We hate to say “we told you so,” but we told you so. The Notorious Busted Chef, Dan Kaufman, is up to his conning ways again. Gawker reports today that Kaufman was busted last month in Montauk by NYPD detectives:

Read BHB’s original coverage of the Busted Chef saga now.

Gawker: Kaufman was arrested by NYPD detectives late last month in Montauk, N.Y. He’s accused of defrauding a New York mobile advertising startup called CloudMob Media, which he had conned into hiring him as its chief technology officer, out of $20,000. He allegedly used the money to rent a beach house in Montauk, where he spent much of last summer and fall regaling a sophisticated social circle of New Yorkers—including the editor of this very website—with a never-ending cascade of extravagant lies. He relentlessly trawled the free dating site OkCupid, duping untold numbers of women (I spoke to three; their experiences suggest dozens more) into dating him. And he did it all while busily working to launch a new social network that would bring credibility and trust back the internet.

We hadn’t seen any information about the ongoing Busy Chef/Dan Kaufman case recently so we reached out to the Kings County District Attorney’s office. We learned that Kaufman plead guilty on December 2 to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. On February 8 he was sentenced to five years probation.

Infamous “Busted Chef” Daniel Kaufman pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in a Manhattan court yesterday, stemming from an incident last December when he allegedly stole his friend’s credit card.

Kaufman was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, and released on his own recognizance. His trial is set to begin July 23.

On December 19, Kaufman allegedly stole his friend’s credit card while visiting him on the Upper East Side, and then made a purchase with it at a McDonalds near Penn Station. Kaufman was captured on McDonald’s security cameras at the same time the fraudulent charge was made on the credit card. The full criminal complaint can be found here. 

Formally, Kaufmann was arraigned on one count of fourth-degree grand larceny and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

Meanwhile, as BHB reported last week, a Brooklyn DA spokesman said the office is still investigating Kaufman’s alleged crimes in Brooklyn Heights last summer, where he swindled customers out of more than $25,000 by running their credit cards through the machines after they ate at the Busy Chef, Oven, Blue Pig, or Wine Bar restaurants at the corner of Henry and Cranberry streets. 

BHB has discovered charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of a stolen credit card against “Busted Chef” Daniel Kaufman in Manhattan from earlier this year.

According to the criminal complaint, Kaufman was arrested on Jan. 20 for an incident on Dec. 19 on the Upper East Side in which he allegedly stole a credit card from a friend, whose apartment he was visiting. He then made a purchase at a McDonald’s on the west side, where security cameras there captured his every move, the complaint states.

Cops charged him with a felony count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a credit card and one count of grand larceny. Read the full complaint here [pdf]. Kaufman is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in Manhattan criminal court on June 23.

A call to his Legal Aid attorney was not immediately returned.

Meanwhile, prosecutors at the Brooklyn DA’s office are still investigating Kaufman’s alleged wrongdoings in Brooklyn Heights last summer, a spokesman said. Kaufman allegedly swindled customers out of more than $25,000 by running their credit cards through the machines after they ate at the Busy Chef, Oven, Blue Pig, or Wine Bar restaurants at the corner of Henry and Cranberry streets. That case has been removed from the city’s online criminal tracking system during the course of the investigation.

“I can tell you that our case is alive and well,” said DA spokesman Jonah Bruno. “We haven’t brought the indictment yet, but there is still a case there.”

The Brooklyn Eagle reports that Alan Young, former Busy Chef, Oven, Wine Bar at 50 Henry and Blue Pig owner (as well as other businesses at those Henry Street addresses) has been disbarred.  The eateries were shuttered last year after manager Dan Kaufman was busted on charges of credit card fraud and identity theft.  The case against Kaufman is still pending.

There has been no word on whether Young will be charged or is suspected of being involved in any wrong doing in the “Busted Chef” case.  However, the Eagle report says that he is  under investigation on another matter:

The Brooklyn Law School graduate submitted his resignation in November, acknowledging “his inability to successfully defend himself on the merits against any disciplinary charges which may be brought against him…,” according to the Appellate Division, Second Department opinion and order issued in April.

Young was being investigated by grievance committees in three separate New York judicial districts, including the Second Judicial District, for alleged “irregularities in his attorney escrow account.” The Appellate Division immediately accepted his resignation, ordered his disbarment, and demanded that he immediately surrender his attorney secure pass.

Former manager of the Busy Chef restaurants on Henry Street, Daniel “Busted Chef”Kaufman, is awaiting a trial date for 24 counts of alleged fraud after appearing in Kings County Criminal Court on Dec. 26, 2008. Kaufman, who faces seven years in jail after allegedly stealing approximately $25,000 from former customers’ credit cards, is undergoing a criminal investigation.

Kaufman, who managed former Brooklyn Heights establishments Wine Bar at 50 Henry, Busy Chef, Blue Pig Ice Cream, and Oven, was arrested in July 2008 for the alleged fraud, after which his businesses were shut down, causing dozens of workers to lose their jobs. After his arrest, Kaufman’s former partner and landlord Alan Young reportedly locked him out of his apartment. According to The Brooklyn Paper, some claim that Young was using Kaufman as a scapegoat for larger white-collar crimes.

