Hard Times Hit Park Slope's Bussaco

A tipster tells Eater that all is not well at one-and-a-half-year-old Park Slope bistro Bussaco. A little background: the restaurant opened in late 2008 as a joint venture between ex-Le Bernardin chef Matthew Schaefer and acclaimed sommelier Scott Carney. After receiving some early good reviews, Schaefer left due to a disagreement with Carney. After some chef shuffles, Katy Sparks was brought in as co-owner and executive chef earlier this year. Sparks left after less than a month after irreconcilable differences with the management. Now, it sounds like things have taken a turn for the worse since Sparks's departure. From the inbox:

"Since her exit of three months, sales have plummeted to under a third when Katy was present. Now employees have received bouncing checks for the past four weeks. One waitress was held captive by a Park Slope Check Casher when trying to cash a paycheck last week. The check Casher was screaming that the restaurant owed him “much money”. The head chef and sous chef both walked out, understandably after not being paid for some time."