London - The restaurant Bedford 234 prides itself on its "comfortable yet engaging atmosphere", avocado fries and strozzapreti with pecorino and winter black truffle.
But the presence last summer of one particular regular customer provoked outrage among the moneyed clientele of this upstate New York dining spot.
Harvey Weinstein — convicted last week of sexual assault and rape in the third degree by a Manhattan court — was that customer. He would often arrange to meet ex-wife Georgina Chapman plus their children Dashiell, six and India, nine, there.
The eaterie is near to the large farm in Bedford — a town populated by stars such as Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ryan Reynolds — which Georgina bought last year, after reportedly receiving nearly £15-million in a divorce settlement in 2018. Weinstein was renting a house nearby.
Manager Kyle O’Connor said: "What he would do is he had people come in first — his family, ex-wife, they would come in, sit down, order food, and he’d join a half-hour later. He might have tipped all right, but [customers] around him were disappearing. He made everyone uncomfortable." He was asked not to return.
Now, following a landmark three-week trial, Weinstein is awaiting a sentencing hearing. His disgrace is on an epic scale. More than 80 women have said he abused them.
So what must it be like to be the ex-wife of Hollywood’s most hated predator - and the mother of his two youngest children?
Friends say that Georgina, 43, "does not want to be seen as a victim". That right she reserves for others. In the first five months after he was exposed, she scarcely dared to leave her apartment - she feared that having any kind of public profile might seem disrespectful to his victims.
She has undergone therapy to try to cope with her sense of shock and shame. "I was so humiliated and broken that I didn’t think it was respectful to go out," she said.
She has also had to fight hard to remain in business - she is the co-founder of designer fashion label Marchesa - as her association with Weinstein, to whom she was married from 2007, has threatened to derail her career. And not only has she remained in business, she produces four collections a year and has branched out into childrenswear.
Some thought that she might lend her support at his trial, but she chose to stay away. His lawyers tried to paint a picture of her as a part of his family, with attorney Donna Rotunno saying: "They are divorced but they work well together with the kids."
She added that the children "rely" on their father "on a daily basis", noting: "He’s been seeing the younger kids their whole lives. They live next door to each other, he has a great relationship with [them]."
But Georgina’s friends say things are by no means "cosy" between them. "It’s a little damper than has been indicated," says one. He did not, for one thing, live "next door".
Georgina has not been among those visiting Weinstein at the suite in Bellevue Hospital following his conviction. In fact, she left the country with her children before the trial.
The Mail has also learned that she is ready to officially confirm a romance with the American actor Adrien Brody, whom she has been dating for several months. He and Georgina are "very happy", and I’m told the new romance is a ‘positive’ element in the new life she has been building.
Adrien, 46, an Oscar winner himself, seems to be everything Weinstein was not - charming, discreet and self-deprecating.
Romance blossomed after they met at the launch of Helena Christensen’s swimwear range last April. They were spotted having dinner together in New York in autumn.
It was said she wasn’t interested in dating post-Harvey, but she has found that Adrien has been a source of support.
With a new man in her life - and a determination to not be brought down by the sins of her ex-husband - Georgina is embracing a new beginning.