Kaufman’s alleged fraud in Brooklyn was not the first time he has had financial troubles with restaurants. Prior to relocating to Brooklyn Heights, Kaufman owned the South Kitchen and Wine Bar in Boston. He opened the business back in 2005, and by 2006 its doors were closed. As the restaurant’s sales plummeted, Kaufman reportedly neglected to pay approximately $40,000 in rent to his former landlord, Michael Devlin.

Former South Kitchen executive chef Jerome Watkins said Kaufman was a “visionary” who had a very strong entrepreneurial spirit, but he kept financial information very secret.

“We were profitable, but there was never any money around,” Watkins said, and none of the managers or the former co-owners, Brian Culkin and Joe Maffey, knew why.

“Everything was in his name, like the bank accounts and the liquor license. He was basically controlling everything,” Watkins said. It took Watkins and the owners a few months to realize the extent to which the restaurant’s money was disappearing, and then “weird things came up.” At one point, Watkins said, Kaufman hired his girlfriend to work 15 hours per week, but she received a 40 hour per week paycheck.

After having lost nearly $500,000, the restaurant had to close down. Nearly 30 people lost their jobs, including two chefs who were hoping to start their careers.

“It is really disappointing because you are building yourself, building your career, and suddenly you have to start over,” Watkins said.

Kaufman’s business failures did not begin in Brooklyn or Boston, but in his earlier days in Burlington, Vermont. [ed. note: actually, Kaufman started out in Boston, then fled to Vermont, then to Brooklyn] According to The Burlington Free Press, a popular Italian restaurant called Tuscan Kitchen had to close in 2007 due to ongoing financial problems.

Additionally, ShamelessRestaurants.com claimed that Adriana’s in Burlington had to close for similar reasons. Prior to venturing into the restaurant business, Kaufman served as the senior account manager for Propeller Media Works LLC, a Burlington web design, marketing and application development firm, and as a client relations team manager for PriceWaterhouseCoopers.  As reported last year on BHB, he also served as the Chief Financial Officer for a light manufacturing firm. The company discovered suspicious corporate credit card charges of approximately $1200, allegedly made by Kaufman.

Despite Kaufman’s financial history, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, Judy Stanton, said he deserves credit for the contributions he made to the community.

“He went out of his way to be civic-minded and generous. He was more than willing to promote his business, but he wanted to serve the community,” Stanton said. Stanton referred to Kaufman’s former ice cream shop, the Blue Pig, donating cookies and ice cream to a community festival, and cakes to a bake sale.

“But this only added to the shock that people felt when they heard about the (fraud) allegations,” she said.

Even Jerome Watkins called him “passionate,” and said he “had a really strong vision about what he was doing.”

“But I’m not surprised to hear that he’s doing the same thing in Brooklyn. It’s unfortunate, but I wish him the best,” Watkins said.

Hot on the heels of the BHB Ten, the Brooklyn Paper has named its 90 to Watch in ’09.  Coming in at number 2 is Brooklyn Heights’ own Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman:

Brooklyn Paper: 90 to Watch…: 2. Dan Kaufman: The co-owner of the Busy Chef restaurants, who was arrested last year on charges of swindling customers out of thousands by stealing their credit card numbers. But the fun is only beginning: This year, Kaufman’s trial will start — and his lawyer is saying that Kaufman is just a “patsy” for shadowy Brooklyn Heights restaurant partner Alan Young, whose eateries fold like origami. This is going to be the trial of the century!

The bright yellow exterior of the storefront at 50 Henry Street is now a more subdued shade of cranberry. According to workers at site formerly known at the Wine Bar at 50 Henry Street, an “American restaurant” will be opening there soon.

The wine bar and its sister stores Busy Chef, Blue Pig and Oven were shut down earlier this year when manager Dan Kaufman was accused of credit card fraud and identity theft.  Kaufman’s latest court appearance was scheduled for last Friday (12/26).  No further information is available at this time.

Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman’s next day in court will be December 26, 2008 as determined at his last court appearance on October 15, according to Kings County Criminal Court records.  Contrary to erroneous reports on the Internets, no decision or plea have been recorded.

We’ve heard that some people on the Internets have mentioned a “rumor” started by “someone who posted a sign” at 60 Henry regarding a Hooters moving into that space.   First, let’s just all calm down and remember the whole “Cigar Bar” hoax of 2007 (and its lame follow up Penelope’s Playspace) at that same location.   Add to that the fact that Community Board 2 has not received notification for any establishment seeking to serve alcohol at 60 Henry.  Not to mention that there’s no LPC application asking to hang, say, a giant HOOTERS SIGN at that location.  We’ve contacted Hooters PR and are awaiting a response on this story as well.

However we are grateful this “rumor” gives us the license to use this awesome clip from South Park.

As BHB Community member “Yo” pointed out yesterday, there’s something going on at the site formerly known as Busy Chef at 60 Henry Street.   There also seems to be activity at the old Wine Bar space at 50 Henry Street.  BHB regular nabeguy commented yesterday, “I also saw the activity in the Wine Bar space. I presumed that the broker-type was Alan Young spinning his web, but may be wrong. When I asked the guy who’s been watching the places lately if something was moving in, the question was met with a blank stare.”

Busy Chef, the Wine Bar at 50 Henry and Oven were all shut down over the summer after one of its employees Dan Kaufman was arrested and charged with several counts including identity theft related to credit card fraud. The case is currently before a Brooklyn Grand Jury.

