“I’ve been trying to put my resignation in to Sawyer for the last week, but was not able to get ahold of him,” Ryan Boone, a current employee of the Greenhouse Tavern, told Scene Thursday. “And then he came in yesterday and said we were closing, so there’s really no point in officially resigning.”
Boone, who worked his way up from back waiter to executive sous chef over the course of three and a half years, was frustrated at the lack of support he and his colleagues had been receiving for some time.
He also saw the writing on the wall, as did most of his colleagues, that the restaurant was running on fumes.
But the situation became unacceptable in recent weeks as the financial situation grew even more dire. Boone, and others I spoke to, were motivated to come forward in an effort to separate their actions from those of ownership.
“At the end, what frustrated me the most – and why I wanted to reach out to Scene – is I saw a lot of these comments about Metal dinner tickets and cooking class tickets…,” he explains. “It seemed to me that we knew where we were headed when we chose to sell those tickets and that wasn’t the most ethical business practice, and it kind of put a bad taste in my mouth because I had friends buying tickets for these classes that I didn’t think we would be open for.”
In the wake of the stunning news that Greenhouse Tavern would be closing its doors after a successful 11-year run, emotions are riding high. Sadness, disappointment and loss felt by Cleveland diners are, perhaps, the most visible reactions to the news. But those feelings likely pale in comparison to the ones currently being felt by the dedicated employees who managed to keep this boat afloat despite some very turbulent seas.
These are not disgruntled staffers with an axe to grind, but rather loyal chefs and servers and managers who were proud of the work they were doing and simply wanted to keep doing it. But they were thwarted at every turn by an absent leader, inconsistent operations policies, mismanagement of financial resources, and lack of investment into staff, equipment and even food supplies.
“It’s not that I want to slander Chef or beat his name into the ground, but I think, also, it’s kind of frustrating to see,” Boone adds. “I’ve been there three and a half years and watched less investment come back in until basically it’s whittled down to nothing.”
Boone says that during his tenure he watched as the number of chefs in the kitchen diminished from six chefs to four to three. Another chef reports that only two out of three ovens work, with the door to the third one drilled shut to prevent it from falling over and injuring more people.
“We’re trying to sustain a kitchen staff by paying chef de cuisines and people like that $28,000 to $32,000 a year and they want raises and they want to be looked at and they want to be trained and working under this Jedi Master,” adds another longtime employee who wishes to remain anonymous.
Those accounts contrast the presentation of the celebrity chef in the media, including in past Scene coverage. And those accounts of a restaurant struggling financially contrast sharply with the owners’ social media postings depicting new motorcycles, cars, trucks, houses, and frequent family vacations, say miffed employees. That’s all well and good, but not when the restaurant is suffering, employees felt as they watched it all unfold on social media while looking at an operation badly in need of basic investment.
“He is consistently putting his needs above the needs of the restaurant,” Boone says.
Sawyer, when reached for comment, responded, “For now we are going to try to respect the team at GHT & my family’s privacy,” adding that employees are understandably upset, but claiming they do not have the whole story. “They are allowed to be mad and vent. And tell whatever version of the truth they believe. But I guarantee it is not even close to the truth or whole story.”
Financial difficulties, reported in this recent Cleveland.com article, reveal substantial personal and professional debt, which Sawyer now cites as the main reason for the closure. The shutterings of Trentina and Noodlecat certainly contributed to those financial woes, but on its own, say workers, Greenhouse Tavern was more than viable.
“As much as there were a lot of frustrations with the Greenhouse Tavern and the management system within it, or above it, I should say, it printed money in the summer,” reports Boone. “It was an absolute madhouse from April until October. As long as you chose to be responsible with those summer earnings, there was no reason you shouldn’t be able to make it through the January, February slow season.”
As for the rent, the employee who wishes to remain anonymous stated that it was largely a fixed, predictable and manageable expense.
“Yeah, the overhead came into play, but the overhead was what it was for many years,” he says. “$20,000 to rent a space as big as the Greenhouse on that street – it’s been that much for a long time. We were very good at sustaining that for a long time, but after the banks said, ‘We’re taking our money back,’ there was no money to operate.”
