review from last month, I wrote that Bulle’s consistently great food was a pleasant surprise, even if it came in an atmosphere that occasionally felt like it was trying too hard.