ottawa foodies

Hello Foodies,

I invite you to read this article, published on July 7th 2011 in The Ottawa Citizen. The author is Ron Eade.
I also invite you to comment on it!

The link is blogs.ottawacitizen.com

ARTICLE "WHAT'S HAPPENED TO BENITZ BISTRO?"
JULY 07 11 – 3:05 PM — Ottawa foodies have a mystery to digest as Benitz Bistro at 327 Somerset St. W., and its companion restaurant b/Side Wine and Small Plates, located next door at 323 Somerset St. W., have apparently closed, with the phone disconnected and a sign in one window saying the restaurant is for sale.

The sign at Benitz Bistro directs inquiries to a phone in Calgary, where I reached none other than Conservative Calgary MP Rob Anders who identified himself as the owner of 327 Somerset. Repeated attempts to locate or reach chef/co-owner Derek Benitz and/or his wife and partner, Meghan McManus, by phone and e-mail were not successful.

Anders says the restaurant was closed about a week before Canada Day. As of today, the website says the restaurant is currently “closed for vacation/renovations,” but “new hours” would resume after Canada Day on July 2.

“I know Benitz Bistro is no longer open because the owners told me they declared personal bankruptcy,” Anders says.

Documents filed with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada list Derek Alfred Benitz, 49, bankrupt in proceedings on June 24, owing $321,315 in liabilities with $4 in assets. However, the named trustee handling the bankruptcy would not comment on the file, nor would he confirm anyone involved.

Says Anders: “They haven’t responded to any of my e-mails over the last two weeks. She told me they were closing the place and handing it back over to me as the landlord. I’m owed money as well, a bit of rent, a couple of months,” he says, although Anders would not say how much.

As landlord trying to sell it as a restaurant, Anders says he knows the LCBO is owed $4,499.26 and there is a small business loan for $6,089.

“I think they just over-extended themselves,” Anders says.

“About two years ago they went ahead and opened b/Side and I think it was a case of expanding too quickly. They took on a lot of costs in renovating the place and, as you know … expanding too quickly along with a downturn in the economy was the death knell.”

Another creditor is contractor Pierre Sirois, who did the renovations at b/Side. “I know they owe me about $70,000 to $80,000,” Sirois says.

“They’ve been paying small portions here and there trying to make a dent in it and not getting anywhere,” he says.

Benitz, former executive chef at Luxe Bistro and, before that, Social on Sussex Drive, was the top Gold Medal Plates winner at the prestigious regional competition in Ottawa in 2004. He opened 38-seat Benitz Bistro in June 2007, and expanded in August 2008 at b/Side with a 28-seat wine bar and more emphasis on small plates and wine pairing.

It's a certain type of journalism, I guess. I found it disappointing to read the details of the demise of their business and not much in the way of the achievements of the chef (any mention of his achievements were sort of a footnote). Not many chefs receive this type of journalistic 'treatment', considering the number of failed businesses in Ottawa, Ron could be a very busy journalist!

I think it's fine. Call it 'the perils of the restaurant business'. Let's keep in mind these people have not paid back that contractor, to the tune of 70-80k. Many people go out of business when their enterprise is unsustainable. However, they don't all stiff their creditors the way these people seem to have done. I think that's newsworthy. Are we overly concerned about protecting the reputation of some model citizens? Citizens who seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth, it should be noted.

@ Chimichimi

I agree with you! Not all the business that are closing in Ottawa have the same treatment....

Oh Boy.
Ron Ron Ron.

I don't know where to start ... so I won't.

For more insight into this 'Journalist' see:

Forum - Canadian Celebrity Chefs Event at NAC?post_id=36468#post_36468

starting at MedicineJars comments of Jan 25th.

Maybe will see a posting here in Ottawa Foodies someday titled:

"What happened to Ron Eade ?"

after the management of The Citizen replaces him with a good blogging journalist.

May be a tad harsh, but details like that are informative for foodies. One always asks "why?"

Now we have some sort of idea

@Chimichimi I think you answer one of your issues in your own post. The closure, and the way it seems to have happened, is notable beCAUSE of his achievements. When One-Eyed Sandy's Burger & Cupcake Bar (now with All-You-Can-Eat Sushi) closes, who's going to mourn it? However, a lot of people will wonder why two restaurants run by a fairly renowned local chef closed without any warning.

