That stain will cost you

[question everything]

StarTribune.com
That stain will cost you

February 18, 2009
Rick Nelson

The most talked-about man in the Twin Cities restaurant community isn't a chef, a restaurateur or a free-spending diner. He's a con artist. His name is Michael Brown, and he's been working a scam that sort of passes the smell test, contacting area restaurants with a shaky but slightly plausible scenario that goes something like this: After recently dining in said restaurant, he returned home to discover a stain ("I sat in something" is the common thread) that required a visit to the dry cleaners. Could he please be reimbursed for the expense? He's in the area so it's convenient to drop by and pick up the cash. And then he does.

If that sounds like a lot of sturm und drang for $25, it is, but the scenario has paid off at several restaurants, including Meritage in downtown St. Paul. "I had a feeling that I was being jacked when it happened," said co-owner Desta Klein. "But you don't want to make a guest defend themselves if they have a legitimate complaint. You want to err on the sides of caution and humanity."

Marc Dickhut, district manager for the Lowertown and south Minneapolis branches of the Bulldog, has some experience with Brown; he encountered him at his former job at Laredo's Tex-West Grill & Cantina in St. Louis Park, which is why the story sounded so familiar when Brown hit up the Bulldog. "He's very amicable; he doesn't want to cause a fuss," said Dickhut. "I told him, 'Here's the deal, there's a guy named Mike Brown who did this at Laredo's and wow, what are the odds?'" Dickhut said. "That's when he said, 'Look, you got me.' He knows the police aren't going to do anything about $25."

Lenny Russo of Heartland in St. Paul got the call recently. After receiving fuzzy responses to basic questions, he realized that something wasn't right. The caller couldn't remember if he had been seated in the restaurant's dining room or wine bar -- a stretch for any conscious person who has actually set foot inside Russo's intimate establishment -- as well as other telling details. "I mean, $25 to dry clean a suit? Are you kidding me?" Russo said with a laugh. "The dry cleaner next door does it for $12." Dickhut noted that Brown's phony dry cleaner receipt could use a little work. Including the name of an actual dry cleaner would help, and, "Spelling 'suit' s-u-i-t would be a lot more credible than spelling it s-u-i-t-e," he said.

Russo's two conversations with the stain-prone scammer gave the chef an opportunity to do a little armchair criminal profiling. "He's a low-level grifter who is preying on our desire to be of service to people," he said. "It's not the money, it's the principle. I would encourage anyone to invite him in and punch him in the face."



http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/39779972.htm

[MADem]

1. I say get him on tape and give the tape to one of those tabloid shows.

Cheesy bastard.