ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – He calls himself the "sports chef," making his name known as a celebrity chef he says among NFL players, but Stefano Tedeschi said he has never been burned like this.
"I don't know where he got this mentality," Tedeschi said. "Like, Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees, I know Peyton Manning, I know them all. I have never been treated like this."
Tedeschi said he met wide receiver Antonio Brown at party for Jerome Bettis when he was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Then they met again at the Super Bowl in Houston in 2017.
So when a concierge facilitating services for Brown while he was staying at a mansion in Osceola County for the 2018 Pro Bowl, Tedeschi agreed to cook for Brown and his guests.
The two had a meeting with Brown's personal chef, Tedeschi said which he recorded to discuss the terms.
"We are laughing that he likes grass fed beef and quinoa," Tedeschi said. "[Brown said,] 'Chef I got the money, don't worry, about that, just make sure you are here.'"
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in Osceola County, Brown owes Tedeschi $38,521 including tips.
The lawsuit in Osceola County shows Brown hired Stefano Tedeschi to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days with a mininum of 15 guests at each meal.
The proposed costs were listed in the lawsuit:
- $5,000 for celebrity chef fee
- $500 for assistant chef fee
- $500 for daily services manager fee
- $250 for daily guest services Assistant fee
- Per-person fee of $50 for breakfast
- Per-person fee of $65 for lunch
- Per-person fee of $112 for dinner
The chef and his staff would be available Jan. 26, Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, 2018, from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 a.m., according to the lawsuit.
Tedeschi said he and Brown agreed to three breakfasts, three lunches and two dinners.
The Orange County chef staff provided breakfast for 15 people, lunch for 15 people and dinner for 43 people Jan. 26.
The lawsuit claims Tedeschi's staff provided breakfast for 15 people and lunch for 20 people Jan. 27.
Tedeschi claimed in the lawsuit Brown demanded that he and his staff leave the property during lunch Jan. 27.
"[Brown's associate] comes down and said, 'I'll give you a 10 minute lead, you drop the food, don't look him in the eye and walk out,'" Tedeschi recalled. "I said 'Wait, are you serious?'"
Tedeschi said he still doesn't know exactly why Brown wanted him to leave, except he said that the concierge said Brown was upset about a fish head left in the freezer.
"You know what that means? That's Italian for, 'He's pissed,'" Tedeschi said. "I said, 'First of all, that's 'The Godfather," second of all, it's the fish in the front door and third of all, the fish has a culinary display that I wanted to make a soup out of."
Tedeschi's lawyer, Frederic E. Waczewski told News 6 there were other small grievances Brown had expressed to that concierge but they did not want to disclose what those were Thursday.
Tedeschi said he just wants to get paid.
"You are a great guy, a great wide receiver. Why would you want to taunt the little people of the world?" he said. "Come on, you got big money, It's not a big check."
Brown's attorney, Darren Heitner, told News 6 Thursday they plan to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit entirely.
"It appears that the Plaintiff is attempting to use his frivolous filing as a method to gain notoriety. We remain committed to prevailing in court and refrain from further comment," Heitner wrote in an email.
According to Tedeschi's attorney, Brown has until mid-September to respond to the lawsuit.