The Brooklyn Paper reports that “Busted Chef” Dan Kaufman’s Pierrepont Street apartment – which the paper writes he rents from Busy Chef owner Alan Young – had its locks changed and was ransacked this week.  The paper’s calls to Young for comment went unanswered:

Brooklyn Paper: Busted Chef…: For the record, Brill said his client is innocent of the identity theft and credit card fraud charges, claiming instead that Kaufman was a scapegoat of larger crimes by Young and others.

The paper also steps up to the plate today and sheds light on Nasser “Nando” Ghorchian’s dealings with Alan Young and the Busy Chef related businesses.

Today the NY Times writes about the Busted Chef drama:

New York Times: Charges and Closed Shops Rattle..: Yet while the new establishments drew sizable crowds and seemed to have a promising future, there were disturbing rumblings about Mr. Kaufman. More than a year ago, commenters on the Brooklyn Heights Blog accused him of financial sleight of hand and outright fraud. Some employees said their paychecks began bouncing about three months ago.

Some also said that Alan Young, an owner of the businesses, told them within the last few weeks that Mr. Kaufman no longer worked for him and should not be allowed on the premises.

“I thought Dan was an owner — we all did, because he passed himself off as one,” said Farrah Powell, a manager at the Wine Bar. “I never met the real owners until all of this came to light. I think that was by Dan’s design, so we’d have no one higher up to talk to about his behavior.”

…Julia Horowitz, who owns the Blue Pig in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., and was a partner in the Henry Street shop, said Mr. Kaufman was a “con man who bamboozled the whole community” even as he was given full autonomy to run the shops. But Mr. Brill said that Mr. Kaufman was a victim of corrupt business practices by others and described him as “almost a patsy.”

The Brooklyn Eagle reports today that The Wine Bar at 50 Henry has shut down for good in the wake of the Busted Chef scandal.  As former manager/co-owner Dan Kaufman awaits indictments from a grand jury that is meeting this week, employees at the Wine Bar were told today that they were out of work and the bar was shutting down.  Yesterday, The Blue Pig, Oven and The Busy Chef at 60 Henry Street were shut down in addition to another Busy Chef on Court Street that shut down last week.  The entire Busy Chef Empire has now crumbled in the wake of the Kaufman’s alleged credit card fraud.

The Wine Bar at 50 Henry was clearly the most popular of the BCE establishments.  Its casual atmosphere and friendly staff were a big draw.   Led by restaurant vet Amanda Green, the bar opened in January and quickly won a following.  It was still growing when Green passed away in June.

Now in the shadow of alleged criminal activity,  the one light of hope in the ongoing saga of the Corner of Cranberry has been turned off.  Today, you can add the names of the BCE employees who are jobless to the list of reported victims of the alleged crimes of the Busted Chef.

What’s next for the Corner of Cranberry?

UPDATE: Sadly, it appears now that the Wine Bar at 50 Henry Street, the best by far of the lot, has closed, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

With news that three four of the four “Corner of Cranberry” businesses have been shuttered (looks like the liquor license for the 60 Henry businesses expires tomorrow), we’re wondering what’s next for the seemingly accursed location. What will Ghorchian and Young, Brooklyn Heights’ very own wannabe Drew Nieporents and once rulers of what Gothamist called an “Empire of Feh”,  launch next? A Cigar Bar? Bring back Food Maestro? We’re hoping the Wine Bar remains, since it is really a lovely place.

It’s worth noting that trouble seems to follow Mr. Ghorchian and Mr. Young’s ventures like a bad smell. In addition to the various “Corner of Cranberry” debacles, Mr. Ghorchian was involved with Mike’s Kosher Steakhouse, which closed shortly after Mikel Domgjoni was arrested for allegedly forcing himself on an 18-year-old waitress (whatever happened to that story?). They were both involved with failed enterprises at 111 Court Street before it was Busy Chef (Cafe 111, liquor license) and at 311Henry Street before it was Tazza (Cafe del Mar, liquor license). And Mr. Young was involved in a botched, complicated scheme to open casinos on land in upstate New York supposedly held by a Native American tribe not recognized by the federal government (Young was cleared of all charges).

We applaud their tenacity, but maybe it’s time to allow some new blood in the Heights food scene.

Note: According to the Alcohol, Beverage, and Control Laws, Article 8, Section 106:

Provisions   governing   licensees   to   sell  at  retail  for consumption on the  premises.  1.  No  retail  license  for  on-premises consumption  shall  be  granted  for  any premises, unless the applicant shall be the owner thereof, or shall be in possession of  said  premises under  a  lease, in writing, for a term not less than the license period except, however, that such license may thereafter be renewed without the requirement of a lease as herein provided.

The Brooklyn Eagle breaks the news that four of the five restaurants managed by Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman have been closed permanently.  Oven, Busy Chef and Blue Pig on Henry Street and the Busy Chef outlet on Court have all shut down.

Brooklyn Eagle: Henry Street Busy Chef…: Kaufman, who allegedly used customers’ credit cards to obtain $25,000 in stolen cash, was arraigned on July 17, the day before another store under his management, a Busy Chef on Court Street, closed. At that time, employees stated that the Henry Street location would remain open, but as of yesterday, an employee said that all three businesses were now permanently shuttered.

