Best Taste winner Sassafras looking for a new home
Submitted by admin on Tue, 06/24/2014 - 1:34pm
Winning Best Taste for this year's Taste of Downtown is bittersweet for the owners of Sassafras, as their landlord has given them until the end of July to vacate that space.
"We are devastated, shocked, heartbroken," said Scott Doerr, who owns the business with partner and chef Tony Fish.
Doerr said they were presented with a termination of tenancy on June 16 by Double Eagle Cubed LLC, the entity that purchased the building from Magpie Properties, LLC last year.
Doerr has operated a restaurant out of this location for 18 years. His first effort, B'sghetti's, served Italian food for the first 15 years. Then three years ago, he joined with Fish to launch Sassafras, a new concept they felt would be a better fit for the market. According to Doerr, Sassafras is currently experiencing its highest volume of sales in all of the 18 years he's been there.
The business also includes the Plan B Microlounge, which often features live music and dancing.
Double Eagle Cubed LLC is owned by Jeff Shaheen, Tom Johnson and Mark Beauchamp. According to Doerr, a couple of months after purchasing the building, their new landlords gave them a six month lease, then extended that month to month.
"I did everything in my power to make that transition as smooth as possible," Doerr said. "We were led to believe we were going to stay there."
Doerr said he was offered no reason for the action, other than the new owners didn't think Sassafras was the right fit for that location, and that they had already signed another tenant. Particularly puzzling for Doerr was why they were not given a chance to counter the offer from the new tenant.
"Our rent is current, our utilities are current, we don't owe anything," Doerr said. "I thought we had an excellent working relationship, but it proved to be different."
Mark Beauchamp released this statement on behalf of Double Eagle Cubed LLC:
Double Eagle Cubed LLC, the owners of the building at 318 N Carson St, have entered into a new long term lease agreement with a local restaurant operator who has expressed interest in being located within Downtown Carson City. The new operator will be bringing their experience along with a restaurant concept that fits well within our Northern Nevada community. Details of the restaurant will be released by the new operator shortly. We are excited and pleased to be moving forward with the new group and look forward to their future success within our building. We wish the owners of Sassafras well as they move forward with their future endeavors or new location.
Right now, Doerr said they are looking to quickly move to a new location so they can remain in business, and so their 30 employees can keep bringing home paychecks. One possibility he said is the High Sierra Brewery building next door. That would make moving the 18 years worth of stuff Doerr has collected a bit easier, but it still hurts.
"I really thought I was going to finish my career there."
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