In restaurants on Hill, scandal is the special

Political crowd digests details

The FBI released a video image of Senator Dianne Wilkerson allegedly taken Aug. 2, 2007, at the Fill-A-Buster restaurant.

It was not so much the allegations that a politician accepted $23,500 in payoffs that sent ripples through the lunch crowd yesterday on Beacon Hill. The shock was the allegation that state Senator Dianne Wilkerson was brazen enough to accept the cash in bustling restaurants just steps from the State House.

The crimes occurred, authorities allege, in settings as varied as the Fill-A-Buster lunch counter on Bowdoin Street, where bureaucrats squeeze ketchup onto the meatloaf special, and Mooo, a modern restaurant with 25-foot ceilings where white gold chandeliers bathe the airy dining room in warm amber light and a 52-year-old single-malt Macallan scotch sells for $425 a glass.

One FBI surveillance photograph appears to show Wilkerson grabbing a handful of $100 bills over a starched white tablecloth at a lunch June 18, 2007, at the esteemed No. 9 Park, where a loin of Colorado lamb is served with fava beans, Greek yogurt, and pickled garlic scapes ($65 in a three-course prix-fixe).

In a dining room in the 1803 Bulfinch mansion, Wilkerson then allegedly stuffed the $1,000 into her bra, according to a surveillance photograph and an affidavit filed in court.

"If I were going to make some illegal transaction, I would duck into a bathroom or somewhere a little more discreet," said a State House employee of 34 years enjoying that meatloaf special yesterday at the Fill-A-Buster. The man was reluctant to give his name, like many frequenting the scenes of the alleged crimes for lunch.

The same was true for his co-worker seated at his table, but she did have an opinion.

"We were city kids," the woman said with a chuckle. "We'd find an alley or something."

Authorities allege that Wilkerson accepted the first payment of $500 on June 5, 2007, at Scollay Square, an American bistro where lunch includes Island Creek oysters ($13) and blackened center-cut swordfish steak with mixed greens ($13.50).

Instead of seeking a dark corner amid the orange glow of the dim restaurant, Wilkerson appears in an FBI surveillance photograph to be seated at an outside table while accepting an alleged cash bribe on a sun-dappled day on Beacon Street. Wearing a red hat, Wilkerson sits facing the State House, which looms at the end of the block.

As a steady drizzle fell yesterday at lunchtime, state Senator Jack Hart ducked into Scollay Square. A man in a blue suit walking up Beacon Street caught the attention of the Democrat from South Boston, who gave him a nod of recognition.

"Strange times," yelled the man in a blue suit, who later declined to give his name as he walked the half block to the State House.

"It's shocking," Hart said later in the day. "I've seen the pictures at this point, and a lot of people who serve are very angry about it."

After a lunch of Wellfleet oysters with raspberry mignonette and salmon at Mooo, Suffolk law professor Bernard M. Ortwein speculated about the potential advantage to accepting bribes in restaurants.

At Mooo, authorities said, Wilkerson talked with two undercover agents about rigging a land deal.

"As an old criminal law teacher," Ortwein said as he twirled a rolled-up umbrella in his hand, "it might be better to do it in a public place where it is less expected."

The discussion was perhaps frankest at Fill-A-Buster, the six-table, 13-stool Greek-style diner at which Wilkerson is accused of accepting six bribes.

Owner James Grigas said he has been making the senator breakfasts of bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat toast for at least a decade.

She always took the time to ask, Grigas said, about his 19-month-old daughter, Haylee.

"I'm not surprised that politicians take money," Grigas said. "Just her - she's a nice lady."