New Palo Alto restaurant faces lawsuit over alleged recipe theft from rival eatery

A new Palo Alto restaurant, Macarena, faces a lawsuit from Teleféric Barcelona, which claims its former employees stole recipes and confidential information to start the rival eatery. The lawsuit alleges that David Linares and Elisabet Reviriego accessed sensitive data while working for Teleféric. Linares and Reviriego resigned in May 2024, claiming they were returning to Spain. However, Teleféric alleges they conspired to open Macarena using stolen information. A forensic analysis reportedly found that Linares downloaded nearly 17,000 documents before leaving. Teleféric is seeking unspecified damages for the alleged theft of trade secrets and violation of confidentiality agreements. Macarena is set to open in February 2025, just two miles from Teleféric's location.