Desperate times called for desperate measures, such as selling buy-one, get-one gift cards, tickets to cooking classes that likely would never happen, and even liquidating bar inventory to meet payroll. (Some purchasers of cooking classes report receiving refunds.)
What upsets employees the most, they say, is simply the lack of attention, leadership and, frankly, participation by Sawyer in the kitchen. He was, after all, the reason most of these people applied for the job to begin with. To work under a James Beard Award-winning chef not only is resume gold, but also an opportunity to learn and grow professionally, to acquire skills that will serve one well in future positions.
Like the now-familiar chefs who preceded him, Dennis Veverka applied for a job at Greenhouse Tavern because he wanted to learn. He rattled off the names of chefs like Matt Danko, Brian Goodman, Vinnie Cimino, Jack Moore, Dave Kocab, Brett Sawyer and Matt Spinner, all of whom made their way through the proving ground that is the Greenhouse kitchen. If he could acquire even a fraction of their combined wisdom, Veverka would be happy.
“Big hitters come through here because you do learn, you learn a lot,” says Veverka, the current chef de cuisine. “But I had to teach myself what I wanted to learn because there was nobody teaching me anymore because Chef wasn’t around. I still wanted to learn like the other chefs did, it just took me a little longer.”
Boone and others felt the same way.
“[He came in] almost never, unfortunately, which is disappointing because we all looked up to him as a sort of cornerstone of the Cleveland food community,” Boone says. “It was amazing when he was in the kitchen in 2015 and before winning James Beard awards, but not in the last five years. Sometimes, I think Cleveland thinks the guy is in the basement crying chicken wings and he’s not.”
In the end, the employees who reached out felt personally slighted, made to serve as scapegoats – whether intentionally or inadvertently – for failings that rest with others. For years, the team showed up and put in the work despite insufficient support and resources – and continued to make great food and offer great service in spite of it. All they wanted, when the house of cards did finally tumble, was for the blame to land where it belonged.
“It’s easy to say that you’re not going to renew your lease,” said an employee. “It’s hard to say that we’ve made some serious errors and learned from our ways and hope to be better and do better and actually follow through with those actions. I don’t want them pointing fingers at their employees and management staffs and things like that. I would like to see them take some responsibility.”
For now, Sawyer still is affiliated with Sawyer’s at Van Aken and SeeSaw in Columbus, restaurants that are owned and operated by Forward Hospitality.
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This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2020.
I don’t much understand the narrative that the owner would’ve mismanaged his personal finances, which caused the closing, or that the restaurant made money, and he squandered it. If his personal finances were a mess, why would he close a business that made him money? Him taking less vacations would’ve kept the place open? I mean come on, I dont know who he is, but as someone who works in small business finance, I would’ve listened to him when he told you it wasn’t the whole story. Seems like a trash article, not a whole lot of logic to it other than some employees who didn’t approve of the owner’s decisions ( big surprise)
Great work Doug!
Hm.. never ate there.
Can’t afford to pay back those loans in 2018, but was able to buy a $595,000 house in 2018 while sending his kids to private school. Something smells fishy.
For the person asking why he would close if it was making money, thanks to the lien, none of that money would be his for a long time.
I applaud this article and it’s spot on- absolute truth and calling out this horseshit for what it is. I can tell you the employees feel this way and it’s not “lashing out”. They’re on the ground and kept this place alive. The guy has been absent for years, let the restaurant become dilapidated and wouldn’t spend for basic upkeep, and just wasn’t around. They lived their rich lifestyle, fine and great, but taking out a half million dollar mortgage and taking out another 700k revolving loan- withdrawing 500 and not paying any back- is absolute financial recklessness 101. All public record. Sure there may be more to the story- doesn’t mean he made responsible decisions these last few years. Can’t argue with numbers. They defrauded a bank for god’s sake….and when you’re posting your extravagant travels and purchases on Instagram you open yourself up to this. That’s how social media works. I wish they’d just own it. You messed up and a community is let down.Stop trying to spin a narrative of how it just didn’t pan out. Writing has been on the wall forever. He’s still a great chef but not a good businessman, plain and simple
Sawyer was never there and if he was it was because he was expecting to show off for a visiting celebrity chef. Real chefs like dante and Luca are manning the wheel day and night. Sawyer may have a beard award but it was only due to the hardwork of the young chefs he took advantage of and stole credit from! I personally watched him fire his own father who had a heart attack the next day. Never saw any remorse on his face the days following. Fuck fame Jonathan take care of family and your employees!