The grand jury continues to meet this week to decide on possible credit card fraud related indictments against Kaufman.

My name is Homer Fink and I wear the Scarlet Letter of being a BLOGGER. Or so says Gersh Kuntzman, Editor-in-Chief of the Brooklyn Paper and my special friend, on Gothamist today.  Responding to our story last week about what we knew and when we knew it about the Busted Chef caper and how we shared info with the Brooklyn Paper that it chose not to print,  Kuntzman tells Gothamist:

“We did look into these allegations; there was a widely sent email when Busy Chef first opened and we pursued it. But there were no formal complaints filed in Boston or Vermont and no one was willing to speak to us on the record. I am a fan of Homer’s blog but his standard of what he can publish is a little lower; we can’t just print rumors. And his suggestion that our coverage was based on advertising is absolutely erroneous.”

And for the record, we also shared our findings with the proper authorities.  We do not know if our input contributed to the events that led up to Kaufman’s arrest.

Here’s my response posted to Gothamist today, it has yet to clear moderation:

Let me say this about that, first from the Brooklyn Paper itself:

This isn’t the first time a Kaufman business has had trouble, according to court papers. In either late 2006 or 2007, Kaufman set up a trendy wine bar in South Boston, where he did not pay more than $40,000 rent, according to a landlord who sued Kaufman to recoup those losses.  “We’ve never gotten a dime out of him. We got possession of the premises but that’s it,” the landlord’s lawyer, James Rudser, told The Brooklyn Paper. “He never puts anything in his name, he knows what he’s doing in terms of the scamming.”

At the time of our convo (which Gersh represents accurately as well as his ultimate reason for not publishing) – there was a pending suit in Suffolk County Mass. against Kaufman to which  the above paragraph refers. It’s public record, go ahead look it up.

As for a blog’s standards being lower than a newspaper’s I submit to you:
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/29/39/29_39gyllenhaal.html

and this….
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N8CjyH8zB_g

but who could forget the NAZIS ARE BEHIND ATLANTIC YARDS story -
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/3/30_03blood_money.html

Yes, we bloggers live in the gutter. Those newspaper guys are so classy.

The Busy Chef E-mail File and What We Told The Brooklyn Paper a Year Ago That They Didn’t Print

A little over a year ago, BHB began receiving information from people claiming to have ties with accused fraudster Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman. They spun tales of someone who was capable of lying to your face while robbing you blind. They claimed on internet message boards that he had fathered a child in New England and had not paid child support. We even heard from ex-girlfriends who claimed the “Chef” had lied to them as well. After a little Googling we uncovered evidence of Kaufman’s secret history in Vermont and of leaving his partners in a Boston restaurant holding the bag to the tune of $40K in back rent.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, we thought. Or perhaps Kaufman was a tenacious businessman who had made some enemies and they were licking their wounds and looking for revenge any way possible. In that case this anecdotal evidence would suggest that there was just a lot of sour grapes coming our way from New England. Was Kaufman a captain of industry or a rascal? Was there more to the story?

Our first (and only) face to face encounter with Kaufman happened the weekend Busy Chef opened. We walked in carrying a bag from Garden of Eden. Kaufman noticed it and claimed that we could buy the same baked goods at Busy Chef because GOE was a client who bought Busy Chef’s “baked on premises” items for their store. An unsolicited lie right off the bat. Still, maybe he’s just hustlin’ we thought.

As the great Hunter S. Thompson once said, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” And so they did. We began corresponding with someone identifying himself as “Michael Burak” who claimed to be the marketing contact at Busy Chef. We ran a Q&A, (done via email…we have day jobs, y’know) with him in March 2007. After that ran, we sent him some follow up questions based upon comments made on BHB. His response:

Good evening,
I reminded myself as I remembered our email conversation several weeks ago that I owe you answers to a couple of questions.
Our culinary team consists of:
Chef Cofee
Chef McKearn
Chef Libowitz
Chef Raul
Chef Emma
Chef Jonas
Which supermarkets have we partnered with:
This has taken longer than we had expected, but we will announce as soon as we are able to.
Also, I would like to point out our community involvement this weekend at the local Public School where we donated food, and raffled off a cake. We are open to any ideas, or suggestions on how we can be the best neighbor possible.
Thank you for all your feedback so far, please keep it coming.
Regards,
Michael

“Chef Cofee” we suspected was an alias Kaufman was using. . So we asked “Burak”, who we were starting to think was a Kaufman alias as well. (A local reporter who had interviewed “Burak” told us, as we recall, that it was a telephone interview and didn’t know what he looked like.) Surely if the “Chef” had nothing to cover up about his past then this question would have been easy to answer truthfully. Then we got this email:

Good afternoon,
If you’d like to discuss via the phone our community involvement, please provide me with a time that works for you, and I’ll give you a number to reach me.
Chef Cofee is one of our Chef’s, we do not employ a Dan Kaufman, which I think was identified incorrectly in a Brooklyn Paper Story. Would you like to discuss Chef Cofee’s background during our phone conversation? As far as who the “chef” is, all of our team is pretty active on the floor.
I think I do have a lead on the prankster, would you like the inside scoop?
Enoy your day,
Michael

While we were never able to confirm the existence of “Burak” (we recently emailed his address but have not received a response we received a response from the AOL address used while Burak was corresponding with us.  The person using that address told us he was no longer affiliated with Busy Chef.) it was becoming clear that the Busy Chef operation was not being straight with us. Not to mention the fact that one of the first rules of “the con” is to offer to solve a problem for someone to gain their mark’s trust (thanks Jazz for that tidbit).
“Burak” soon became a little menacing after seeing reader comments posted on a story we did about Oven. Still, the half-truths and lies cannot be missed:

Good afternoon,

Within your string of postings in response to your blog on Oven. There is a post one stating the the Busy Chef is “shady”, and as well that we are somehow connected to a restaurant in Boston.

