In this interview, Dennis Prager speaks with Tony Roman, owner of Basilico's Pasta e Vino in Orange County, about his decision to keep the restaurant open for indoor dining throughout California’s COVID‑19 lockdown orders. Roman frames his actions as a patriotic stand for liberty, openly bans masks in the dining room, and claims the establishment has had zero COVID‑related fatalities. He discusses ongoing legal battles, including a threatened revocation of the restaurant’s Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) license and a vague criminal action that has yet to result in formal charges or a trial date. Roman notes that a lawyer, David Hackenfar, is representing him in the ABC case, and he explains how the restaurant is financing its legal defense. Throughout, Roman portrays the state’s public health mandates as tyrannical, positioning himself as a defender of freedom against Governor Gavin Newsom’s policies.
Chapters
You don't see yourself as heroic, but I think you are. And the man I'm talking about is Tony Roman, which is the perfect name for someone who runs an Italian restaurant. I mean, your probably original name was Rabinowitz, but I understand. Yeah, you don't think of Tony Roman running a sushi place.
No, absolutely not.
And I won't. I understand. The owner of Basilico's restaurant in Orange County. There should be lines, my friends, going around the block. We'll ask about how many people are coming. So he's operated in open defiance of the tyrant in California known as Gavin Newsom, the honorable Gavin Newsom. And you have stayed open the whole time with indoor dining.
We have been completely anti-lockdown, full patriot. Mode policy. Yes, absolutely.
How is it that you're continuing to operate? I would just expect them to put a lock on your door.
I think when you take a stand based on principle, and the principle is not about your business, it's not about your right to work, your right to an income, paying your bills, to employ people, but about liberty and freedom, and you make it about that, you are then willing to risk everything and put everything on the line. And when you do that, The enemies of freedom like Gavin Pelosi, the mini tyrant who runs California, they understand and they have a fight on their hands. So we flaunt it. We boast about our patriotism. I have deep love for this country. And I think when they come calling, they understand that. But we do have a criminal action against us and we do have an ABC violation against us.
What's ABC?
ABC's Alcohol Beverage Control. They're looking to revoke our license.
Right, of course.
But we're standing up to all of them.
Okay, so let me understand. How can you have a criminal action against you when it's not even established that it's a crime?
Well, when people ask me that, I don't really care. I mean, because even if it was a law, the defy. I totally would.
So would I. So would I. And I am 100% in support of you. And I want to get to why there aren't more Tony Romans in a moment. I just want to understand the specifics, the legal specifics. How could there be a criminal charge when there's no crime on the books?
Great question. And we're going to test that. We have publicly— I have personally publicly come out and have challenged him and said, look, if you, if you believe as deeply in your tyrannical policies as we do about our, about our liberties and our freedoms, then let's test it in a court of law. File the charges. You know, we have this criminal action hanging over us, right? But they filed nothing. So we're begging him, let's, let's go before a jury of our peers. And let's, let's test these, these ridiculous mandates that he has. And, and so far we've heard nothing.
So is there a trial date?
There's nothing.
And do you have lawyers?
We have lawyers. We've had, we've had a lawyer represented so far in one case.
How are you affording the lawyers?
Well, the lawyer so far has— he's a patriot as well. His name is David Hackenfar out of L.A. and he has represented us on the ABC case. We've had one hearing so far. The hearing went our way to the degree where we had a second day where we had the witnesses lined up, and when they, when they, when they filed this action against us, they basically charged that we were a disorderly house and we were a danger and a risk to the community. Well, we begged for our second day of the hearing, and it's now been over a month and a half, I think, and they've scheduled nothing.
Bless your soul. So now let's, let's talk about all the fatalities at your restaurant.
Sure. There have been approximately zero.
Give or take zero.
Approximately zero. Absolutely right.
So we're talking about Basilico's restaurant in Orange County.
Basilico's Pasta e Vino. Pasta e Vino.
Pasta and wine. So yes, so that's very important because my California listeners should be calling you up, making reservations. I'm not kidding. So you're the, the wait staff, the servers as they're now called.
Yes.
There, are they masked?
No, we— nobody's masked. We have even taken the next step, which is banning masks. So for me, the masks represent, uh, uh, fear, control, surrender. It's like the new white flag of surrender to me. And, uh, I don't want to see them in the restaurant. So we actually took a public stance where we publicly banned them. And from that point on, the hatred that came from the left was unreal.
We'll talk about that in a moment.
Unreal.
All right, Tony Roman, thank you. Ladies and gentlemen,
