(News out this morning from LausDeo10580.com)
"Lessing's, a sixth generation, family owned and operated business, dedicated to quality and excellence in food service since 1890, is set to be awarded the catering and restaurant business at Rye Golf Club's Whitby Castle. The City Council has added approving the Lessing's contract to tonight's agenda and has posted a copy of the Lessing's agreement between the city and Lessing's.
According to their web site, "Lessing’s is one of the Northeast’s leading providers of food service management through a variety of dining and hospitality operations. Dedicated to innovation, sustainability, and nutrition, our brand spans over 100 locations – including corporate dining, educational institutions, private and public clubs, and vending accounts – across the region.
...We own and operate some of the area's finest dining establishments. Lessing’s full-service restaurants include four-star Mirabelle featuring world class ambiance paired with the finest French cuisine, the waterfront View Restaurant offering the best seafood Long Island has to offer, and trademark “Main Street” locations serving moderately priced American fare including Post Office Café, Maxwell’s, Library Café and Finnegan’s."
While the RGC Commission was vague on the announcement at it's own meeting last night–not mentioning Lessing's by name and allowing the city council to act in due course–they did vote unanimously to remove the mandatory $300 spending minimum that was imposed on membership by former club GM–now alleged grand larcenist–Scott Yandrasevich years ago.
The $300 minimum was a source of some controversy around the club with many members feeling it was never properly discussed before being instituted. Others simply felt it was unfair to be forced to spend $300 at Whitby Castle. After the revelations about Yandrasevich came to light–a city investigation concluded he leveraged an undisclosed conflict of interest to steal $2,000,000 from RGC, mostly through the Whitby Castle operations–more came to see it as a parlor scheme to finance the labyrinth of shell companies and the suburban version of three card monty the former GM was dealing to RGC."