Andrei Bancea on Cipriani: You’ll Have to Speak to the OwnerAndrei Bancea worked at an Italian restaurant in his native Bucharest, Romania, before moving to Italy for three years and then to the United States, where he started work as a waiter at Downtown Cipriani and eventually moved on to the chain’s 55 Wall Street location. “It’s a very successful company in Italy, so it was a big opportunity,” he says. And a very successful company here, too, if you ignore the tax-evasion and sexual-harassment lawsuits! We asked Andrei what life is like on the inside.
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Bourdain’s Reaction to ‘Top Chef’; Goldfarb and Cluizel Sittin’ in aBourdain considers “Hung’s well deserved victory … a nice, stiff middle finger to all those boneheads who’ve been predicting that ‘The producers are setting it up so Casey will win,’ as well as the poor, deluded souls who feel they can somehow taste food through the television screen.” Are you listening, Adam Platt? [Bourdain’s Blog/Bravo] Michelin Guide director Jean-Luc Naret wants chefs on their toes: “One thing you have to understand is that stars are not engraved in marble, but crystal, and that they can break easily.” [Metromix NY] Will Goldfarb is officially shacking up with Michel Cluizel at ABC on a dessert café, and Patricia Yeo has abandoned Monkey Bar after leaving Sapa to work on the project in March. [NYT] Related: Cluizel, Goldfarb to Join Forces in Dessert Pact Patricia Yeo Leaving Sapa, Opening Rib House; Something About a Monkey
