The missing owner of the Dirt Cowboy Cafe who abandoned the coffee house last Sunday without any explanation to his employees turned up in Seattle and his silent partner is now in Hanover trying to sell the defunct cafe.
Dave Pambianchi, the silent co-partner, said he wants to sell the cafe to the highest bidder as soon as possible.
"I just can't keep coming up here," said Pambianchi, an English teacher from Middle Village, N.Y.
Thomas Guerra, the co-owner and manager of the cafe, apparently left town after having a nervous breakdown and then proceeded to drive across country, Pambianchi said.
Pambianchi said he did not know Guerra had abandoned the cafe until Wednesday when Guerra's father finally called him.
Guerra's father and brother, both restaurant proprietors, were in town last Tuesday to discuss the situation with William Davison, the landlord of the cafe's building.
"Neither has the time to run this," Pambianchi said.
This weekend was the first time since Guerra's disappearance that Pambianchi spoke with his partner.
"I told him to get on a plane and come back, so Tom may be coming back soon," Pambianchi said.
But at this point Pambianchi said he did not think it was a good idea for Guerra to return and manage the cafe.
"He needs to take three weeks of convalescence at his mother's," Pambianchi said.
In the meantime, Pambianchi said he is trying to reopen the cafe as soon as he can, possibly Thursday or Friday, under new management.
Pambianchi said he plans to stay in Hanover until the cafe is sold.
After putting a "For Sale by the Owner" sign in the window this weekend, Pambianchi said he has already received seven offers.
Several employees who said Guerra did not pay them before he left stopped by the cafe Saturday to inquire about their back salary.
Pambianchi said he will try and pay them as soon as possible. "Everything will be taken care of," he said.
Some of the employees said Guerra displayed erratic behavior. Employees said Guerra fired people for making a cup of coffee the wrong way.
Donna Robinson '92, a former employee, said she saw Guerra leave his personal toiletries next to food supplies and once she said she saw his hair next to a slicing machine used to cut meat and cheese.
Robinson and another former employee, Chip Coleman '92, also said Guerra never gave them tax forms to fill out when they were first hired. Both said they were paid in cash.
Pambianchi said he heard similar complaints about Guerra's behavior from employees who have been coming in to see him.
"I can only think he was losing it by then," Pambianchi said. "He probably didn't know what he was doing by then. I only wished he called me."
Pambianchi said Guerra is doing better now. "He sounds like he got it back," he said.
