Metro

Cook gets plate broken over head, then fired

This isn’t the way to get smashed on New Year’s Eve.

A hot-headed cook at swanky Soho restaurant The Mercer Kitchen allegedly cracked a plate over a co-worker’s head while prepping for a $300-a-plate New Year’s Eve dinner, sources said.

Shierley Cruz, 29, whacked Angela Perez, 39, so hard she awoke in a hospital with a pounding headache — but a phone call Perez got from her boss later hurt even more.

After she reported the violent outburst, her boss fired her for no reason — after 11 years on the job, Perez claims.

The fight broke out after Perez called fellow salad maker Cruz lazy — prompting a catfight, complete with hair-pulling, in the famed kitchen, which is run by legendary chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

“I told her to do something, and that’s how it started,” Perez said.

No arrests have been made, but police sources said the case is open and the investigation is active.

“They told [Perez] to go clean out her locker, but she hasn’t gone back because she’s afraid to go back,” Perez’s daughter said.

Cruz couldn’t be reached and the restaurant did not return calls for comment.