I loved Benitz and b/Side, and my dealings with Derek and Meghan were nothing if not friendly, however I don't think Ron crossed a line with the article at all.

If we had been warned with enough time to actually support the place more, maybe things could have been different; I'd like to think that if Ron, or anyone else, knew what was going on beforehand, he/she/they would have got the word out.

I think it is better journalism than most of what I see in the news today, and ups my personal opinion of the author. Omigosh, imagine actually having some INVESTIGATIVE journalism going on somewhere! Too bad we cannot get so-called "real" journalists doing more of that, instead of just doing it about something as frivolous as a fancy restaurant.

Lately only FB and G+ I've been pointing out examples of really terrible journalism. LIke this story which does not explain one of the key terms the story is based on www.theinquirer.net

And this article about a woman taking a terrible fall off the dock at buskerfest, and instead of showing a picture of where she fell (would seem to be blazingly obvious), they show happy buskers thechronicleherald.ca

Journalism is dead. Long live journalism!

p.s. when I was home in NS 5 or 6 weeks ago, everyone was glued to their TV sets watching some dead-stupid sensationalist court case that fortunately I personally had never heard of before and hope to never again. Meanwhile the economy was going into the kipper faster than the titantic and we were very obviously building up to what we are seeing now with the downgrade of the US, and even the riots in the UK that are going to personally effect millions of people. Yet the only thing people were talking about was some stupid human interest story about 4 or 5 people. tops.

The point is that a story like this does not belong on a food blog. It's not food journalism. Ron Eade is not a food journalist, he's a man with a barbecue.

I'm not a journalist, just a foodie interested in what happened to benitz bistro. Although the facts are there, I felt like a bit of a voyeur with so much of their financial troubles revealed.

I used to go to one fish/ two fish on merivale and it was always busy every time. Ever since it closed I have been curious what went wrong, since it seemed there was no shortage of customers.

The story on Benitz is sad, and no doubt having the details revealed so publicly must be humiliating for someone whose work has been held in such high esteem.

Ron Eade IS a journalist (check out his CV), doesn't matter if he is writing an article about a failed restaurant or the riots in London. Ron doesn't make any personal commentary, he reports just the facts, facts as quoted by people(creditors) involved.

It certainly doesn't belong on a food blog if your definition of food blogging is "Constant uncritical fawning and high-fives for all concerned."

I like the fact that Ron Eade is out there saying hard opinions about things. I don't always share those opinions (e.g., his thoughts on the charitable nature of a certain Cobra dinner in December), but I appreciate the fact that he writes about food-related stories that aren't necessarily all rosy, all the time.

The outcome of this particular story stinks for those involved, but the story is honest and informative. I got to read about a part of the restaurant business that I didn't know much about before. I appreciate that.

He certainly is a journalist reporting the facts - they just aren't very interesting (to me, at least) considering the failure rate of restaurants and the details of this are not dissimilar to other failures.

When will people stop covering local chefs as if they're celebrities, and start writing about the food culture that Ottawa has cultivated (not just the chefs)?

EDIT: I wonder if this is the start of the demise of the chef/owner trend in Ottawa, a few similar ventures have tanked recently... it seems the passion of the chef outweighs their business abilities. Thoughts on that?

chimi - I do not find it very interesting either, but I do at least recognise it as journalism to a higher standard than the run of the mill

I agree with blubarry - the article might have had too much personal info. Don't know why Ron Eade bothered to gain access to the details and focus on dollar figures people are owed, etc. He could have also quoted people 'reminiscing' about the restaurant and chef with a quote from someone saying they will miss the niche these restaurants filled in the Ottawa foodie scene or something to that effect. Certainly not an easy business to be in ... I hope the owners are putting their feet up somewhere by the lake/beach/ocean recovering from many long days/years in the restaurant business giving themselves a break before they figure out their next move in terms of picking up the peices of their professional and personal lives.

thebranchrestaurant.blogspot.co See the Tuesday, August 2, 2011 post.

Interesting topic and points made so far.

Revealing the amount of Derek and Meghan’s personal debt is iffy but was likely incurred to subsidize the cost of their business (they still had to pay rent, buy liquor, etc.) but would our opinions change if it were their business expenses being revealed? I know little about the food industry (well okay nothing) but it did give me some insight on the risks involved in running one’s own business. I’d have to agree with Chimi’s comments about the chef/owner trend in Ottawa.

