The Lionette family is well-known for running the kind of neighborhood restaurant and grocery that makes the South End so livable. An innovative plan by the two brothers, Jamey and Robert, to sell "shares" in Lionette's Market to community "investors" just got a big bump in the local papers, including a spread in the Globe's Food section on Wednesday.
What the Lionette brothers didn't mention in the newspapers or in a recent e-mail to their regular customers soliciting interest in their unusual fund-raising plan is that the deal is contingent on resolving the more than $200,000 their parents' restaurant owes the state in back meals taxes. Robert Lionette, who is the restaurant's chef, told me none of the money raised from customers will be used to pay the taxes.
The Lionettes' parents, Robert and Mary Lionette, ran Garden of Eden, a popular cafe known for serving sandwiches named after South End streets, for a dozen years. Four years ago, the brothers opened Lionette's Market, which specializes in locally raised meat and produce, next door. Robert, the son, said he and his brother want to buy the restaurant from their parents, who have retired, and expand the business if the tax issues can be resolved and they can raise new capital.
Their plan, which they call a community-supported market, will allow customers to become investors and be repaid in food. For instance, a customer investing $10,000 will get a two-year stipend of $125 per week at the store, or a total of $13,000 in food. A $5,000 investment would yield a $55 weekly stipend.
There is, however, the matter for the back taxes. According to the Department of Revenue, the parents' corporation, Fifty Yard Line Corp., owes nearly $212,000 in meal taxes over four years. Of that, says DOR spokesman Bob Bliss, the parents are personally responsible for about $197,000. The state has filed liens against the business, records show.
"This is a sensitive negotiation we are trying to conduct," said Robert Lionette, 42. If he, his brother, and his parents can resolve the tax issues with the state and complete the sale of the Garden of Eden, "the first thing I would do is pay the taxes in full. The business is not in bad shape, but that has to be addressed and understandably so."
Lionette said his parents were not available to comment.
. . .
Did the wrong people get fingerprinted at Friendly Fenway?
Eighteen months ago I told you about how Aramark Corp., the giant Philadelphia concessionaire that sells overpriced beer at Red Sox games, was requiring its Fenway employees to be fingerprinted to crackdown on fraud, waste, and abuse. Now employees are about to turn the tables.
A Boston law firm that has made a cottage industry of successfully suing restaurants for pocketing the tips meant for the waitstaff has filed a similar suit against Aramark and the Red Sox (which I'm required to disclose is owned in part by The New York Times Co., owner of this newspaper). The suit was filed last week in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of Michael Hayes of Brighton, a Fenway bartender last season, "and all others similarly situated."
The lawsuit is being handled by the firm of Pyle, Rome, Lichten, Ehrenberg & Liss-Riordan, which has brought a string of similar suits. Among others it won substantial jury awards against were Hilltop Steak House in Saugus and The Federalist on Beacon Hill. The firm negotiated a settlement with the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Like the other cases, the Fenway lawsuit charges that Aramark and the Red Sox improperly appropriated gratuities intended for the waitstaff. Neither Aramark nor the Red Sox would comment.
. . .
Neighborhood news. Let the whining begin: The cash-strapped Massachusetts Turnpike Authority wants to raise the ridiculously low parking rates in the Haymarket garage; and you can bet the North End will throw a fit. As compensation for the Big Dig mess, you can park for $1 for the first two hours and $3 for the third hour with validation from a North End merchant. Those rates would rise to $5 and $10 under the turnpike's proposal. Monthly resident parking would rise to $200 from $150 and free overnight parking would change to $125 a month. The mayor and the House speaker, a North Ender, have pushed back, asking the turnpike to explain the hikes to the community. Reality check: Yesterday's rate at the neighboring Government Center Garage was $27 for 100 minutes.
Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.
