The interior of the Dolce restaurant at Bridge Street in Huntsville in May 2008. (Huntsville Times/Dave Dieter)HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Dolce Enoteca in Huntsville was a hot restaurant project led by the winner of the reality TV series "Big Brother" and boasting Hollywood celebrity investors like Ashton Kutcher.
It was unusually glamorous for a town built on other skills and served as a cool anchor in the then-new Bridge Street Town Centre development. Dolce opened in January 2008 with a sleek design, even sleeker servers and mostly Northern Italian menu with luxe ingredients.
Today, Dolce's owners are stuck with the check, a nearly $1 million judgment against it by a Madison County Circuit Court for unpaid rent and related expenses owed to Bridge Street's owner Huntsville Shores LLC.
A trial date is set for October on the California-based Dolce Group's counterclaim that Gary Safady, the lead developer in the Bridge Street project, misled them and failed to deliver and market a truly upscale development, Dolce's attorney Tom Baxter said.
The restaurant closed in April 2011, 11 months after being notified its lease was being terminated for failure to pay its $20,000 per month rent and $3,400 monthly maintenance fees, according to court filings.
The Dolce Group's other Bridge Street restaurant, Ketchup, modeled after the company's California burger cafe, opened in April 2008 and closed 17 months later. It was not part of the rent lawsuit.
Dolce Group is owned by Mike "Boogie" Malin, who had won $500,000 during a "Big Brother" All Star event, and Malin's longtime friend, Lonnie Moore.
For Bridge Street owners Huntsville Shores LLC, a division of California based O&S Holdings, the claims are straightforward -- the rent wasn't paid. Circuit Court Judge Jim Smith issued the order for a $990,000 default judgment against Dolce and its owners in April 2011. The order came after Dolce had missed several deadlines to respond to discovery requests as part of the lawsuit.
Baxter, a Huntsville attorney, said he's not sure Dolce's counterclaim will go to trial, but he said Dolce's owners are out significant money, not only from the judgment, but from what they put into the restaurant.
"They were induced to become part of the Bridge Street development through a relationship with Gary Safady, who was involved in the development of a very successful development in California, 'The Grove,'" Baxter said, "with the promise and anticipation that Bridge Street would be developed and operated in a similar fashion.
"And in fact, that did not happen."
Kevin Gray, the Huntsville attorney representing Safady and Huntsville Shores, declined to comment.
In court filings, Dolce claimed that the initial project did not meet expectations. Dolce claims that it was given assurances their concerns would be addressed, so they continued to spend money to market the restaurant, but problems remained.
The filing lists a number of issues that it says hurt Dolce's business:
- no valet parking;
- limited marketing support;
- inability to provide room service to the Westin Hotel;
- no desire to promote big events;
- lack of planned events in Bridge Street's north district with featured events focused in the south district,
- 4th of July fireworks that didn't draw people into the complex
- and a lake that was empty for three to four months that generated "bad press" and kept customers away.
The counterclaim also cited a lack of weekday foot traffic, inadequate ability to handle ice and snow and "fire alarms constantly being pulled at Red Robin," a nearby restaurant.
In a filed response, Huntsville Shores denied the Dolce claims.
Baxter said he is not yet prepared to say how much Dolce is seeking from Safady for the alleged misrepresentation of the quality and operation of Bridge Street.
Today Bridge Street lists 15 restaurants including the well-regarded Watercress, which is in Dolce's old location and specializes in Southern cuisine using French techniques.