These remarks are harmful to business, especially when they are false. With someone with such a vested interest in the community, I would ask that you prevent anything from being posted that is not true.

If someone does not like our food, or coffee, and they post a review, we take that to heart and work to improve ourselves. But in attacking us personally, how do we respond? How do you respond?

This corner has been such a problem for so long. Business is going very well, it seems like there is more activity here than there has been in the last ten years. I just hope you are with me in preventing postings that are false, and harmful the community.

Thanks,

Michael

And them “Burak” disappeared. But Chef Dan, who has a writing style remarkably similar to “Burak” and an originating IP address that was exactly the same, was able to fire off this missive to BHB in response, again, to reader comments (he asked we not print the letter but hey…):

Good afternoon,

Once again posts on the blog have gotten way to personal. I am fine
with those who do not not like our food or service. We can work on
these issues. There are many hard working people here, and it is
unfair to let those with personal grudges against me, to take it out
on our business, employees, and customers.

I have filed a police report, as now these posts are generally
followed by phone calls telling myself or one of our employees to go
to the brooklynheightsblog to view comments about me.

I have never met you, nor probably the majority of your bloggers, and
the attention is warranted, we have a high profile on a corner which
has had allot of failure.

But, using your site as a way to hurt me, is completely wrong. I am
being stalked and harassed.

Please do not post this, nor reply to it, as I just wanted to let you
know my thoughts.

This thread between us and him went on and on. The CC’s on each of his emails got stranger as time went on – catch-all addresses at the FBI, various anti-stalker organizations, the NYPD and our favorite random cc – Jacquilynne Schlesier a community manager at CNET. We did moderate some user comments that in our sole judgment violated our Terms of Use. We also invited Kaufman to write, under his own name, a rebuttal to any comment or post on our site. We explained that it’s our primary goal at BHB to offer an equal platform to any and all residents, businesses and organizations in Brooklyn Heights.
Earlier in 2007, we thought it would be in the public interest to share the information we had with “professionals” who we felt would be better equipped to investigate and present the story. After all, we were a bunch of BLOGGERS doing this for fun and to meet our neighbors, not Woodward and Bernstein. We thought, the Mainstream Media would know how to handle a potentially juicy story like this, especially if it meant saving the citizens of Brooklyn Heights from becoming victims of fraud. Right?

Not so much.

We spoke with a reporter at the Brooklyn Paper around May 2007. The writer expressed interest in following up the story. Within two weeks the reporter left the newspaper. Around that time, I was approached by Brooklyn Paper editor-in-chief Gersh Kuntzman to fill in as their Brooklyn Heights columnist while he found a replacement for a departed reporter. When we sat down to go over what was expected from my fill-in column I shared the Busy Chef info that had come into BHB.

While the paper wrote reviews and news items on Busy Chef it did not delve into his past until Kaufman’s arrest. There was a time when courageous journalists like Mike Wallace would go door knocking and confront alleged con men who appeared to be hanging their shingle in a new town. The Brooklyn Paper article published this week is one that we’d hoped would have been written before there was an arrest or alleged victims to write about in our area. Maybe I didn’t sell what we had hard enough – the Boston rent lawsuit, the alleged theft in Vermont and outstanding arrest warrant (later dropped), the emails and message board claims. The paper published nothing, apparently not pursuing the story. This passage from today’s story in the B’Paper didn’t make the consquences of last year’s lack of coverage look any better:

“We expect that the amount and the time frame [of the scam] will grow,” a law enforcement source told The Brooklyn Paper.

But there may have been reasons, other than thinking this story wasn’t newsworthy, to avoid digging deeper into the story before Kaufman’s run in with the law in Brooklyn. Busy Chef’s advertising was extremely prominent in the online and print editions of the Brooklyn Paper. Kaufman was, until his arrest, featured in the paper’s marketing materials. Did this give him the opportunity to influence the paper’s coverage? Probably not, but Kaufman reportedly seems to have wanted everyone to think that he did. And his claims would not be so far fetched given the current dire conditions in the newspaper business.

A source close to Busy Chef claims that Kaufman once bragged about getting me “fired” from the Brooklyn Paper gig. While that statement made the abrupt ending to my fill-in stint seem suspicious, I never believed that to be the case. After all, I had agreed to fill-in on a temporary basis until Kuntzman found a replacement for his departed staffer. But it is possible, like those in Vermont and Boston had learned before us, that some folks there may very well have been hypnotized by the spell of the Busted Chef.

As Grand Jury proceedings in the case against accused fraudster Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman begin this week, his sordid past in New England is rearing its head.

