January 22-28, 2004

food

Starr-and-Striped Banner

Preparing to fly his flag over Striped Bass, Stephen Starr opens up about his takeover strategy.

by A.D. Amorosi

Since debuting his cinematic restaubar, The Continental, in 1995, Stephen Starr has been producer, director, cinematographer and location scout for his productions. With the aid of architecture’s most easily appreciated artisans, Starr has controlled the look and taste of his spots from inception, just as he’s doing now for the in-progress Arcadia at Washington Square and Continental Midtown on 18th Street.

"I like doing things from scratch," says Starr about his métier of making something from nothing.

So to take on Tony Goldman's Trust on 13th Street last June, transformed into Starr's now-flourishing El Vez, and shoulder Striped Bass -- Neil Stein's legendary fish restaurant on Walnut Street -- as he has since November, was auspicious.

But Starr himself is wary of declaring his new strategy a success -- or even a strategy: "I don't like building on the bones of someone else's reputation."

While taking over lackluster Trust and bankrupt Bass may be satisfying as business deals, from Starr's creative standpoint -- the innovation that makes him happy, makes him tick -- there's a distinct difference between starting from zip and taking over.

Within the last few months, Starr, Philadelphia's sharpest restaurant innovator, became its savviest takeover king, a reputation he is quick to disavow. "I don't want the perception that I'm a vulture waiting to swoop down on anyone with bad fortune. I'm not a cold businessman benefiting on a distress sale."

Starr was aware that Goldman, the real estate developer who created Miami's SoBe, envisioned making 13th Street a trendy destination -- B3 -- because they made plans together to do just that. "We were doing a restaurant, what I would make into Jones across the street. But when the Trust address became available, Tony wanted to go it alone." Not wanting to have his landlord as competition in what Starr identified as a nicer location, he backed out, leaving Goldman to open an ill-fated Trust in 2002. Badly reviewed by food-tipsters and sparsely attended by the area's primarily gay clientele, Trust became little more than a nice shell (a rumored $1.5 million was spent) with a great bathroom.

"It worked out," said Starr, who heard of Trust's troubles from Goldman in early spring 2003. "Jones ended up doing fine on Chestnut. Though I didn't wish Trust to go out of business, I got to walk into a space whose guts were there." Starr's lighting and decor for Trust's re-conception, El Vez, cost $700,000: New seating ("the place screamed "booths'"), Mexicali totems and a low-rider bike would flesh out Starr's East L.A. Pop-barrio look. But Starr found what his landlord couldn't: a casual, gaudy narrative whose concept appealed to everyone.

Striped Bass was another story.

Having heard about Stein's problems through the Philly media, Starr did not wring his hands maniacally as one would imagine a tough competitor would; he didn't bask in the fact that Stein, in June 2003, would have his decade-old Bass yanked out from under him by IRS investigators due to back taxes and ongoing fraud investigations. (Within the last week, Stein, unable to handle the rent on Bleu, has had to let that restaurant revert to the management of its landlords at the Sheraton Hotel.)

Starr has an easy rebuttal to accusations of gloating: "That's bad karma. It's quite the contrary -- I don't wish to benefit from anyone's misery."

Starr states he waited for fate to play a hand, as his lawyer, David Foxman, bumped into Striped attorney Aris J. Karalis, and conversation ensued. Several weeks later, Stein, Starr and their lawyers met, deciding whether or not Stein would pursue the Bass (he is currently

continuing with Rouge instead). Finally, in December, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey approved Starr’s $1.3 million offer, the lone bid for Stein’s Striped.

Though its $1.3 million seems inexpensive in the current economy of the restaurant biz (where Continental Midtown will reportedly cost $4.5 million), why would Starr buy Striped Bass when, as he confirms, the rent is too high and the kitchen is in terrible disrepair? "Despite who may have money, few people have the vision and ability to take on an operation of this size. Besides, most people with money are smart, know their limitations," he laughs.

Starr is dealing with the limitations of what Stein wrought by doing what any fashion-conscious man or woman would do: Look in the mirror and take off the first item you see that’s wrong. He started with Stein’s wicker chairs, its expensive entrees and its oddly Moroccan ceiling design.

"For his time, he was a visionary," said Starr of Stein’s legendary largess throughout the ’90s. "These [restaurant] enterprises are million-dollar businesses with CFOs. They’re not mom-and-pops anymore."

Though he’s inking a star in Alfred Portale -- Manhattan’s Gotham Bar & Grill executive chef and vertical cuisine king -- and a general manager from Mix in N.Y.C., Starr’ll keep Striped feeling familiar. Randi Sirkin, Striped’s former operations manager (and currently Starr’s director of restaurant operations) will oversee the reopening. Bob Phillips’ bronze fish will remain a centerpiece. The price point is similar but with better value. There’ll be new upholstery by India Mondavi, a French designer currently doing Starr’s eatery in the Barclay. Overall, the richness of Striped’s private, clubby dark wood, its spirit and its overall visuals will remain.

Why? "Because people liked it," said Starr. "Because it is a legend. I may sound self-serving in saying this -- and this wasn’t my motivation -- but we saved this restaurant. We were the only bidders. If we didn’t buy it, the contents would’ve been sold in sheriff’s sale and it would have become a high-end retail store."

For nearly a million dollars in renovation, Stephen Starr will have a shiny, legendary Striped Bass -- another restaurant he hopes will do as well as his other nine -- ready to go and operable in late February or early March.

"Now," he says, "for another two million"