Football great Emmitt Smith announced in December 2021 that he would open a restaurant – Emmitt’s Las Vegas – on the Strip in 2022. The restaurant, it later emerged, would occupy 30,000 square feet in the Fashion Show mall, with the celebrity chef Rainer Schwarz and slabs of Smith’s beloved shortbread pie.
Nearly two years later, Emmitt’s is still unopened. Las Vegas restaurant watchers have been asking for at least a year: Why the delay?
A lawsuit filed Monday in Clark County District Court could provide answers.
Schwarz, through his Chef Rainer LLC, is suing some of his former business associates, alleging in the complaint that he “organized a conspiracy to steal the opportunity to open and operate Emmitt’s for themselves, while Chef Rainer LLC and Trilogy out of the deal entirely.”
Smith is not named in the lawsuit.
essential agreements
Trilogy is referring to Trilogy F&B Group LLC, one of four entities, according to the lawsuit, that entered into an operating agreement in October 2021 to “develop, design, own, and operate restaurants, lounges, and entertainment venues under the name of’ Emmitt’s’. Smith’s Limited Liability Company is one of the entities.
In March 2022, according to the complaint, Trilogy also entered into a Management Agreement with Chef Rainer LLC, in which Trilogy was responsible for leasing space at the Fashion Show and building the restaurant and Chef Rainer LLC was responsible for managing and operating the restaurant. , including payment for goods, services and utilities before opening.
changing locks
Valley Water Mill LLC, a minority owner of Trilogy, and its individual members are among the defendants in this action. In May, according to the lawsuit, these defendants changed the locks on Emmitt’s, preventing the chef and others from entering the restaurant.
The lawsuit further alleges that these defendants “unlawfully assigned Trilogy’s lease to Valley Water Mill” while creating a new corporate entity “to replace Chef Rainer LLC and to usurp its rights under the management agreement, including hiring to alternative suppliers and contractors”.
According to the lawsuit, among these contractors is Gillett Construction LLC of Las Vegas, which is also listed as a defendant, along with Chairman and CEO Darren Gillett. The lawsuit alleges that Gillett Construction employees oversaw changing the restaurant’s locks and have provided tours of Emmitt’s to competing chefs and vendors.
Losses of 67 million dollars
As a result of the defendants’ actions, according to the lawsuit, Trilogy has been deprived of its only asset – the lease on the Emmitt’s location – which the company valued at about $25 million.
According to the lawsuit, Chef Rainer LLC has, to date, incurred more than $2.2 million in costs related to the opening of Emmitt’s. Among these costs are staffing, vendor contracts, nearly $700,000 in kitchen equipment, utilities, china and glassware, and the design and commissioning of a decorative ceiling and “grand central staircase.”
More than $1.1 million of these costs have not been reimbursed, the lawsuit alleges.
Chef Rainer LLC also alleges that, unless the defendants are barred, it will receive no more than $67 million in wages and profit sharing to which it is entitled under the management agreement.
The plaintiff also filed a petition to prohibit the defendants from participating in activities related to the opening or operation of Emmitt’s, from claiming that they have the right to enter or conduct activities in the restaurant, from claiming that the plaintiff lacks this right, and from taking measures to prevent Chef Rainer LLC from exercising its rights under the management agreement.
