Restaurateur Reponds

To the Editor:

My name is George Pastorok, III; I am the former owner of G.P. Cheffields. This is a response to The Letter Hive letter “A Missing Dinner” from Tracey Tenney.

During the contractual negotiations for the sale of my restaurant, my brother Gregory and I were adamant about our ability to be able to retain the outstanding gift certificates. Due to the legal aspects of the selling of our trade name (G.P. Cheffields0, we were unable to retain the gift certificates. We desperately tried to negotiate a settlement allowing us to keep the gift certificates, as we are planning to reopen in a new location. The new owners legally own the outstanding gift certificates. At the time of the sale, the outstanding gift certificates were calculated at full value, then deducted from the final selling price. The sale of our business included all G.P. Cheffields assets, which meant the gift certificates, as well as our good will. This contract clears my brother and me of any attachments legal and moral.

 My brother and I did not work that hard to establish a well-respected and successful business to have our reputation tarnished. The decision to only accept 20 percent of the actual cash value of the gift certificates is solely made by the new proprietors. This problem can only be rectified by the new ownership.

I have received many phone calls regarding this situation. During these conversations, I have patiently explained the details of the sale of the gift certificates. This is an unfortunate situation and a situation we no longer have any control over. We would like to thank all our customers from Newtown and the surrounding communities for their loyal patronage over the last seven years and hope to see you all soon at our new restaurant.

Sincerely,

George Pastorok, III

445 Ichabod Road, Southbury                            November 17, 2003