Chef Report

The California Department of Fish and Game fanned out across the state and in Oregon on Thursday, arresting 17 people accused of buying and selling black-market abalone, sturgeon and caviar. The agency called the operation one of the largest poaching busts in state history.

“We have zero tolerance for those who illegally commercialize California’s natural resources,” said Nancy Foley, chief of enforcement for Fish and Game, in a news release. more…

Joe Mello, a warden with the state Department of Fish and Game, carries an abalone shell and shark fins, part of evidence retrieved from Bob’s Sushi restaurant in San Francisco near Fisherman’s Wharf. Associated Press photo by Ben Margot 

OSSIPEE, N.H. –A restaurant has pleaded guilty to charges related to the drunken driving deaths of six people in Wakefield (New Hampshire) five years ago. The Pine River Steak House Corporation, owned by Edward Donnelly of Brookfield (New Hampshire), pleaded guilty today to two charges of reckless conduct and was ordered to pay up to 24-thosand dollars in fines. Prosecutors alleged the restaurant was criminally negligent when it served alcohol to the driver of the car that caused the deaths. more…

San Francisco, Calif. (KCBS)  — Authorities have arrested an owner of a San Francisco restaurant suspected of illegally serving abalone and shipping some of it overseas.

A little after sunrise this morning, officials with the state Department of Fish and Game went to the Visitation Valley home of Bao Zhang, operator of Bob’s Sushi, located on the 300 block of Bay Street.

Authorities say Zhang served abalone at his restaurant, and shipped some of it to Hong Kong.

Fish and Game Captain Dave Fox told KCBS’ Janice Wright that Zhang allegedly bought abalone from undercover agents and sold it in his restaurant. more…

A former Dormont businessman who owned restaurants at Pittsburgh International Airport was charged Wednesday with 15 counts related to a scam “to support his lavish lifestyle,” according to a federal court indictment. Christopher Fekos, 48, of Peters, Washington County, is charged with conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud, bribery of a bank employee, possessing forged securities of an organization involved in interstate commerce and money laundering. Also charged in the 26-page indictment is Joseph Howcroft, 26, of Pittsburgh. more…

CHICAGO A man who claimed to be a culinary student was arrested Tuesday when he was spotted carrying a butcher knife on a CTA platform, police said.

A CTA passenger spotted the man on the Lake Street platform at Lake and LaSalle about 8:25 a.m. Tuesday, according to Illinois State Police Protective Services Sgt. John George.

The passenger alerted two CTA workers about the man, George said. One of the workers engaged the man in conversation while the other went to find the nearest law enforcement officer, who turned out to be an ISP trooper, he said.

The man claimed the reason he was carrying the knife was that he was a culinary student on his way to class, but those claims were unsubstantiated, George said. more…

A cook at a Park Ridge restaurant was arrested on drug charges last week, accused of selling cocaine while working at the establishment.

Valentin Romero, 34, of the 5000 block of West Grand Avenue, Chicago, was charged with felony delivery of a controlled substance and felony possession of a controlled substance after Park Ridge detectives initiated an undercover cocaine purchase on the night of June 21. more…

Executive Chef Marlon Hysi

Marlon started working on the culinary field since he was 18 years old. His first job as a line cook was at Bon-Appetit catering at Stanford University, Palo Alto California. Inspired from the line of work, Marlon decided to open his own little business which was called Alba-Cafe, in Redwood City California. The Cafe served Italian Pannini’s, espresso drinks, exotic salad, and classical french pastries and cakes. After working there for two years, Marlon relocated back to Boston and opened his own restaurant with the support of his family. While Marlon was attending the restaurant he was being trained by a very prominent Albanian Chef, Shpetim Kadiu. After being trained for a year Marlon decided to bring his knowledge one step further and decided to join a classical French-Mediterranean culinary school ( Le Cordon Bleu). After the completion of the program Marlon poured his newly ganed knowledge into the dishes that he freshly prepares daily.

The father of a chef accused of allegedly serving alcohol to an 18-year-old waitress and letting her sleep in his home said the teen was seen drinking on the job. “I felt so horrible,” said Tani Hysi, who holds the liquor license for Café Apollonia at 146 Belgrade Ave. in Roslindale. “I didn’t want her to drive home. I try to be a good parent.” more…

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press Writer

Amanda Nichols

A 19-year-old woman was fatally shot on the South Side Sunday evening while working at an area restaurant, and police think they know why someone killed her. more…

LAKE PLACID — A Lake Placid woman faces second-degree assault charges after breaking a wine glass into a man’s throat in her home early Saturday morning, according to village police Sgt. William Moore.