As the food monger awaits possible indictments on several counts including identity theft, Kaufman’s track record in Vermont suggests that this is not the first time he’s been thought to be involved in this type of mischief.

Last year, while following up on a couple of tips BHB received about him, it was discovered that in 2006 he charmed himself into the position of Chief Financial Officer for a light manufacturing firm in Vermont (they wished to remain anonymous, since they feel the incident was an embarrassment for them).

A representative for the manufacturing firm told BHB last year that Kaufman managed to gain the trust of the company’s CEO and founder, despite lacking the proper background for the position. The rep added that the Busted Chef also convinced the CEO that his other employees were defrauding him, while Kaufman himself allegedly plotted to defraud the company.

Unlike the drama unfolding in Brooklyn Heights this month, the Vermont company caught Kaufman in the act early, before he could do any serious damage. The representative told BHB that they discovered suspicious corporate credit card charges of about around $1200 allegedly made by Kaufman. The company contacted police and Kaufman reportedly fled Vermont. While a warrant was issued for his arrest, the company eventually dropped the charges, citing the relatively small amount that was claimed to have been stolen and avoiding further embarrassment.

Also during that year in Vermont, Kaufman managed to become a senior account manager for the web development company Propeller Media Works, where he claimed to have over 10 years of experience working at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. From the September 21st, 2006 edition of the Burlington Free Press:

Dan Kaufman has joined Propeller Media Works LLC — a Burlington Web design, marketing and application development firm — as a senior account manager. Before joining Propeller, Kaufman worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers for more than 10 years, where he served as a client relations team manager. Kaufman holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Los Angeles, with a major in computer science.

The Brooklyn Grand Jury hearing Kaufman’s case is expected to render its recommendation on indictment next week.

As noted by BHB last week, accused fraudster Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman was featured in the Brooklyn Paper’s media kit.  The presentation, used by the newspaper to attract advertisers, prominently positioned an accolade from the alleged identity thief along with other B’Paper clients Dr. Tony Fahra and Malcolm Smart (Brooklyn Doghouse).

BHB asked publisher Ed Weintraub about Kaufman’s inclusion in the paper’s marketing efforts.  While the Brooklyn media legend told us he wasn’t aware of the quotes used in the kit, he would investigate.

The result? Kaufman’s quote has been hastily replaced with one from Jeffrey Rodman of Water Street Restaurnt (sic).

While Kaufman is out on bail awaiting a Grand Jury trial, it’s clear that the Court of Public Opinion has rendered its first verdict.

The Brooklyn Eagle finally posted their “Busted Chef” story:

Several employees spoke to the Eagle on condition of anonymity. One said that other employees may have been in on the scheme, and had been fired. He added that workers’ checks had bounced multiple times, although not recently.

According to the Eagle, Kaufman was merely a manager:

“He [Kaufman] was hired to get these restaurants into shape after they opened,” he said. He added that one of the reasons for the alleged credit-card fraud, in addition to personal gain, may have been to inflate sales figures.

The employee also said that “Kaufman was the manager, but he represented himself as the owner.”

However, that can’t be entirely true – He had to have had more than a simple managerial role. We know for a fact (from a source in Vermont) that Uncommon Grounds, the first incarnation of The Wine Bar On Henry, was named after Kaufman’s favorite hangout in Burlington, Vermont, and Busy Chef is the name of another place in Burlington, Vermont Busy Chef, where chefs prepare ready-made gourmet meals for on-the-go customers (sound familiar?). It sounds like he had a larger role than manager.

The Eagle mentions “The actual owners, whom he described as two men named Alan Young and one whose first name was David, haven’t yet contacted anyone on staff about the situation, he added.” Alan Young is a local lawyer who has been involved in the various “Corner of Cranberry” places as well as several other local ventures in the past (usually partnered with Ghorchian). The “David” we presume is David Seatts, the other name listed on the pending liquor license for Busy Chef on Court Street (under the guise of Blue Pig). David Seatts owns and operates the Tavern On Nostrand, in Crown Heights, where Mr. Young’s name is attached to the liquor license. According to the Time Out NY description, David worked as a contractor for a decade, “doing face-lifts on Brooklyn mainstays like Chez Henry and Cafe Buon Gusto”.

According to the Department of Corrections, “Busted Chef” Dan Kaufman posted bail, and was discharged yesterday. According to our “source”, “that doesn’t jive with the BP story about a Wednesday hearing at which time bail would be discussed”.

Hide your credit cards. Allegedly.

Accused fraudster Dan “Busted Chef” Kaufman may have duped some area notables in addition to the 24 alleged victims authorities claim were robbed of a combined $25,000 by his “double dipping” their credit cards.

The Brooklyn Paper was first duped by the Busted Chef in April 2007 when it identified Kaufman by what could be one of many aliases, “Chef Coffee”. This year, after many Busy Chef ads ran in the paper and on its website, a quote from Kaufman is featured in Brooklyn Paper’s media kit. (PDF here)

The Brooklyn Heights Association was also not immune to the Kaufman Kool-Aid. It wrote a fawning piece about Kaufman in its Fall 2007 newsletter. The Busted Chef told the BHA that “our mission is to be a good neighbor”. The BHA’s Judy Stanton tells the New York Post today that she was “really surprised” by Kaufman’s alleged deeds.