This is Jonathan Seeholzer, I would like to clarify that there is a comment that was made in this thread by a user named Seeholzer. That is not me. I did not, have not and will not ever comment on any article.
Thank you
It’s all true. Everything the world is finally getting to hear is the hard truth. I used to be in the management staff at Trentina and everything you’re reading is exactly as I experienced it with the Sawyers. I’m just glad to see the rest of the world figuring out what so many of us learned the hard way: The Emperor and Empress have no clothes.
Well, probably too many clothes. And cars and vacations and and and…
He sucked all the money out of the business to support his lavish lifestyle and defaulted on a $575k loan…there was no money left
Lets not forget this guy built a test kitchen becuz the real kitchen was too much work for him.
What about the time they fired The manager of noodlecat and claimed he was stealing money! To make room so they could hire a friend! Classic team sawyer move!
I was an opening bartender who was fired without any write ups 5 days before Christmas, freshly divorced. My only take on this is that from the very beginning, there was a complete lack of austerity. Seems to me now it would have served Team Sawyer well. I hope the family is able to recover from all of this, honestly.
The only good thing this corny moped riding, wannabe greaser did while I worked there was make weed-infused gin.
The only good thing Sawyer ever did for me while I worked there is lend me his beard gel.
I blame the animal frites.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been in the Cleveland restaurant scene for any length of time. The stories of mismanagement and abuse of employees — mostly management — have been around for years. Luckily, I never worked for the Sawyer’s — I had heard too many horror stories from friends and former employees. Sawyer used to be great when he was still grounded but a little fame (talent, yes, but also due to Symon’s machinations— another friendship he abused) went to his head. Wanna-be-Rockstar syndrome. I feel bad for his employees but I think the Sawyers used up all their karma and good will years and years ago.
Crying chicken wings in the basement lol
Hilarious that his wife made an instagram post asking for support and making absurd comments like “we took a risk when nobody else was taking risks” (have fun with that one) and got a few negative comments from people and disabled and deleted the comments. Hilarious. Goes to social media to bs and try to spin the truth and enhance her image and can’t take the heat. These two are real hypocrites.
Hell, if you want good stories talk to the people who used to work at Noodle Cat Downtown. Boy, do they have dirt on that man.
My name is Clint Bates and I was a Chef at Greenhouse and Noodlecat at different times for the last 8 years. Ryan Boone is an idiot and that’s why he only made $28,000 a year working for Chef Sawyer. I have worked in kitchens my whole adult life and have never worked with someone so disrespectful, filthy and lazy. Sometimes people have problems. Instead of kicking them when you are down be a man and walk away with some dignity. When they closed Noodlecat I sold the last of the food, cleaned the place up and moved what was left for Chef because it was the right thing to do. Chef Sawyer is a good person and did alot for me over the years. My mother passed away and he sent his whole staff to Sandusky and helped me with the house. He hired me and gave me a chance when I was in rehab and had failed my whole life. He taught me about farm to table cooking, started me as a fry cook and one day made me a head Chef at Greenhouse. When Chef’s start restaurants that have worked for him he pays his respect and tries the food and help promote their careers. Cleveland should thank Chef Sawyer for the great things he has done for the city and it’s economy. Good luck Chef and we will always live to fight the good fight another day.
Well, from what I gather as a former employee, this COUPLE have been making poor decisions for years. It seems that they’ve completely lost sight of the fact that they are responsible for the welfare of dozens of employees, and have instead? Chosen to put their own interests first. It’s despicable. Glad I got out when I did.
