Gypsy Boy wrote:The nice thing about 18 months is that it should take around that long to find a property and complete the build-out. All done just in time to open as the 18 months elapses!
pudgym29 wrote:I notice all the areas in their 'non-compete' area are in Illinois. There is nothing preventing them from opening a restaurant in Munster, Indiana, just outside Cook County
Gypsy Boy wrote:nice thing about 18 months is that it should take around that long to find a property and complete the build-out. All done just in time to open as the 18 months elapses!
pairs4life wrote:Not my industry or area of expertise as a lawyer , but 18 months isn’t terribly long to start a new concept in Chicago is it? And they aren’t competing until they take in money right?
Behavioral wrote:pairs4life wrote:And they aren’t competing until they take in money right?
I'm sure it can be argued in court that even engaging in talks without any transfer of money can be considered 'investing in' another business. With that said, as many others have mentioned already, we don't know the full details of the non-compete agreement and the full nature of the restrictive covenants in their contracts.
Chicago restaurant owners see correction, a lot more closings, coming in 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct ... story.html
nsxtasy wrote:"The money man behind now-closed Grace tells his side", from Crain's
chicagobusiness.com wrote:For food-loving Chicagoans, 2017 ended with a shock: Grace, one of the city's two restaurants to earn three Michelin stars, closed. Its acclaimed chef, Curtis Duffy, had left the restaurant, and most of the staff followed him. Its sommelier, Michael Muser, had been fired a few weeks earlier by owner Michael Olszewski. Muser's termination agreement, obtained by Crain's, indicates he was fired for chronic absenteeism, failure to produce required reports on time and using the company credit card for non-company expenses, among other things.
Olszewski, a real estate investor and developer, says he invested $3 million in Grace, which opened in December 2012. It was his first venture into the restaurant business, a "team concept," says Sam Toia, CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, who knows Olszewski professionally and personally. "The investor is one of many on the team," Toia says. "It's his or her responsibility to make sure there's financial stability."
Grace did well, Olszewski says: It was profitable eight months after opening, and he has recouped his entire investment. This year, Duffy and Muser were scheduled to participate in revenue sharing with Olszewski, with profits divided evenly among the three. Olszewski says the pair would have been earning "substantially more" than each of their $160,000 annual salaries.
Through a spokeswoman, Duffy and Muser decline to be interviewed. Their employment contracts spanned an initial 10 years and then were renewable every year after that, with any party allowed an exit by giving written notice at least 30 days prior to the end of the term.
rubbbqco wrote:man... this is a tough one. Tough because I've been chef, I've been owner, I've been in both shoes...granted, my shoes are minuscule compared to the likes of a Michelin starred restaurant, and our budget was far from $3 mil (ever, in any spot) to open - but the dynamic is the same... I've had a chef walk from his job - only because he couldn't fulfill his original deal at the agreed upon terms - no notice.. that sucks.. I had to turn down diners the day that happened.. I had to rebuild from scratch.. and I had done nothing wrong . It's just the wrong move - ALWAYS.. I don't know all the details of this situation, and with only one side talking - neither do you (anyone)... what I do know is it is an awful thing when this much work, dedication, trust, and talent gets washed out in the name of money/greed... money is such a poison, it really skews ones reality.. If I invested $3mil into a business that had little chance of success, I would want a big return too! Certainly more than a buyout after a mere 5 years in.. If I was chef, I'd feel slighted if when we all rolled the dice and it was 7 I didn't get the same lions share as the guy who put the money on the table... I get all the angles... I think in the end though, walking out is always the wrong move.. I just don't believe in it... my two cents... RIP grace, I'm sure everyone will rise from the ashes..
Lenny007 wrote:
It is quite likely, the restaurant was losing money in 2018... that's after three years profitability(he recouped $3 Mil). Follow the money trail and you get to the truth. They were supposed to split the future profits starting 2018... or split the losses.
scottsol wrote:Lenny007 wrote:It is quite likely, the restaurant was losing money in 2018... that's after three years profitability(he recouped $3 Mil). Follow the money trail and you get to the truth. They were supposed to split the future profits starting 2018... or split the losses.
Then either Crain’s misinterpreted Olszewski‘s comments or he was misrepresenting the facts.
scottsol wrote:So you accept the article's statement about sales declines but not the one about Muser and Duffy making more than their salary.
Lenny007 wrote:Per Crain's interview restaurant revenues started falling rapidly as 2017 progressed.
-10%, -20%, -30% monthly sales declines.
Lenny007 wrote:scottsol wrote:So you accept the article's statement about sales declines but not the one about Muser and Duffy making more than their salary.
Perhaps, when your imaginary restaurant sales drop by 30% you will still be profitable.
Gypsy Boy wrote:Lenny007 wrote:Per Crain's interview restaurant revenues started falling rapidly as 2017 progressed.
-10%, -20%, -30% monthly sales declines.
Well, there's no doubt in my mind that if Olszewski says so, it's true.
Gypsy Boy wrote:I think everyone involved has a unique--and biased--viewpoint. And yes, that includes Messrs. Duffy and Muser. I think that even after all the parties involved (including some we haven't heard from) have finally all said everything that they intend to say about this, we still won't know what happened. And, on some level, it doesn't really matter.
What I object to is Mr. Olszewski's dogged efforts to dominate the media, to selectively release documents to show that he is right and they are wrong. As a matter of human nature, the desire to defend (or explain) yourself is understandable but it is possible to defend yourself without having to criticizing everyone else. Increasingly, that seems to be a national disease: why give a reasoned and thoughtful explanations of my position when it's so much easier to say the other side is scum? But I digress.
It is extremely unlikely to be the case that it's as simple as Mr. Olszewski suggests. It never is. I'd be similarly critical if Duffy or Muser were engaged in such transparently self-serving shenanigans.
I decide disputes for a living and, in my experience, the side that's kicking and screaming often does so at the expense of (and sometimes to distract from) the pertinent facts. Not always, but frequently enough to make it a fairly safe rule of thumb. The mere fact that Duffy and Muser have kept their mouths shut (publicly at least), speaks more highly of them in my opinion. It doesn't mean that they're "right" and Olszewski's "wrong," but his behavior isn't doing him any favors. IMHO.
nsxtasy wrote:It is quite possible that a restaurant can be profitable after its revenues drop 10-30 percent, just not as profitable as before that. It is also possible that it is no longer profitable at that point. Without access to the books, we just don't know, and any speculation is mere conjecture.
Two months have passed since Grace, one of Chicago’s most-acclaimed and luxurious fine dining restaurants, suddenly closed and now its former chef and GM are suing their former boss