Tracii Hutsona. Photo credit: NY Daily News
Last year, an ambitious restaurateur decided to take a bold chance: she brought her unique concept to Phoenix and opened her second location in the midst of a pandemic. One year later, her risk-taking may lead to time in federal prison, but for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with her restaurant.
The owner and operator of Breakfast Bitch, a burgeoning restaurant on Roosevelt Row, was arrested on suspicion of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Tracii Hutsona is accused of stealing over $1 million from Joumana Kidd, ex-wife of former NBA player Jason Kidd, while she served as an aide to the former Ms. Kidd. Hutsona had previously been arrested and served more than six years for embezzlement,
The restaurant, aside from its unique, hashtag-worthy name, has an interesting concept: servers are free to use salty language in banter with diners. It apparently has been successful, as we’re told that it was frequently packed with wait times. Considering that it was a new restaurant during a pandemic, that alone is an impressive feat.
So why did Hutsona turn to crime? Apparently it was to fund an extravagant lifestyle in order to help prop up her other business.
Hutsona and her husband also ran a luxury lifestyle business. As for what that entails, according to the website, “From last minute restaurant reservations, holiday bookings, theatre and concert tickets, to exclusive access to clubs, parties, and special events, Elite Lux Life is the go-to service for wanting to enjoy the very best life has to offer”. It would appear as though Hutsona felt the need to commit those felonies in order to give the appearance of being wealthy herself. Instead of “fake it til you make it”, she turned to “fraud it til you make it”.
As most of our readers know, restaurants have had an extremely difficult time over the last 15 months. Breakfast Bitch had served as a shining example of how great niche marketing can fuel a small business to thrive in extremely difficult times. It is incredibly unfortunate that that alone wasn’t enough to placate Hutsona.
Her pre-trial conference is set for next month in a New York court.