DuPage Co. (ECWd) –
Oh how the dots keep connecting!
Can anyone explain why the taxpayers of District 502 should be paying for Breuders dinners at the private restaurant, Barrington Country Bistro, which is owned by the very manager of the Waterleaf? I mean seriously, it’s bad enough we are paying for them at the Waterleaf but now it appears the tax payers are subsidizing a private restaurant owned by the manager of the Waterleaf. Is this a form of pay-to-play?
A dinner that racked up a $8,445.94 bill in August of 2010! This receipt has now been uncovered and was was concealed from my FOIA for all expense reimbursements to Robert Breuder from date of hire to 2012. A receipt that reflects $2,500.00 in liquor purchases. (Click here for copy of receipt)
“Waterleaf is the brainchild of COD President Dr. Robert L. Breuder and Jean-Pierre Leroux, the longtime owner-operator of the celebrated Barrington Country Bistro in Barrington.” (Click here for the article) (Click here for corporate record of BCB)
Barrington Country Bistro FaceBook post November 2014 – “we have decided not to renew our lease and will cease operations at the close of business on Saturday evening December 20th”.
The Waterleaf team includes Executive Chef Nadia Tilkian, former owner of Maijean, Inc restaurant (now dissolved) in Clarendon Hills who’s professional experience includes stints at Barrington Country Bistro.
So in short, the Waterleaf is the brain child of Breuder and Leroux who happens to include the owner/chef of a dissolved restaurant who was also a chef at Barrington Country Bistro, owned by Leroux, who is also the manager of the Waterleaf. Got all that?
Is a business pattern starting to emerge?
- Maijean, Inc – Dissolved
- Barrington Country Bistro – Closed
Waterleaf FY2014 FY2013 FY2012*
Revenues $ 798,761 $660,539 $536,661
Expenses $1,335,608 $1,218,383 $1,112,664
Net Profit/(Loss) $
($536,847) ($557,844) ($576,003)
Quote from Leroux from Kerman Communications article : “I am proud it has become not only a favored dining spot for food lovers in our area, but also an example of how excellent a restaurant can be when given proper attention and a focus on detail throughout.” (Click here for the article)
Given proper attention? More like given a LOT of taxpayer subsidized money! I was shocked to see the spin COD officials put together for the financial presentation during the last meeting. Three years running and they actually bragged about progress being made even though they are three years running at over $500,000 loss!
Am I the only one seeing a problem here? Is not the track record of those involved an indicator that they should not be running a business?
Now don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt the Chef is absolutely one of the finest chefs in the area but we all know being a Chef is not the same as running the business.
If the numbers and track record of the management of the Waterleaf is any indicator of what is to come I suspect most would agree, taxpayers are in for a huge hit!
