Since time immemorial, silverware has found a way to walk out of dining rooms. But the golden age of modern restaurant theft occurred in the early 2000s.
That¡¯s when, as chefs became celebrities and dining out became high theater, well-designed restaurants turned regular customers into cunning thieves. In a story on the subject in 2002, the New York Times highlighted several items that had been stolen from notable restaurants: a $1,200 silver Champagne bucket from Locke-Ober in Boston and a $1,000 fish-shaped bamboo lamp from Dahlia Lounge in Seattle, among others. At New York¡¯s Eleven Madison Park, someone managed to remove one of the two dozen framed vintage photographs, sourced by then-owner Danny Meyer, from the dining room wall out in the open; its value was about $1,500.
These days we¡¯re deep in the Brooklyn aesthetic, so there aren¡¯t many silver Champagne buckets lying around, and diners have found more unconventional items to covet. We¡¯re not just talking about that one charming teaspoon or mini vase, or the mismatched coupe ¡ª not to mention toilet paper ¡ª that often finds its way into someone¡¯s pocket on a larcenous whim. Here, we¡¯ve gathered tales of significant items that have been taken from restaurants, from the seemingly worthless to the unwieldy.
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