Palo Alto Spanish Restaurant Macarena Hit With Lawsuit Before It’s Even Open | Eater SF

"A not-yet-open Spanish restaurant in Palo Alto is the defendant in a lawsuit filed December 5, 2024 alleging that owners David Linares and Elisabet Reviriego stole recipes and customer/client data from their former employer. The complaint says Linares downloaded 17,000 files from a confidential, shared Google Drive on his last day of employment, including "recipes, food providers, financial and budgetary information, marketing strategies, leasing agreements, and the restaurant’s \"events price bible,\" which includes \"strategy for hosting events, catering, and pricing details, among others,\""; Reviriego is accused of copying and deleting marketing materials from that shared Drive and on Canva, plus a customer marketing list. The suit further alleges the pair used the information to leverage a deal to sell food during San Jose Sharks games. According to the complaint, Linares and Reviriego worked for the company from 2019 until 2024 (Linares initially hired as general manager for the Palo Alto location and later promoted to director of operations and chief operating officer of the U.S. locations; Reviriego later promoted to director of marketing), then resigned in May 2024 stating they were returning to Spain; the employer discovered instead that they were opening this new Spanish restaurant and hired a forensic analyst who allegedly uncovered the downloaded materials and missing marketing assets. Representatives for the former employer declined to comment to Eater SF; the restaurant's representatives issued a statement: "We are aware of the lawsuit and are addressing it through the proper legal channels. While we cannot comment on the specifics, we want to be clear: Teleferic Barcelona’s allegations are baseless, merely an attempt to stifle competition and hurt our reputation in the press. Our recipes are entirely our own, and we stand by the originality and quality of our culinary creations. Our legal team is actively addressing this matter, and we do not wish to give these baseless claims any more attention than they deserve. [the restaurant's] February opening will proceed as planned, and we remain fully confident in our values and the steps we’ve taken to launch the restaurant. We are committed to delivering exceptional experiences for our patrons and look forward to serving the Palo Alto community." The restaurant is slated to open in February (2025); a court date has not been set. The reporting was updated January 6, 2025 to include the statement." - Dianne de Guzman