Da Silvano: stolen meatballs?

I'M GONNA GNOCCHI YOUR BLOCK OFF!
A long-simmering food fight between two Greenwich Village Italian restaurant owners has boiled over, spilling into nasty lawsuits charging corporate back-stabbing, overcooked egos, stolen cheese and a pilfered meatball recipe. Silvano Marchetto — whose Da Silvano seats regulars like Yoko Ono, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter and music mogul Tommy Mottola — is suing his one-time waiter to end their partnership in the eatery next door, Bar Pitti. In a suit filed in late June, Marchetto accuses his partner and fellow Tuscan, Giovanni Tognozzi, of "acting belligerently" and barring him from Bar Pitti, which they have owned 50/50 since it opened on Sixth Avenue in 1992. The former waiter has stopped sharing the profits from Bar Pitti and is "looting, wasting, diverting and misappropriating" their partnership's assets, Mar- chetto claims. Tognozzi previously swung a meat cleaver of a lawsuit at the colorful Marchetto — known as a gracious host who flitters among diners such as Billy Joel, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro and flirts with guests like Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna and Heidi Klum. In his 2002 lawsuit, Tognozzi claimed Bar Pitti, a less expensive alternative to Da Silvano, outstripped its storied sibling for a period in the mid-'90s. Tognozzi's suit, which is still pending but has not been active, accused Marchetto of then sabotaging Bar Pitti to force Tognozzi to sell his half or to put it out of business. Tognozzi claimed Mar- chetto disturbed Bar Pitti diners with "erratic and volatile rantings" and "yelled, cursed and berated staff members." His suit also contained unproven charges that Marchetto engaged in sexual harassment, including allegations that he pinched a bartender's "bottom" and told another Bar Pitti employee named Carolina, "Nuthin' would be fina' than to be in Carolina." Tognozzi also charged culinary sacrilege: He said Marchetto copied Bar Pitti's décor and dishes, grilling its kitchen staff while Tognozzi was away in an attempt to filch his recipes, "handed down over several generations,"for veal meatballs, eggplant parmigiana and panna cotta. He also accused Mar- chetto of walking off with Bar Pitti's napkins and prized "pecorino Tuscano cheese." In an accent as thick as his Bolognese sauce, Marchetto responded: "He invented lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Bastard!" He said that when Tognozzi first worked for him 20 years ago, "he didn't know how to cook pasta." "He's jealous. It's his ego," Marchetto said. "He pretends he invented things. There is something wrong with that person." Marchetto's lawyer, John Morris, said his client's lawsuit seeks "a divorce with justice" by either forcing Tognozzi to buy him out or else seeking a court-ordered dissolution of the shared corporation that owns Bar Pitti. Tognozzi's lawyer, Norris Wolf, said Bar Pitti could end up on the auction block. "We're acting like two babies," Tognozzi said. "He should come in at 9 a.m. — clean — and we can have a cappuccino and resolve this."(NYP)

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Posted on 7/3/2005 ( Permanent Link )
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