Jamba Liar

One of California's best Cajun chefs goes on the lam after a Bay Area con game is busted

A A A Comments By Lisa Davis Wednesday, Oct 27 1999

...continued from page 5

On a beautiful, crisp Sunday morning, five days before Christmas, Postal Inspector John Zemblidge was sitting in church when he was interrupted by the familiar vibration of his pager. He'd meet two other inspectors at the Holiday Inn to plan their strategy for apprehending a suspect who was staying at the Travelodge next door.

Well, there wasn't much planning before Patrick Foster walked out of his room and began to leave. The feds yelled. Patrick stopped. The investigators walked Patrick back into his motel room. He went to the bathroom and amicably agreed to fill out paperwork allowing them to search his room. A half hour later, Patrick bolted out of the room and took off toward the traffic of a main street, which was an uphill climb from the parking lot of the motel.

Jeremy Eaton

In February 1997, Patrick Foster

rented a box at Post Rent-a-Box

in San Francisco, and set up his

investment scheme.

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He fell. The agents pounced. Patrick went to jail until the federales came and brought him back to the Bay Area. Patrick has been in the federal prison system ever since.

Cafe N'Awlins closed suddenly, with no explanation, at the end of last year. There were rumors of some kind of shady business, but no one seemed to know just what was up. Regular patrons are left gumbo-less and sad, mourning the apparent loss of their favorite chef. Expatriates have nothing but the dashed hopes of pompano and duck. The old cafe building is now a Korean Barbecue, without so much as a single andouille sausage or red bean to hint that it had ever been anything else, or ever will be.

Mark Foster remains a Cajun chef on the lam.