Thief returns $4,000 bottle of cognac to swanky restaurant
Louis XIII is back where he belongs, at the luxe Grandview restaurant atop San Jose’s Mount Hamilton.
Stolen last week by a customer who was captured on surveillance video, the bottle of cognac — a century-old brandy from Rémy Martin worth $4,000 — has been returned, the restaurant’s owners said.
They have alerted the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, which had sought the public’s help in the case, that they don’t intend to press charges against the woman.
“She decided to come forward,” co-owner Maurice Carrubba said Tuesday. “And with everything going on in the world — we’ve got war, we’ve got Covid, with everything everyone’s been going through — given that she’s a mother of six who made a bad decision, we decided to give her a second chance.”
He added: “People make mistakes. I got my bottle back.”
And yes, he said, it’s still sealed.
The woman had been part of a group of 10 dining at the restaurant last week; it was their second visit there, Carrubba said. With reservations de rigueur at a restaurant like this, they had reserved a large table both times.
The surveillance video showed a woman in a long dress walking around the bar to the wall of bottles, selecting one and holding it down at her side. As she turned and rounded the bar, a man joined her. They both then exited.
The woman herself did not return the cognac; it was brought back by someone on her behalf.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the woman could have been charged with felony grand theft.
Carrubba realizes the restaurant group may face criticism for not urging punishment for the thief. But, he said, “Maybe it started off as a joke,” or a dare. “What am I going to do, put a mother of six in jail? … I’m just happy they decided to do the right thing.”
The scene of the heist, the Grandview, is a historic 1884 property that sits 1,500 feet above the Santa Clara Valley floor. Originally a roadhouse for those heading up to Lick Observatory, the venue was operated as a restaurant by the Ciciarelli family for decades. They closed it in 2014, and the Carrubba brothers, Maurice and Giuseppe, came to the rescue of high-elevation dining, renovating the restaurant and reopening it the next year.
Always a popular destination for birthdays, anniversaries and marriage proposals, the Grandview now boasts a second deck and hosts more weddings and other events than ever before — with a top-tier food and liquor menu that matches the views.
“We sell a fair amount of Louis XIII,” Carrubba said, with a 1.5-ounce pour priced at a couple hundred dollars. “It’s phenomenal. It’s one of a kind. I try to enjoy it for special occasions.”
And would the return of this bottle qualify as one of those special occasions?
“Oh, yes,” he said.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/nq6yaKA
Reviewed by Admin
on
March 16, 2022
Rating:
Post a Comment