5/5/2023 0 Comments Dining faux pas crossword![]() In late 1997, Luigi Palma, a Miami ophthalmologist who met Buti while vacationing in Monaco a decade ago, slapped his best friend with a $1 million suit alleging that Buti had illegally siphoned Fashion Cafe’s assets to finance a lavish lifestyle that includes “an expensive apartment, a car collection, private jets and extravagant entertainment.” The following summer, three corporate entities controlled by Valerio Morabito, the twentysomething heir to an Italian construction fortune, sued Buti for $14 million, claiming that Morabito’s erstwhile New York nightlife mentor had diverted company funds and lied repeatedly to prolong the illusion that Fashion Cafe was a success. In fact, Buti resigned from management of the chain fronted by Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle MacPherson last summer, long after the company had descended into a financial quagmire, and only then once his partners were after him. Though the press has portrayed Buti as a savvy restaurant impresario who severed his ties with Fashion Cafe in 1997, while “the getting was good,” the truth is less flattering. ![]() The previous day, without any fanfare, the 32-year-old entrepreneur had finalized a very different kind of deal: paying $350,000 to the Fashion Cafe to settle $15 million in lawsuits his partners had filed against him earlier in the year. What none of the guests knew was that the couple had another, far more complicated reason for revelry. “To the richest agency,” declared the Donald before imbibing. Indeed, the evening’s high point came when the bushy-browed real-estate mogul summoned his new business partner – and Daniela, the firm’s putative first supermodel client – to his side for a champagne toast. To the many modeling agents and models in attendance – Veronica Webb and Yasmeen Ghauri among them – there seemed an obvious reason for the couple’s unabashed bliss: Early in the week, Donald Trump had announced he was opening a modeling superagency with Buti at the helm. While their toddler son, Yanick, padded about, babbling to guests, Buti and his wife radiated joy, adding even more light to a home graced with floor-to-ceiling windows and dazzling views. There was a simple buffet dinner for 50, and Pestova, attired in gray cashmere and a diamond necklace, didn’t even bother to put on her shoes. ![]() On December 17, the night before they left for vacation in Switzerland, Fashion Cafe founder Tommaso Buti and his Czech supermodel wife, Daniela Pestova, threw a “low-key” Christmas party at their palatial Olympic Tower penthouse.
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