There were people who had high hopes for Roberto Donna. The James Beard award winner and onetime Iron Chef America contestant was in the midst of making a comeback (after settling lawsuits against him and making deals with the tax authorities), having opened Galileo III in downtown D.C. But as Tim Carman writes in yesterday’s Washington Post, things only seem to be getting worse.
In February, a judge ordered RCR [owner of Galileo III] to pay $137,693.98 in back rent, and in June, [building owner] SRI filed an official writ of restitution to evict Galileo III…. Chef de cuisine Claudio Sandri, who also cooked for Donna at Bebo Trattoria, was the first high-profile employee to go; he departed around November to take a job in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Contract pastry chefs Wendi James and Joshua Jarvis decided to split in late December. Night manager Walter Gianfranchi and hostess Maria Baldo left in March. Bar manager and beverage director Chris Cunningham said goodbye in April. Other waiters and cooks followed suit.
That’s just for starters. The main complaint from the staff seems to revolve around the paychecks. Carman reports:
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