Medium Rare co-owner Mark Bucher is being sued for an alleged embezzlement scheme. His business partner Tom Gregg, under the LLC “Get Some Food Group Managing Member,” alleges that Bucher—the public face of the DC-founded steak frites chain—accepted kickbacks for using certain food vendors and pocketed the money for himself.
Bucher’s lawyer, Mark Schamel, calls the allegations false and argues that the lawsuit is a ploy to gain leverage in a broader business divorce. He says the two have had a “broken” professional relationship for quite a while. Schamel says that Gregg had previously agreed to sell his share of the company to Bucher and a group of investors, then backed out at the last minute when the deal was in escrow.
“This feels like a poor man’s hostile takeover,” Schamel says.
The complaint was filed in June in Delaware, where the company is organized and Bucher has a home, and amended with updated allegations last week. The lawsuit says that Gregg—referred to in the complaint as the “management company”—became aware of the allegedly diverted payments earlier this year after contacting one of the restaurant’s beef vendors about some outstanding invoices. The vendor told Gregg that the company had been giving “rebates” directly to Bucher since at least 2024 in return for purchasing a certain volume of meat and fries. This was the first time Gregg became aware of the payments, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Bucher misrepresented himself to the vendor as the sole owner of Medium Rare in order to route the rebates directly to his personal bank account.
Medium Rare first opened in Cleveland Park in 2011 with a simple, affordable prix-fixe menu of bread, salad, steak, and fries. It has since grown to four locations across the DC region plus outposts in New York, Philadelphia, and Watertown, Massachusetts. (A Houston location recently closed.)
Bucher’s own public profile has grown with his restaurant-adjacent philanthropic efforts: During the pandemic, he coordinated volunteers to deliver more than 350,000 hot meals to seniors. That led to the formation of a non-profit called Feed the Fridge, which stocks fridges with free meals in schools and community centers. Although Bucher has been the frontman for Medium Rare, the lawsuit says he and Gregg are co-managers and have equal voting shares in the company.
Since discovering the initial rebate payments, Gregg uncovered a second food vendor who made cash payments directly to Bucher, which were similarly tied to the volume of products purchased, the suit says. A representative for the vendor claimed that Bucher personally negotiated the rebate terms and ordered that the payments be made directly to him, according to the amendment of the suit. The names of the vendors are redacted in the complaint viewed by Washingtonian.
The lawsuit alleges that Bucher instructed employees to place substantial orders with his favored vendors even when lower-cost or more business-sensible options were available. For example, employees expressed concerns over the fries’ quality and volume per container, according to the complaint. “Rather than considering these key business objectives, [Bucher] allocated purchases based on which vendor would enable him to extract the greatest personal profit,” the complaint reads.
Asked about these particular allegations, Schamel says he will not litigate the specific facts of the case in the media but reiterates that the allegations are without merit. “And I actually believe that Tom knew they were without merit, but he is doing this to gain a position to increase his ability to take over this restaurant and force Mark out,” Schamel says. He adds that Bucher has run the restaurant “ethically and in a very, very moral way.”
Schamel also claims Gregg won’t pay corporate bills that have been incurred on behalf of the business and that Bucher has stepped in to pay them. He says Bucher has actually lost money and is owed a significant amount in reimbursements that “Tom either won’t or is too slow in reimbursing.”
In an email statement, Robert Burns, the plaintiff’s attorney, calls Bucher’s casting of the lawsuit as a personal dispute “a distraction from the serious claims.” He continues: “The company did not go to court lightly but instead was compelled to act when it uncovered that he was pocketing vendor rebates—funds that belong to the company. The litigation is one action taken to protect the company from further harm, and the company will continue to act to protect its employees and investors.”
Burns adds that Medium Rare’s expenses, including those submitted by Bucher, “have always been paid and reimbursed when incurred and submitted on behalf of the company. The company is reviewing certain recent bills to ensure the expenditures were in fact for the company’s benefit.”
The lawsuit claims the alleged diversion of payments and “blatant self-dealing” has caused the company financial harm, eroded trust between the partners, and strained the restaurants’ relationships with key food vendors. The lawsuit seeks to remove Bucher as a co-manager of the business and receive financial damages (the amount is to be determined).
Schamel claims that last week, Gregg offered to drop the lawsuit if Bucher stepped back from his leadership role. “If there’s not a more clear indicator of what’s actually happening here, I don’t know what is,” he says.
Burns disputes that: “The company does not intend to discuss confidential settlement discussions, but we disagree with Mr. Bucher’s counsel’s description of what was discussed and why the negotiations ended.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
