A partner in the Little Drunken Chef wants to dissolve the corporation claiming that founder Bonnie Saran has mismanaged the restaurant.
Viktor Solarik accused Saran of running up an insurmountable debt, in a complaint filed Nov. 21 in Westchester Supreme Court, and is demanding at least $300,000 in damages.
“For several years, defendant Saran grossly mismanaged … assets and business,” the complaint states, then allowed the restaurant to close.
“At this point, all I can say is it’s a frivolous claim,” Saran said in a brief telephone interview. “Hopefully, the truth will prevail, and meanwhile everybody can enjoy some delicious crepes.”
Beginning in 2011, Saran opened a half-dozen restaurants styled as “little” diners and quickly developed a following for her internationally-themed menus.
From 2012 to 2014, Solarik, an architect based in Katonah, partnered with Saran on three ventures: Little Drunken Chef and Little Crepe Street in Mount Kisco and Little Mumbai Market in Pleasantville.
Solarik held a 40% interest in each corporation, according to the complaint, and Saran owned 60%.
Little Drunken Chef opened in 2015. Solarik had used his architectural skills to handle the build-out, and Saran used her experience as a restaurateur to manage day-to-day operations.
The Drunken eatery was initially successful, the complaint states, but began to falter and fall behind on the bills as Saran allegedly focused efforts on her Little Kabab Station and Little Spice Bazaar in Mount Kisco and Little Drunken Chef in White Plains.
In June 2022, Little Drunken Chef in Mount Kisco closed, the complaint states, and Saran “abdicated her various responsibilities.”
Solarik says he loaned about $350,000 to the business and managed to reopen the restaurant in late 2022.
He paid off back taxes to the state, according the complaint, paid Con Edison to turn the electricity and gas back on, negotiated payment plans with vendors, and covered some of the overdue rent.
Saran, he claims, refused to manage the reopened restaurant. Instead, she allegedly withheld payroll records, denied access to telephone and social media accounts, took the liquor license and directed employees to move inventory to her other restaurants.
The business still owes the landlord about $292,000 and faces a possible eviction, the complaint states.
This past August, Little Drunken Chef in Mount Kisco closed again.
Now the plan is to renovate the space and reopen under a new name and menu. Saran identified the new eatery as a coffee shop to be called Little Coffee Grinder.
Solarik accused Saran of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conversion of assets and unjust enrichment.
He is asking the court to order Saran to disclose financial records for the businesses they co-own, account for their assets, appoint a temporary receiver to manage day-to-day operations and dissolve the corporations.
“Meanwhile,” Saran said, “come to the coffee shop and buy some crepes so we can pay the lawyers.”