Stop being a little kiss ass Clint Bates. This many people having the same story can’t all be lying.
Clint: 1st & foremost: “Chef” had absolutely zero to do with your team coming to help you at your Mother’s home. Thank your colleagues, management team and fellow chefs. Jonathan neither rallied the team nor sweated with us that day, to be clear. As I understand it, he also fired you on Christmas Eve, after a decade of loyalty. Stand by his side if you like but please don’t give him credit for what your true team did for that day.
Say what you want. I am not kissing anyones ass. When I came back to Greenhouse the kitchen staff was a free for all. Nobody was doing anything they were supposed to be doing. I tried to do something about it and everyone tried to get me fired by making up stuff about me so I didn’t fire everyone. Getting laid off was a choice they had to make. I got over it and wish him the best.
the only person ive even seen them treat decently was his assistant jess! Other than her we were all peasants and indentured employees.
I worked at GHT for a year. The Sawyers would rarely show up, and when they did it was only for events or because of the in-house auditing that was going on before they closed the downtown Noodle Cat. Jonathon was always a prick. On more than one occasion I had to throw away my food that I could barely afford with my 30% discount because the Sawyers didn’t like to see employees take breaks, even though I was working a 13 hour shift like most of the staff. It’s incredibly sad that these employees have to scramble to find a way to replace their income so suddenly, but it’s definitely not a surprise that Chef could be so selfish.
Does anyone know why brian goodman left. I got bullshit excuses! Greenhouse went downhill the moment he left!
Sawyer attempted to conduct exit meetings with the front of house staff earlier this week, a server who has worked for him for over 4 years walked out of the meeting after sawyer openly admitted that he did not remember the server’s name, Sawyer immediately left the restaurant. Also his wife sucks
I worked at GHT part and full time off and on over the years. I’m no longer in the industry so I don’t have skin in the game. The place was in decline a long time, wasn’t maintained, staff wasn’t treated well anymore, and the Sawyers assumed they could continue raking in profit off the work they did when they opened the place. They put zero back in when management pleaded for basic things. This place could have been sustained much longer with some care and attention, but they were totally absent and it was run like a total shit show. I’m amazed the staff kept this going as long as they did. You wouldn’t believe the stories I’ve heard over the years. I don’t want to see the guy burned at the stake here and he’s a great chef, but I wish him and Amelia would accept some accountability and handle this with some dignity and grace. The financial recklessness they’ve practiced in the last few years is amazing, and then they let down these employees and gave them zero notice. Those employees have every right to speak out.
It’s incredibly disappointing and to see Amelia on social media posting garbage like “nobody else took a risk when we did” and claiming they didn’t fail. Well, if I had irresponsibly accumulated a million in debt and drove a great restaurant into the ground, I’d like to think I’d be open to the possibility that I made some poor choice. Failure is part of the human condition-we have egos and pride and we fuck up. Accept it, apologize where it’s due, and learn. Own your poor and selfish financial decisions and have the dignity to be honest when we all know the truth anyway. I know it sucks but hiding and denying isn’t helping anybody. I hope they come forward and pay respect where it’s due but I’m not holding my breath.
This couple sound like a pair of white-collar criminals.
I hope they go from living the high life to wearing orange jumpsuits.
Nothing makes me happier than watching rich a-holes take the fall.
As a Clevelander its sad to see Greenhouse Tavern go because I always thought of it as one of the special places in town. Its frustrating because I (and so many others in this city) felt like GHT was a source of pride for Cleveland, and now its just a pile of rubble with everyone sifting through the ashes. I always had great service from the staff there, I hope the Cleveland food community opens its doors to them and helps them out in a really rough time. Just sad all around, but ill always appreciate the great memories there.
Hubris of the untalented.
Look at the crap kindergarten art of the missus on the wall at Trentina.
Maybe a shower once in a while would have helped.
Greenhouse, Trentino both SUCKED. He SUCKS. End of story. P.S. he still sucks.
Sawyer is in my opinion a fraud
I’ve never heard of a James Beard chef having to close a restaurant – one of those “only in Cleveland” types of stories