In the interest of “full disclosure”: Busy Chef briefly purchased a small amount of advertising on BHB in 2007. Homer Fink filled in as a columnist for the Brooklyn Paper last year.

It would appear that Dan Kaufman’s arraignment has been moved up to today in Brooklyn Criminal Court. He will be charged with:

-Attempted Identity Theft, 1st Deg.
-4 counts of Identity Theft, 1st Deg.
-2 counts of Falsifying Business Records, 1st Deg.
-2 counts of Grand Larceny, 3rd Deg.
-2 counts of Grand Larceny, 4th Deg.
-Attempted Grand Larceny, 3rd Deg.
-Attempted Grand Larceny, 4th Deg.
-2 counts of Petit Larceny
-2 counts of Unlawful Possession of Personal ID, 3rd Deg.

BHB has learned that Dan Kaufman, aka Chef Dan, of Busy Chef was arrested a 9am today. Charges against Kaufman include Grand Larceny, Attempted Grand Larceny, Possession of a Forged Instrument and Criminal Impersonation according to the Brooklyn Criminal Court. He will be arraigned this evening.

No word on whether this is related to credit card fraud alleged recently by some BHB commenters.

UPDATE: The NY Post is the first with the story on Dan Kaufman:

The manager of high-end ice cream shop Blue Pig and adjacent eateries catering to Brooklyn Heights parents and hipsters was busted for double-dipping on customers’ credit cards, allegedly pocketing $25,000 in stolen cash, law-enforcement sources said.

We were expecting something like this to happen. And this choice quote:

“He has certainly made an effort to be part of the community, and be supportive of causes,” said Brooklyn Heights Association executive director Judy Stanton. “I am really surprised.”

Really, Judy. Perhaps you should visit our blog more often.

BHB March 19, 2007: The mysterious “partners” who own and operate Corner of Cranberry have fired their first salvo in the rebirth of the location formerly known as Spanish themed restaurant Aficionada.

On Sunday, BHB spotted a small sign in the papered-up windows of the restaurant begging the question to passersby “curious, aren’t you?” Read more

Update: Oven and Busy Chef are nearing their first anniversary, with BC opening another outlet soon on Court Street.

The Brooklyn Eagle reports today on the planned 111 Court Street location of NoHe’s Busy Chef. The article mentions that during renovation of the store, workers uncovered many original architectural details. There’s also an outdoor patio, which begs the question is Busy Chef a fancy 7-11 or bistro?:

Brooklyn Eagle: Court Street’s Busy Chef: The new location will serve as the central quality-control kitchen for the expanding Busy Chef empire. Already, there are stores planned for Chelsea and Fort Greene, to compliment their thriving outpost in the North Heights, on the corner of Cranberry and Henry streets. For those fortunate enough to frequent this place, you know of what we speak: a wide and tasty variety of homemade style entrees, salads, wraps, soups, and sandwiches that are reasonably priced — basically, the food you’d cook yourself if you had the time (or in some cases the skill). And the service is all about making you the customer happy and satisfied.

According to this press release, Oven on Henry Street has become a hotspot for celebs:

Marketwire: Tanner Spree arrives at work every morning at 7:30 a.m. and watches in scientific fascination as the yeast rises on his handmade dough. Spree has a double degree in biochemistry and business. He has applied his creative and biochemistry skills to the art of gourmet pizzas at the newly opened Oven Restaurant on Henry St. in Brooklyn Heights. Fans such as Paul Giamatti (“Sideways”), Gabriel Bryne, Anna Wilding (“Buddha Wild”) and various hip-hop stars are lining up regularly for a laid-back seat in this discreet restaurant tucked off the Brooklyn Promenade on Henry St. in Brooklyn Heights. Jacob Buchanan of Fat Boy Hits Music Group says, “The pizzas are exotic. Each one is a different experience. It’s the best of both worlds for me, and my roster of stars. The atmosphere is clean, warm and comfortable, and yet the food in front of you is high-end and affordable. That’s rare.”

There’s a feeling of rebirth surrounding the Busy Chef/Oven/UCG trio of eateries, as documented in the recent BHA Newsletter. A feature about the businesses reveals plans to expand to other areas of Brooklyn and into Manhattan. (Not to mention Zipcar members getting discounts in the Heights too!)

Former Oven manager Chris Fehlingher, recently left the establishments and has relaunched the Sh*tty Tipper Database area of his bitterwaitress.com. Along with the Bitterwaitress message board for restaurant employee gossip, the STD (as its fans call it) was quite popular a few years ago with its alleged real life tales of famous people tipping badly. This week, a Beta version of the new STD launched with a curious entry mentioning BC/Oven/UCG partner Alan Young as a bad tipper:

the man owns the f**king place, and decided to not properly because the server – who was very busy making the f**ker money – forgot to break the bills down. loser.

While the veracity of that claim can’t be confirmed, it’s interesting that Young would be plucked out of obscurity and singled out on the STD. Is this Brooklyn Heights’ version of the recent Porchetta debacle?

Among the many oddities that we are aware of surrounding the “Corner of Cranberry” (and there are quite a few), one of the silliest is alleged “copyright and trademark infringement”. Though that’s probably not the case, we’ve actually received a couple of emails about this, and a commenter “Capulets” brought it up again:

Check this out, that coffee place Uncommon Grounds must be affiliated with Seattle’s Best Coffee in some way. On the Uncommon Grounds site it says this:
Brooklyn hasn’t always been the center of the coffee universe, in fact the city once served as much bad coffee as the rest of the country. That changed when a group of passionate coffee lovers started a revolution.

