Fireside, the popular Annex restaurant and bar, is struggling to stay alive during the Covid-19 pandemic — and to remain in its Woodward Avenue digs.
Matthew Martino, who since 2018 has owned the restaurant (which opened in 1991), faces an eviction suit by the property’s owner, Hennessey Holdings LLC. The landlord says Martino owes $45,000 in missed rent, water and other utility charges.
The landlord won the case on Nov. 24. Then Martino filed a motion to reopen.
The suit has dragged along in State Superior Court due to the pandemic, as was evidenced in the most recent hearing, held online this past Tuesday.
The subject of the hearing was the request to reopen filed by Martino, who said he had previously been hospitalized and therefore unable to defend himself.
Clockwise from top left at the court hearing, which took place over Microsoft Teams: Attorney John Bolton, attorney David Schancupp, Judge Claudia Baio, Matthew Martino.
Superior Court Judge Claudia Baio said she needed better medical documentation before issuing a ruling. The attorneys had sought to prevent filing some of the documents to protect Martino’s privacy. In normal times a judge could briefly retreat to read sensitive material in camera, then rule on whether the motion to open would be granted. But because of the Covid-19 pandemic, last week’s hearing was held online.
The judge therefore continued the case until the “soonest available date” while the documents are filed and she can review them privately.
David Schancupp, the attorney representing Hennessey holdings, objected to the hearing delays, noting that the court proceedings have dragged on for two and a half months.
Martino claimed that he was applying to various benefits and loans. Schancupp said he and the landlord have yet to see any indication that those applications have been filed.
Pre-pandemic photo
Inside Fireside, before the pandemic.
Of the request to continue the hearing, Schancupp quoted the adage, “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Martino has owned Fireside Restaurant, which first opened in 1991, since 2018. He describes the restaurant’s fare as ranging from “regular bar food” to locally sourced seafood and hand-cut prime ribs. Martino personally cooked pies in the restaurant’s kitchen.
Due to the pandemic, Martino shuttered the restaurant on March 16, 2020. In June they resumed offering curbside pickup and deliveries. The fees that outside services such as Uber Eats require proved to be too high Martino said, so six weeks later the restaurant closed again, and has remained closed since. Before the pandemic Martino had 14 employees working year-round, plus six seasonal employees when it was warm enough to serve diners on the outdoor deck.
“It costs you money to open the door,” Martino said. “How am I supposed to pay my bills and my employees?”
Fireside successfully applied for a $64,000 federal Paycheck Protection Program loan, but Martino did not consider the help to be enough.
“I’ve done the best I could,” he said. “It just, it sucks.”
I don't quite understand the landlord's thinking here. Is someone else going to invest to redo the restaurant and open during the pandemic? And once the pandemic is under control, can't the existing business start up again faster than any new place?
(Maybe they somehow don't trust the current owner to start up again, that's all I can think)