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The owner of one of the city’s most famous celeb hangouts, the Spotted Pig, has been accused of routinely groping female employees and demanding sex and nude photos from them — while allowing his buddies to molest them too, a new report says. An after-hours space on the third floor of restaurateur Ken Friedman’s tony Village hot spot is even known among workers and industry insiders as “the rape room” — where public sex is on display, according to the New York Times, quoting 10 women who are accusing the powerful businessman of unwanted sexual advances. Former longtime server Trish...

Self-made billionaire and restaurateur Tilman Fertitta says Donald Trump is going to help America because he is going to help American business. "Taking so much power away from the government and putting it back in business is going to be great for American capitalism," says Fertitta, the star of CNBC's "Billion Dollar Buyer." "And why is America great? One reason: American capitalism." Fertitta is worth nearly $3 billion and has 60,000 employees spread across his restaurant and casino empire. The CEO got his start peeling shrimp in the back of his father's restaurant in Galveston, Texas. In particular, Fertitta is...

Trotter burst on the scene in 1987, when the self-taught chef opened Charlie Trotter’s restaurant on Armitage Avenue. In short order, the chef’s intense creativity and never-repeat-a-dish dictum made Trotter’s the most talked-about restaurant in Chicago, and his fame quickly spread throughout the country and beyond. Charlie Trotter, whose eponymous Chicago restaurant was considered one of the finest in the world, has died. The 54-year-old chef was found unconscious and not breathing in his Lincoln Park home this morning and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Trotter was found by his son Dylan at the...

April 29, 2010 Note: The following text is a quote: http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/wfo042910.htm Ashburn, Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to $53 Million Bank Fraud ALEXANDRIA, VA—Osama El-Atari, 31, of Ashburn, Va., pleaded guilty today to operating a fraud scheme that stole more than $53 million from banks throughout the United States. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office; and C. André...

A US restaurateur has poured £600 worth of French wine and champagne down the toilet. Anthony Tola, from New Brunswick, New Jersey, said he was angered by France's lack of support for the US position on Iraq. He has removed all French wines from the menu of his Old Bay Restaurant, replacing them with vintages from California, Oregon and Australia. He has also returned 48 bottles of French wine to his suppliers. Mr Tola said: "It was a statement. If people feel what I'm doing is wrong or overboard, they can make their own statements. "[I'm not] someone who wants...