{"id":176449679,"date":"2015-02-05T00:16:50","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T06:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/?p=176449679"},"modified":"2015-02-05T00:16:50","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T06:16:50","slug":"info-accuser-in-strauss-kahn-case-builds-restaurant-and-a-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/2015\/02\/05\/info-accuser-in-strauss-kahn-case-builds-restaurant-and-a-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"INFO: Accuser in Strauss-Kahn Case Builds Restaurant and a Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nytimes<\/a><\/p>\n

FEB. 3, 2015<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Accuser in <\/span><\/h1>\n

Strauss-Kahn Case<\/span><\/h1>\n

Builds Restaurant<\/span><\/h1>\n

and a Refuge<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

By\u00a0WINNIE HU<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Nafissatou<\/a>

Nafissatou Diallo\u2019s restaurant, Chez Amina, opened in the Bronx in May. Ms. Diallo received worldwide attention in 2011 after accusing the I.M.F. chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, of sexual assault. Credit Edwin J. Torres for The New York Times<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

As the news media again turns its attention to\u00a0Dominique Strauss-Kahn<\/a>, the former leader of the\u00a0International Monetary Fund<\/a>\u00a0who is\u00a0on\u00a0<\/a>trial<\/a>\u00a0in France on accusations that he participated in a prostitution ring, the woman who accused him of sexual assault in New York City in 2011 has quietly resumed her life, this time behind the counter of a West African restaurant in the Bronx.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nafissatou Diallo<\/a>, the hotel housekeeper who accused Mr. Strauss-Kahn of attacking her in his suite at the Sofitel Hotel, opened the storefront restaurant,\u00a0Chez Amina Restaurant<\/a>, on Boston Road last year, according to a worker there. A Facebook page for the restaurant says it officially opened on May 16. Chez Amina serves burgers, salads and soups along with savory West African specialties like fish and rice stew, from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m. every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its regular customers include taxi drivers, who carried out steaming silver tins, and West African immigrants from the neighborhood who settled into platters at tables outfitted with A1 steak sauce and white porcelain sugar bowls. \u201cEverything is good,\u201d said Cisse Elhe, 52, an immigrant from Senegal who orders from the restaurant every week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ms.<\/a>

Ms. Diallo Credit Ozier Muhammad\/The New York Times<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

For most of Tuesday, Ms. Diallo was nowhere to be seen after\u00a0an article about the restaurant<\/a>\u00a0appeared in the French media. A half-dozen journalists camped out for hours in Chez Amina\u2019s red leather banquettes and wooden chairs, hoping for a glimpse of Ms. Diallo<\/span><\/p>\n

At dinnertime, Ms. Diallo appeared and sat behind the counter, trying not to be noticed. She would not look at reporters and waved away their questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

A restaurant server, who declined to give his name because he said he wanted his privacy, described Ms. Diallo as \u201cvery private.\u201d He said she would come and go and did not have a set routine. \u201cShe cooks, she serves, she helps out,\u201d he said. \u201cAnything that is available to do, she does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The criminal case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested in May 2011 and indicted on charges including attempted rape and sexual abuse,\u00a0was dropped in August<\/a>\u00a0of that year when questions arose about Ms. Diallo\u2019s credibility. Ms. Diallo also filed a civil case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn in the Bronx, which was\u00a0settled<\/a>\u00a0in December 2012; the terms were kept confidential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several customers said they recognized Ms. Diallo from the news and knew her story, but had chosen not to ask her about her past. They said she did not bring it up, either. Instead, they said they exchanged casual hellos with Ms. Diallo, and not much more. The food was always fresh, and the prices good, and that was what mattered, they said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The West African meals include baked fish with yellow rice.CreditEdwin J. Torres for The New York Times<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t talk about anything; I just get my food and go,\u201d said Sekou Konate, 45, a taxi driver who was waiting for the fish and rice stew.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Diallo\u2019s food, if not Ms. Diallo herself, has attracted notice in a neighborhood just south of Crotona Park, which has many West African residents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chez Amina serves Halal meats. All day long, a server scoops hefty portions of West African dishes with chicken, fish and vegetables from silver warming trays behind a glass partition. The restaurant displays an A rating from the New York City health department on the front window. The wide-ranging menu is posted on a wall behind the counter, without prices because the work was never finished, a server said. A takeout menu lists more upscale items such as baked salmon ($17) and New York sirloin steak ($22.99) and house specials like baked Guinea fowl for $13, which is served with salad, rice or couscous.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the customers pay in cash. A sign taped to a back wall says that all bills larger than $10 will be checked \u201cdue to ongoing issues with counterfeit bills.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Abdul Jamal, 29, a taxi driver and immigrant from Sierra Leone, said he sometimes ordered from Chez Amina twice a day \u2014 he likes the baked fish and chicken \u2014 since he worshiped at a mosque located above the restaurant. Mr. Jamal said he knew Ms. Diallo only from seeing her at the restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best food, that\u2019s what I know,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t watch the news. It\u2019s too much headache.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

>via:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/02\/04\/nyregion\/accuser-in-strauss-kahn-case-builds-restaurant-and-a-refuge.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n

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FEB. 3, 2015     Accuser in Strauss-Kahn Case Builds Restaurant and a Refuge   By\u00a0WINNIE HU   As the news media again turns its attention to\u00a0Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former leader of the\u00a0International Monetary Fund\u00a0who is\u00a0on\u00a0trial\u00a0in France on accusations that he participated in a prostitution ring, the woman who accused him of sexual assault in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[4,12,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176449679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176449679"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176449679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176449686,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176449679\/revisions\/176449686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176449679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176449679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176449679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}