Exclusive | French chef dies after paying $210K deposit to open NYC restaurant and heartless landlord refuses refund to widow
A French chef mysteriously died last month after he and his wife plunked down more than $200,000 to open their dream restaurant in New York City — and now a “heartless” New York City landlord is refusing to refund the family’s life savings, The Post has learned.Francois-Tanguy Olivon and his wife Manon Olivon had planned on moving with their young children from France, to open Chez Fanfan in the trendy SoHo neighborhood.That was after selling their restaurant in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, last year.The couple had forked over a $166,000 deposit and $47,500 for two months rent for January and February to Robert Moskowitz, owner of New York-based Only Properties LLC, Manon Olivon told The Post.But before they could open the brasserie at 510 Broome St., Francois-Tanguy disappeared during a vacation in the south of France after making a frantic call to his wife at 1 a.m.
on Feb.22, according to local media reports.“He was shouting at me for help, to come and get him right away,” Manon said at the time, according to media reports.
Manon never spoke to her husband again.A passerby later reported seeing him on the night he disappeared wearing a “completely torn” T-shirt.CCTV captured him falling off a bridge in the town of Bayonne.
His body was fished out of the Adour River 12 days later.The heartbroken widow informed Moskowitz of the tragedy in a March 1 letter, asking that he return at least a portion of her life savings.“Today, I am not writing to a landlord – I am writing to a man.A man who, I hope can look beyond clauses and figures and understand that sometimes, life puts us through unimaginable trials that we cannot face alone,” she wrote.“If you cannot return the full amount, then I beg you to at least return one month’s rent.
It would be an immense help to me and my children.”Moskowitz, however, refused to return any of the cash.Instead, Only Properties’ lawyer played hardball, threatening to hold the penniless widow accountable for ...