Sean Rossman

Democrat staff writer

Brian Cartenuto, a two-time winner of Food Network's "Cutthroat Kitchen," was arrested Friday on charges he failed to pay sales tax while he was owner of the former Tucker Duke's Lunchbox restaurant on College Avenue.

Court documents say the 35-year-old didn't pay nearly $22,000 in sales tax owed to the state over a 5-month period from October 2014 to February 2015. The business closed after a small kitchen fire left $15,000 in damage in February 2015.

Cartenuto, from Coconut Creek, was booked at the Palm Beach County Jail on Friday and was released hours later after posting bail.

Tucker Duke's was in operation only six months at the longtime spot of Po Boys on East College Avenue, now the location of the Southern Public House. It opened in August of 2014, boasting its eclectic burgers, craft beer offerings, sliders and sandwiches.

But an investigation by the Florida Department of Revenue said Cartenuto, who was responsible for the restaurant's finances, stopped paying sales tax two months after the restaurant opened. A review of business bank accounts showed Cartenuto "had enough funds in the account to pay the Department of Revenue the taxes due during this period."

Court documents said an investigator sent letters to Cartenuto and called him on multiple occasions. The investigator invited him to a June 2 meeting at the Tallahassee Service Center, but Cartenuto never showed.

Cartenuto faces one count of theft of state funds, a second-degree felony, and five misdemeanor counts of refusing to file sales tax returns. Efforts to reach Cartenuto's attorney Matt Willard were unsuccessful.

Cartenuto was arrested on similar charges in September 2015 by an Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy. Cartenuto was charged with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts related to not filing sales tax returns for two of his businesses, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.

Before Cartenuto entered the Tallahassee restaurant scene he worked as an executive chef for Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles restaurant in Miami and was chef and owner of the Italian restaurant Cantinetta in Seattle. He then opened his first Tucker Duke's in Valparaiso, near his hometown of Niceville, followed by others in Deerfield Beach, Tallahassee and Boca Raton.

The end of Tucker Duke's Tallahassee came shortly after 11 p.m. on Feb. 2, 2015. Tallahassee Fire Department crews responded to black smoke billowing from one of the restaurant's vents. The fire was found to be caused by an electric smoker that had been left on.

Two months after the fire, Cartenuto would cook at the renowned James Beard House in New York City.

Contact Sean Rossman atsrossman@tallahassee.com or follow@SeanRossman on Twitter.