DA investigating reBar owner who ran off with couples’ cash

By Josh Saul, Amanda Lozada and Bruce Golding for the New York Post 

May 12, 2014 | 10:32pm

Tables and chairs are all that remain of the DUMBO hot spot reBar.
Photo: William C. Lopez

The Brooklyn district attorney is investigating a Dumbo wedding venue that suddenly shut its doors last week — leaving dozens of brides and grooms in the lurch after they forked over big bucks for upcoming receptions.

The reBar gastropub and its runaway owner, Jason Stevens, are the subjects of the probe amid allegations by customers that he pocketed full payment for reservations before disappearing, a spokeswoman for DA Ken Thompson told The Post Monday.

Authorities are also looking into multiple recent financial complaints against the business, a law-enforcement source said.

The popular eatery and event space at 147 Front St. abruptly closed down on Friday, with one employee telling a reporter Monday that its workers all got stiffed out of three weeks’ pay by Stevens.

The darkened restaurant was a shambles on Monday, its bar littered with half-empty bottles of booze and partially eaten hamburgers. At one point, a linen-company worker showed up to drop off a $1,300 bill.

Bride-to-be Stephanie Kutch, 26, said she and fiancé Christian Pascarella, 34, both of Brooklyn, spent their life savings of $17,500 to reserve the space for next year.

“I’m lost,” Kutch said. “We’re trying to keep cool, but we’ve got to start over from scratch.”

Stevens’ competitors quickly stepped up to try to accommodate the crushed couples, with some offering discounts.

“We’re getting so many e-mails, and they’re so hard to read. These clients are really devastated. Some have lost almost $30,000 to $40,000,” said Slavica Stafanovic, manager of Baco, which is slashing its prices by up to 50 percent.

Brooklyn Winery manger Rachel Sackheim said, “The calls have been nonstop” since reBar closed.

“Over the weekend, I spoke with one couple, and we were able to book their wedding for June 1,” she said. “This couple had lost around $20,000, and at the end of the meeting, everyone in the room just broke down and cried.”

Katie Iles, co-founder of Nine Lines digital-strategy firm, set up an online fund to raise money for reBar victims — including employee Monica Pereira, who’s set to be hitched June 28.

Pereira, 32, said she and fiancée David Zisa lost $21,000 they paid for an 85-guest reception and are scrambling to see whether they can hold the party at the nearby Jane’s Carousel, where their ceremony is planned.

Stevens didn’t return a phone message and e-mail seeking comment.

Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli

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