Z Square was not a gigantic failure in the small world of Boston restaurants but neither was it routine. One source thought that the total amount of money lost approached $7,000,000.

The first “unit” or “store” occupied a bullseye location in the heart of Harvard Square. Rent was said to be $29,000 plus a percentage of sales. The company grew out of a successful Marin County cafe and the owners exuded great confidence. They eventually took over a former flatbread pizzeria near Boston University for a second store and a kosher deli in Boston’s financial district became their third unit.

Everyone connected with Z Square was a star. One person was a member of a famous Boston rock band. They had a cookie consultant.

And they had expensive offices on the other side of the block that suggested a possible negative outcome, despite all the confidence and the past accomplishments of everyone who was involved. Most restaurants have offices that are appropriate to submarines or tenement museums. Z Square had a lot of expensive space in Harvard Square.

One sage thought Z Square was doomed. She was right. They opened slowly and quickly began firing people. Very gradually the level of sales rose but like Howard Hughes Spruce Goose the enterprise never took off.

We sold them ice cream and checks became infrequent and ordering grew disorganized. Suddenly the restaurant was closed and newwspapers were accumulating in their doorway. We were owed a little more than a $1,000.

Finally the news of the restauant’s closing became public and eventually we received a notice from the bankruptcy court. With more curiousity than hope my sister and I trudged down to the bleak Tip O’Neil building to attend the bankruptcy hearing. Maybe we would benefit in an implausible way from showing up.

The hearing was in a room as banal as any high school classroom. We recognized a few familiar faces. Before the court got to the Z Square bankruptcy it swiftly processed two poignant personal bankruptcies.

The bankruptcy judge was authoritative. Z Square was represented by the least prepared member of the downtown bar I have ever seen. His manner was impeccable but when the judge asked about hundreds of thousands of dollars he said, “We didn’t have funds to do any forensice accounting, but we think most of the money went into the corporations.” There were, as is common, multiple corporations, but a lot of money slopped around and it became clear that we weren’t going to get any of it. The valuable liquor license now belonged to the landlord’s agent, who had also purchased all the equipment and leasehold improvements for a bargain price. A slightly bigger vendor had lost thousands of dollars and there were rumors that a produce vendor had lost much more than that.

At one point the judge asked where the principal was, that confident casually dressed Californian from Marin County. “I don’t know” said the attorney. That was probably literally true, that at that one moment the lawyer did not know where the captain of the Titantic was but almost everyone else involved thought he was in England and some people claimed to have his address.

A number of well known professionals worked with the company and did not succed in saving it. One person said they “rode it down” which involved getting paid for work while the corporation crash lands.

The miserable case was continued and on our way out we commiserated with the dairy supplier. Most of the time the restaurant business can seem like an upright if tough section of the economy, but not that morning in Boston.

1. Ben Brophy on June 3rd, 2009 at 8:50 am

   Great writing in the last few entries! I am dying for a pint of strawberry ice cream and some hot fudge to go.