Fate of historic landmark in jeopardy with closing of ChefEds

Owner wants to know where his bailout is

The fate of the old Migliore’s Food Store in New Sarpy is in jeopardy with the apparent closing of ChefEds, which is being forced out of business because the government has come to collect on a 121-day loan.

Restaurant owner Ed Rhinehart opened ChefEds on Dec. 1 2007 in the Migliore’s Food Store building. That building, which is a New Sarpy icon, had been vacant since Hurricane Katrina. After purchasing the landmark, Rhinehart went ahead with a grand redesign of the building, but kept the historical integrity of the old food store intact by leaving in longwood pine walls and bricks that were prevalent in the old landmark.

“The day before Thanksgiving, the government showed up and told us that they were going to take all of the equipment we have that was purchased with the loan,” Rhinehart said. “I wrote to Gov. Bobby Jindal and others, but never heard anything back. I mean, all these companies filed for bailout money and all we need is a little bit.

“I didn’t get a small business loan or anything like that. All of the money I have in this restaurant was money that I’ve been saving up since I was 15 years old.”

Rhinehart said that unnecessary expenses had a lot to do with his inability to repay the loan in 121 days.

“I had to purchase three toilets for around $800 a piece that I was told I had to install to make the restaurant in line with code,” he said. “Then, they told me that the toilets wouldn’t work with the sewer system.”

Now, those toilets are sitting in storage.

“We called everyone they told us to call before buying those toilets and those three were the ones they told us we had to buy,” Rhinehart said. “That money could have been used for payroll for a week.”

Rhinehart says that ChefEds was starting to attract more customers and had built up a solid base since opening a year ago. But people just weren’t spending as much money as they used to.

“You started to see people ordering waters instead of coke and getting some of the cheaper items on the menu,” he said. “That all adds up.”

Unless a miracle occurs that will allow him to stay in business, Rhinehart plans to return to catering. However, he will fight to make sure the historic landmark is put into good hands.

“I’m going to do everything I can to fight for the building, because that is the most important thing,” he said. “I don’t want to see it turned into a bar or torn down. Of course I wish it could still be my restaurant, but it needs to be preserved.”