Lynnette L. Patterson, 40, allegedly “slapped” a wine glass into the left side of the man’s throat in her residence on Sentinel Road around 5 a.m. Saturday, village police said. The glass broke on impact, and the man was taken to the Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid. His condition is unknown as of press time. more…

NEW YORK — The actor who plays temperamental chef Artie Bucco on “The Sopranos” avoided jail time for driving while impaired in a plea bargain deal, authorities said.

John Ventimiglia, 42, who portrays Tony Soprano’s high school buddy on the HBO show, will visit 30 schools to caution against drinking and driving under the agreement announced Monday in a Brooklyn courtroom. more…

THE SOPRANOS star JOHN VENTIMIGLIA pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in a New York City court on Monday (26JUN06). The 42-year-old actor, who plays Chef Artie Bucco in the mob drama, agreed a plea deal with prosecutors and was fined $500 (GBP277) and had his driving license suspended for 90 days in Brooklyn Criminal Court. (more…..)

LOS ANGELES — A takeover robbery occurred at a Carl’s Junior restaurant in the Baldwin Village area of Los Angeles late Thursday night, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Investigators say three masked men smashed their way in by shattering the glass front door of the restaurant with a hammer. Police say the men pistol-whipped an employee and stole about $1,000. The employee who was injured is reported to be in stable condition.

Longtime Madisonville Mayor Peter Gitz was beaten and robbed Wednesday night as he was closing the landmark restaurant he has owned for 30 years, authorities said Thursday.

Gitz, 71, mayor of the river town since 1976, remained hospitalized Thursday at St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. He was hit in the head with a blunt instrument, receiving a wound that required 14 metal pins to close, authorities said. Gitz also suffered an eye socket injury and a mouth injury. more…

A preliminary hearing date of July 27th was set in Memphis for singer Hank Williams Junior on assault charges.

Williams appeared briefly in court yesterday on charges of assaulting a Peabody Hotel waitress on March 18th.

He is accused of grabbing Holly Hornbeak, choking and verbally abusing her in the lobby of the hotel. At the time, Williams was in Memphis while his daughters received hospital treatment for injuries they received in a serious car accident. more…

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Seven black men who met at a Golden Corral restaurant to plan college homecoming activities have reached a $100,000 settlement with the city of Fayetteville and the restaurant after they were detained during the investigation of an attempted robbery.

The group will also receive an apology from the city and got the city’s pledge to improve the training of its police officers. A federal lawsuit filed by the men was dismissed last week, following a settlement reached May 8. more…

A onetime Chicago grocery store owner pleaded guilty Friday to ripping off $1.6 million from the food stamp program after running phony transactions in his grocery store.

Hatem Fariz, 33, on Friday admitted in federal court he ran the massive fraud in his store, T & T Foods, in the 2700 block of West North Avenue. He agreed to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution. more…

The grisly murder of a much-loved cook at Mama Mia Pizza in Valencia left residents shaken Monday. Edward “Eddie” Politelli, 72, was stabbed to death shortly after 8:30 a.m., according to information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s officials said Politelli was found by an assistant manager shortly after 8:30 a.m. as a man savagely attacked Politelli with what may have been a machete.
Detective Charles Morales said the witness arrived for work and entered through the front doors of the restaurant, in a corner of the parking lot of the Valencia Marketplace on The Old Road. The witness told deputies he heard a violent exchange from the rear of the building and ran back outside.
The witness told officials that once outside he saw Politelli crawling around the back of the building, calling to the witness for help. At that point, Morales said, the attacker reportedly continued hacking at Politelli. more…

Police artist sketch of suspect wanted in the slaying of Edward Politelli, 72.

Police are searching for a prisoner who escaped from a Nottinghamshire prison in a shipment of chef hats. more…

(CBS) TORRANCE, Calif. A judge has ruled in a preliminary hearing that a sushi chef will be tried for attempted murder for allegedly attacking his ex-wife with a knife outside her Gardena home.

A district attorney says Minoru Watanabe will stand trial on one count of attempted premeditated murder against his former wife, Keiko Watanabe. He also faces one count of making a criminal threat against her boyfriend, Tomio Sakati. (more…..)

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