On a side note when I first started dining out during my university years and early work career I would be hard pressed to name even one chef of the many restaurants I used to frequent. Now I can name many chefs working in the local restaurant industry these days. (Ironically my eating out has declined but I digress.) But I think, with the plethora of books and tv shows out there (Anthony Bourdain’s books and Gordon Ramsay’s tv shows for example) chefs have reached a celebrity status.

I think it's ok. It's local news and it's foodie related. Plus it's a bit of a cautionary tale for foodies thinking of getting into the restaurant business.

Blogs are not exactly journalism, even if the author is a journalist. They're supposed to be more gritty and opinionated than a newspaper article. For better or worse, this can sometimes come across as unclassy. I would not judge this particular entry quite so harshly. Neither would I quote it here in its entirety if I disagreed with it. There's no such thing as bad publicity. ;-)

I don't think there's any question it's journalism... by definition actually. As for whether it should have been posted, he can post what he wants and I don't have any problem with it. I do have a problem with people suggesting that it was information I shouldn't have been allowed to see given that it's all public. Wonder whether we would be having this discussion if it was about a hedge fund manager who had gone bust, stiffed his creditors, and upped and left town.

Only problem Brian Mc is that if it were a hedge fund manager the info would not be public and we'd be left wondering. And the manager would probably get a 2 million dollar bonus for going bust.

Honestly I'm not sure what is considered wrong with this, and so far nobody as really said what they think is wrong. The blog entry linked above to the fellow out in Kempville who runs another restaurant seems to suggest that he at least thought Eade's article was somehow accusatory. He seemed to think Eade's was accusing Benitz of making off with a bunch of money or something.

I read no such tone in the original article. I found it to be nothing but factual to the point of being boring.

I have to add an additional thought/comment. A bit more on the gossip side of things ... I know first hand how building renos can easily cost lots of money but I have to say that it seems to me that $70-80K spent on renos to space one is renting might not be the best business decision unless you are independently wealthy. I wouldn't embark on this sort of project lightly and even though I am aware that creating a certain design esthetic is part of the dining experience. Personnaly, I'd rather have that kind of income in my pocket than paying it to my renovator. You have to serve a lot of expensive meals (and the restaurants don't have that many seats) to earn $70-80K in profit to repay such expenses. No wonder. Not an easy business to be in, keeping up with the restaurants on Sussex, in the Market, Wellington Village, high end hotels, etc.

Bankruptcy is not a crime (unless it's fraud). Unfortunately it happens, just like fender benders happen when people drive cars. A lot successful entrepreneurs go bust once or maybe more than once. I think Warren Buffet did, before he realized he couldn't time the market.

Michael Cowpland says you only really succeed on your third try, but you can't tell that to the employees otherwise they won't try hard enough, and learn enough, to make it a real "try" the first two times.

Good on them for trying. It's small and new businesses that hire the most people and create the most jobs, and pay the most business taxes, not the big multinationals.

But the restaurant business is not for the faint of heart. The failure rate is very high. It's not just about good food. IMHO the ones that succeed have a lot of experience and have figured out how to manage the risks.

I've chatted with the owner of Yummy Sushi often. He's tells me he the first person to have not failed in that location (going on 2.5 years now). But he brought to bear over 20 years of experience in the restaurant business, watches his cash very carefully, watches the quality of his ingredients very carefully, and is there in person pretty much all the time, from 7:00 am to past midnight, 6 days a week. It's not an easy to run a restaurant, and AYCE margins are thin. So why does he do it? He says he likes being his own boss.

In response to Zym I didn't read the Branch article yet but really when I read the blog that's what I thought, only $4 in assets? How could it be? I could fetch more than $4 for the clothes on my back along. If I was going to file for personal bankruptcy, I'd find a way to sock away money anonymously somewhere before I did. Can't blaim anyone for taking the "Hedge Fund Manager" approach!

@flexie, you can't take the shirt off a bankrupt persons back actually. It's their clothing, not an asset. Nor, for example, can you take their tools of trade (which would prevent them from starting over fresh).

I knew someone who went bankrupt (actually I know several), this guy had a flute. It was a family heirloom. The bankruptcy trustee said "you know I could take that off you." But then I guess he took pity on him. He said "tell you what, do you ever use that flute to teach lessons?" My friend said "yes". "ok, then I'll list it as one of your 'tools of trade' and you can keep it."

