Tag Archives | dan kaufman

Eagle: Oven, Busy Chef, Blug Pig Done

By on July 29, 2008 2:57 pm in crime, News

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.

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Kuntzman Responds to BHB…On Gothamist

By on July 28, 2008 4:11 pm in Brooklyn Heights

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: Continue Reading →

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The Busted Chef Chronicles Part 3: We May Be Dumb, But We’re Not Stupid

By on July 25, 2008 8:20 am in Brooklyn Heights, crime, News

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. Continue Reading →

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Busted Chef Chronicles Part 2: A Vermont Story

By on July 23, 2008 8:33 am in Brooklyn Heights, crime, Food

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 Continue Reading →

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Busted Chef Removed from Brooklyn Paper’s Media Kit

By on July 21, 2008 1:54 pm in News

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). Continue Reading →

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Busted Chef Update: The Eagle Gets Into It

By on July 19, 2008 4:45 pm in Brooklyn Heights, crime, News

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 Continue Reading →

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Busted Chef Out On Bail

By on July 19, 2008 10:24 am in Brooklyn Heights, crime, News

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.

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Busted Chef Chronicles Part 1: You Can Fool Some of the People…

By on July 18, 2008 10:45 am in Brooklyn Heights, crime

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.

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Busted Chef Update: Dan’s [Dirty] Laundry List

By on July 18, 2008 9:35 am in Brooklyn Heights, crime, News

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.

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Breaking News: Busted Chef

By on July 17, 2008 8:26 pm in Brooklyn Heights, crime, Food, News

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.

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BHB One Year Ago: Curious, Aren’t You?

By on March 19, 2008 12:30 pm in Brooklyn Heights

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.

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Eagle: Busy Chef Empire

By on February 12, 2008 3:55 pm in Brooklyn Heights


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?: Continue Reading →

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Oven: Celeb Hotspot

By on December 11, 2007 11:40 am in Brooklyn Heights

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.”

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Bitter Oven?

By on November 17, 2007 5:05 pm in Food, News

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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?

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“Busy Chef” Busy Copying and Pasting?

By on July 6, 2007 2:14 pm in Food, Fun

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. Continue Reading →

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