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The Dakota story

There is one name that comes to mind in the on-going saga of the restaurant business that created a steakhouse in Vermont from Shelburne to Rutland to Manchester and then into Pittsfield and over to Latham, N.Y,. and into Avon, Conn.: Tony Perry.

Mr. Perry did not own the corporation during its expansion period but was the sole proprietor of the Sirloin Saloon in Vermont and had an interest when the corporation expanded into Pittsfield with the Dakota Restaurant and beyond.

Mr. Perry, who grew up in Manchester, started a nightclub called the Five Flys in 1963. He got out of the nightclub business six years later and renamed his business the Sirloin Saloon, according to published reports.

After he sold the Five Flys, he established the Perry Restaurant Group, which operated the well-known restaurants – Sirloin Saloon, Sweetwater’s, Perry’s Fish House and Dakota.

After Mr. Perry sold the chain in 1999 to several management employees, later the restaurants began a downhill slide.

The employees borrowed $17.5 million from Amresco to buy the business from Mr. Perry.

They later sued the Idaho company for alleged breach of contract.

The lawsuit was resolved in 2006 much in Amresco’s favor with the company winding up with the Sirloin Saloon in Vermont and three of the four Dakota Steakhouses – now closed.

In an email statement announcing the Manchester closing, owner Susan Schulze-Claasen said: “Economic pressures from the extended recession and increasing costs have made continued operations unsustainable.”

Four years ago, Schulze-Claasen’s San Diego company leased the Rutland and Manchester Sirloin Saloons and the Dakota Steakhouse in Latham, N.Y., from Amresco Commercial Finance of Boise, Idaho.

The closing follows several changes in ownership, each one encountering financial troubles.

Schulze-Claasen’s company, DWH I, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. On Tuesday, DWH I and its related corporate entities, filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Idaho to convert its bankruptcy to Chapter 7.

Amresco, a creditor and owner of the Rutland and Manchester properties, had already put both properties up for sale, according to published reports.

“It was a true steakhouse and had a sensational salad bar,” said Thomas Donahue, executive vice president of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce.

The Sirloin Saloons were also known for their Native American motif.

In the statement announcing the closing, Rutland general manager Chriss Parker said the restaurant created memories for many patrons over the years.

“Our guests have been wonderful and our employee teams inspiring,” Parker said.

“On the other hand, we are immensely grateful to the community for allowing us to partner in so many celebration and dining experiences.”

I think he speaks for many who have visited the places in the chain and have retained memories of the past where large booths provide a place for family yet the small intimate place of the original Five Flys provide that special place for conversation, a drink and the creation of a dream or partnership.

And who can forget the bar where native Vermonters and tourists gathered to discuss the daily and weekly events emanating from Manchester to one’s home community.

The Dakota opened on South Street in Pittsfield in July 1984 on the site of a former Howard Johnson’s restaurant operated by Charlie Rice, according to The Berkshire Eagle.

Originally built in 1954, the restaurant was destroyed by fire in March 1988, but re-opened that October following more than $1.25 million in renovations.

Management expanded into a lunch menu and also its celebrated Sunday brunch.

From the lobsters swimming in the tank to the wild game heads on the wall to specialty art painting of early settlers on the wall, it was an unusual capture of our lore – with no direct connection to Pittsfield, but to a bygone day of America.

In retrospect, The Berkshires has loss one of its charming and unusual places of dinning with a fireplace to warm our inners on a cold night.

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Posted by on May 2, 2013. Filed under Opinion,View from the Tower. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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