The Beantown Bloggery

I went to Boston Public once. It was in August of 2007 right after before it had opened. Chef Pino Maffeo was at the helm and I was invited to a friends and family preview event by the owners. Then, less then a year later - the restaurant closed (here).

Well, now it's reopening under the direction of chef Marc Orfaly - who owns Pigalle and Marco. Here's what the Improper Bostonian has to say:

"I want it to match the look and feel of the store," says Orfaly, who is focused on the nitty-gritty of the business that renaming the eatery was very little priority... Thus, it's Restaurant L again. He plans on continuous food service to mirror the store's hours. Orfaly describes the cuisine as "modern, eclectic" with "Malaysian, Vietnamese, French, and Italian" influences.

Apparently, there was a lawsuit against Boston Public that probably contributed to the cafe area being closed for a while. I couldn't find too much about it, but here's what I could find in the archives.

Boston Public had racked up $47,229 in unpaid state meals taxes, penalties and interest, and the lawsuit alleges that it failed to file tax returns or pay unemployment taxes and liquor vendors.

No wonder it closed so abruptly. Maybe some money problems arose? Anyone know the whole story?

Click (here) for a link to the Herald abstract regarding the lawsuit.