Portland — A new player has emerged in the fight over Besaw’s, the 112-year-old Northwest Portland restaurant currently set to close at the end of the month.
Kurt Huffman, whose ChefStable restaurant group backs Ox, St. Jack, Lardo and more, has stepped in as an intermediary between C.E. John, the building’s landlord, and Cana Flug, Besaw’s owner — with eyes on eventually taking over the space.
According to Huffman, Jim John of C.E. John approached him about negotiating a deal with Flug on the Vancouver-based developer’s behalf. C.E. John also owns the nearby Benevento building, where St. Jack is a prominent tenant.
“I talked to Cana and told her I thought this (closing) was a mistake,” Huffman said. “I told her that Besaw’s was awesome. They do 1,000 meals (in a day) out of a 400-square-foot kitchen. It’s just inconceivable to close. Don’t get in a lawsuit. It’s a mess. And the only people that make any money are lawyers. Figure out a way to stay, and I told her that I would help.”
Huffman says he approached Flug with a deal: Continue running the restaurant until late 2016, when C.E. John plans to begin redeveloping the property around the historic restaurant. Alternatively, Flug could hand the reins of the $3-million-a-year business over to her employees as some form of cooperative, owned by the employees with operational support from Huffman. Huffman approached a handful of current Besaw’s employees about continuing at the restaurant without Flug, but was rebuffed.
Flug told Huffman she wasn’t interested.
“My goal for the longest time has been to secure a long-term lease to have some security to operate my business,” Flug told The Oregonian on Thursday. “That has never been offered to me at any time from any party.
“It’s a great location, I’m sure somebody is going to be super successful here.”
Huffman says he currently has no fixed agreement to take over the Besaw’s space, though he’s interested.
“If Cana truly walks, and she’s not willing to salvage this deal, then the space is going to get taken over May 30 — May 29 is her last day. And at that point the space is just going to be up for grabs. At that point I’m going to manifest interest in that space, just like I assume a whole bunch of people are going to in this town.”
Word of Besaw’s impending closure first went public last month, after negotiations to extend Flug’s lease fell apart. By then, the conflict had already reached the courts. In January, C.E. John filed a federal trademark application for the Besaw’s name and logo. Flug then filed a lawsuit seeking to use the name for a new restaurant being planned nearby. Earlier this month, C.E. John counter-sued.
Flug says she’s currently focused on opening her new restaurant and finding temporary positions for her longtime staff.
“New chapters are good,” she said.