And on the Seattle’s Best site it says this:
Seattle hasn’t always been the center of the coffee universe, in fact the city once served as much bad coffee as the rest of the country. That changed in the early 70’s when a group of passionate coffee lovers started a revolution.

Actually, that entire blurb on the Uncommon Grounds website was taken from the Seattle’s Best website, not just the quote above. (note: looks like someone noticed the above comment and took down the copy. You can view the full blurb here) And this isn’t an isolated case of vigorous copypasting. When Busy Chef first came onto the scene, the language used both on the website and in emails sounded rather “Marketese” for such a small operation. So, we did a little research. The initial Busy Chef promo copy we received, and at one time on the website, seems to be taken directly from a business called Cena To Go, a prepared gourmet foods franchise based in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, the Busy Chef slogan printed across its shop window is just Cena’s “Only at Cena..can you see, smell, touch, feel and TASTE the difference!” slogan with the name replaced. I guess since there isn’t a copyright symbol next to it means it’s fair game.

After inquiring about the then new business at the end of March, an email we received from “Michael Burak, Director of Marketing” of Busy Chef was very suspicious. It turned out it was a slightly edited copy of Boston Market’s marketing factsheet. This is the first paragraph of the email:

The Busy Chef, is based in Brooklyn Heights, and its goal is to become a leader in the fast-casual restaurant category, providing time-pressed consumers with great-tasting, convenient meals and fresh bakery items. The company will translate its passion for fresh, great-tasting food into two distinctly different concepts. Busy Chef restaurants – will be noted for their easy, convenient, home-style meals and bakery items. The company also is partnering with leading supermarket chains to bring restaurant-quality, Busy Chef-branded meals so shoppers can enjoy the one-stop convenience of purchasing ready-to-heat meals at the same time they do their grocery shopping. Busy Chef is a wholly owned subsidiary of Busy Chef, Inc.

And from the Boston Market factsheet:

Boston Market Corporation, based in Golden, Colo., is a leader in the fast-casual restaurant category, providing time-pressed consumers with great-tasting, convenient meals. The company has translated its passion for fresh, great-tasting food into two distinctly different concepts. Boston Market restaurants – 630 locations in 28 states – are noted for their easy, convenient, home-style meals. The company also partners with leading supermarket chains to bring restaurant-quality, Boston Market-branded meals into the deli department so shoppers can enjoy the one-stop convenience of purchasing ready-to-heat meals at the same time they do their grocery shopping. Boston Market Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonald’s Corporation.

The rest of the email follows a similar pattern. (What’s also interesting about that email blurb is that “Busy Chef, Inc.” actually should be “The Busy Chef, LLC“).

Also, the Busy Chef Cakes page, no longer linked to on the homepage, seems to be entirely ripped off from the Cakes page of Layers Bakery in Nevada. For instance, from the Busy Chef site:

We do not do SHEET CAKES. It’s just not what we do. We make ours round and with 3 layers sometimes 6 layers. If you need cake to feed a crowd, we suggest you get MORE THAN ONE! What a concept huh? You might even consider getting DIFFERENT KINDS so you offer a VARIETY.

And from the Layers Bakery site:

FIRST OFF, we don’t do SHEET CAKES. It’s just not what we do. We make ours ROUND and with 3 LAYERS, sometimes 6 layers (see coconut cake below). If you need cake to feed a crowd, we suggest you get MORE THAN ONE! What a concept huh? You might even consider getting DIFFERENT KINDS so you offer a VARIETY.

It all seems so silly to us: Why go through all this trouble for your nascent store to search, copy and paste from other existing businesses, when a simple “Hey, this is what we offer” would suffice?

In other news, Busy Chef appears to be opening a location in Crown Heights, according to an ad in rotation on brooklynpaper.com?

UPDATE: “Dan” from Uncommon Grounds contacted us with this response:

Uncommon Grounds is a co-branded retailer of Seattle’s Best Coffee. To become a retailer of their product, a business must undergo a thorough “screening” process. Furthermore, partners of Seattle’s Best are required to replicate – in many contexts including the web – certain graphics and language in their promotional materials. Much of this is provided on a CD, and is taken verbatim from their website, brochures and press materials. You may find all of this information on their website: http://www.seattlesbest.com/services/foodservice.aspx

We have found an example of this: Seattle’s Best Austin, however the Uncommon Grounds site was not executed in the same manner.

Busy Chef spokesman Michael D. Burak answered us as well:

I am an avid reader of your blog, and your recent email was forwarded to me just moments ago. As you know we are small start-up business, and do not have big budgets for a full marketing and web design staff.

One of our employees designed our initial site, and provided copy. Including copy for me as well. Her intention was one of good, and it is my fault for not looking into this before posting.

We have removed all of the said text from our site, and apologize to you and the community for this mistake.

In starting a new business you learn allot, and we hope that we can regain your trust and business going forward.

On another note, Uncommon Grounds which is a wholesale customer of ours, and is not owned or operated by us in any way, is affiliated with Seattle’s Best Coffee, and it’s parent company Starbucks.