I’ve walked into thousands of kitchens as a food & beverage consultant. The ones that struggle don’t always have a revenue problem—they have a residue problem. Grease film on the expo shelf, cloudy sanitizer buckets, a line cook “making it work” on a slick floor, a prep table doubling as a drop zone for everything. It feels minor in the moment. But the comped meals, staff injuries, slow ticket times, and 3-star reviews tell a different story.

In a striking turn of events, Andy Byron, the CEO of a prominent company, has found himself at the center of a scandal that has shocked...