Flexie, the line about so much spent on renovations caught me by surprise too. When I work with corporate clients who are leasing commercial space there are usually 2 approaches: A buildout allowance that is amortized over the term of the lease, or a more detailed design approach that can be costed and also amortized over the term of the lease. Both become part of the lease payment over several years. In my experience if a client goes for base buildout allowance in a lease, there is little room for customization, lighting, upgraded finishes etc., and if you add these later there are big change orders and extra costs. Generally if you want special details in a leased space, it's a good idea to define them as much as you can during the lease negotiation process. It is not easy and requires more decisions and design effort up front, but can save costs in the long run. Not sure if this is the way the restaurant business works or not, but thought I'd add my two cents as to what has worked for my clients.

Many other restaurants have been closed in Ottawa in the past and Mr. Eade NEVER wrote anything about them. Maybe he is upset because he did not have a "SUPPER CLUB" at Benitz in the past? We all know how these "journalists" write about some restaurants after a "special event"....
There are other restaurant owners in town who are not paying regularly their bills and sadly they are not mentioned by Mr. Eade. The list is very long indeed.
The point is that his blog is not a real food blog but it's just a very boring descriptions of his barbecues or the story of his 17 years old son washing his car during the Canada Day. No comment on his list of grocery specials for housewives on Thursdays! He's not able to write professionally about a CULINARY EXPERIENCE in a restaurant.
Probably I am wrong....He 's not a man with a barbecue... he's a voyeur with a barbecue!

Now you're speculating that Eade might have had some bad blood with them, and that's not right. Also, do you really think his job is to write about the financial state of every restaurant? He wrote the bankruptcy bit because it was relevant to the store closing, it was hardly a gratuitous mention.

Btw, I just noticed you also wrote in the Buzz section, asking if Benitz had closed. Did you really not know it closed? It seems odd, because at around the same time, you ran off and posted the whole article in the Forum.

Actually Ron Eade has written about. The most recent was SweetGrass Bistro.

blogs.ottawacitizen.com

Just my 2 cents worth, I don't think the article was a 'bashing of Derek Benitz' there were requests to what happened & Ron did his duty & found out.
If you think he went too far with the facts; what should he have omitted?

Personnally I see someone too eager to expand too soon. I certainly feel for Derek, his family & his staff, the same goes for Sweetgrass.

One point I'd like to make, it's easy to blame taxes like Phoebe Sutherland from Sweetgrass did or the owner of the Branch did BUT this is money that we charge the customer above the cost of the dinner; it's not our money & if we spend it it's OUR fault & NOT THE GOVERNMENTS. If you hire staff you have to pay them & part of that pay is source deductions that WE pay for the staff; again we're blaming the Government for tax deductions...

I have never had an issue with Ron, he supports local farms, local restaurants & local markets.

Terry

Not to beat a dead horse, but Ron's game has never been restaurant reviews as far as I know. His blog and column has always been dedicated to food & drink events and openings/closings. Not much point bashing him for not being something he has never attempted to be.

My comment is not specifically about this article.
But the Citizen, lately they really miss a lot of fact checking and write quite a few incomplete articles.

Kelly Eagan had written a really incomplete article and did not check his facts at all, he based his article on the OPINION of one person.
I emailed him about that stating that his article was "inaccurate" and providing back up facts, proof ect with the sources of my info.

And of course, he never bothers to print a more accurate follow up.

But back to Ron's article. The writing is kind of choppy, kind of like when you are reading a script or conversation.
Could be better for something printed in the Citizen or on their site.

I actually have to write a lot of reports for my job about stores,restaurants,displays and whatever. So I think I can criticize his writing.
My writing here is probably not great,but this is just a forum post and not a report or article ;)

RE: Prettytasty's comment
Kelly Egan is primarily a columnist. He writes opinion pieces, which are not to be confused with news articles. Not being a Snark McGee here, but is the article you're talking about an opinion piece?

RE: Ron's article
Just because he usually writes soft food stories doesn't mean he should be limited to only that. But for me, there's only one question about this article that makes me doubt its worth: Is it in the public interest? As in, does the public care about this restaurateur's financial troubles enough to warrant Ron's write up? My answer, "questionable."