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Motorcycle driver killed in crash

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County and Wilkes-Barre have similar measures pending for LGBT protection

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The landlord of a recently closed Midtown Village eatery said Friday that he is no more in-the-know concerning the suddenly defunct restaraunt than anyone else confused by its abrupt shuttering.</p><p>Sandy Insalaco Jr., property manager at Insalaco Development Group Inc. of Pittston and landlord to the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/392516/news-719-50890020-what-the-fork-to-open-restaurant-in-wilkes-barre" target="_blank">Midtown Village businesses that until recently included What The Fork&#8217;s brick-and-mortar location</a>, said he&#8217;s received very little information from What The Fork owner Mario Bevilacqua, of Scranton, and no paperwork addressing the landlord-tenant agreement.</p><p>&#8220;I just got back from vacation on Saturday,&#8221; Insalaco said. &#8220;I got a text Saturday evening telling me the business was closing, and I have been unable to reach the owners since that point.&#8221;</p><p>The food service business, touted as a pioneer among area food trucks and noted for it&#8217;s <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/120620/news-taste-683932-its-showtime-for-what-the-fork" target="_blank">2015 appearance on &#8220;Live with Kelly and Michael,&#8221;</a> has stopped deploying its two trucks, closed the doors to its Midtown Village location and deleted its Facebook page and website.</p><p>According to the website roaminghunger.com, a popular food truck website and marketplace, one of the business&#8217;s two trucks, a 1994 Chevy Grumman Olson Food Truck, was recently sold. The truck&#8217;s asking price on roaminghunger.com was $50,000.</p><p>Attempts to reach Bevilacqua by phone Friday were unsuccessful.</p><p>The turn of events comes nearly a year since What The Fork <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/business/378150/what-the-fork-to-open-second-restaurant-in-mall-at-steamtown" target="_blank">announced plans to open a second stationary location in the Mall at Steamtown</a>. The restaurant, thought to be opening in March of this year, never came to fruition.</p><p>Stephanie Longo, director of marketing and communication for the Scranton Chamber of Commerce, through which Bevilacqua rented space in the Chamber&#8217;s Scranton Enterprise Center, said she can confirm he is no longer a tenant but could not speculate as to why he left the business incubator.</p><p>Insalaco said he&#8217;s aware that someone came to the Midtown Village location to remove equipment, but knows nothing else.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in the dark,&#8221; he said. And he&#8217;s not the only one.</p><p>Insalaco said that when he was at the store Thursday, &#8220;a few of (Bevilacqua&#8217;s) employees stopped by, and they were looking for him.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He hasn&#8217;t returned their phone calls either,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Food-Truck-2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">An ad on roaminghunger.com shows one of What The Fork&#8217;s food trucks has been sold. The asking price was $50,000. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Food-Truck-2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>An ad on roaminghunger.com shows one of What The Fork&#8217;s food trucks has been sold. The asking price was $50,000. </caption0><photoCredit0>Screen capture of roaminghunger.com </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_IMG_3586-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">What The Fork&#8217;s brick-and-mortar location in Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Midtown Village once served up lunchtime specialties like pork tacos and truffle fries, but now stands darkened. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_IMG_3586-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>What The Fork&#8217;s brick-and-mortar location in Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Midtown Village once served up lunchtime specialties like pork tacos and truffle fries, but now stands darkened. </caption1><photoCredit1>Brigid Edmunds | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Landlord, employees &#8216;in the dark&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei and Brigid Edmunds</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p><p>bedmunds@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Landlord says owner of What The Fork left him and employees ‘in the dark’