Nancy (far left) at the famous Mozza cheese bar
It's not a very merry for everyone right now, especially famous restaurateurs. The Los Angeles Times reports that local foodie hero Nancy Silverton got tangled up in the Madoff Ponzi scheme and lost her (and her kids') nest egg. After selling La Brea Bakery, Silverton walked away with a $5 million profit and invested it all in a fund affiliated with a Beverly Hills advisor. Her father called her last week to say they lost everything.
"I need to reinvent my life...To think you have a chunk of money is very comforting. Now, I'm just like 99% of the world. If I had to retire tomorrow, I could not."Even with the financial cushion, Nancy is always behind the cheese bar at Osteria Mozza, at least five nights a week. Now, she says, she has to rely on the restaurant business to stay afloat, itself topsy-turvy at best. She's even reconsidering all those TV show and product deals she previously turned down: "I might be a little more open."
· A noted restaurateur's recipe for disaster [LAT]