Just read the same thing.
MOODY’S SHUT DOWN
The signs say “CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS.” That’s not true.
The city’s license commission has closed down Moody’s Delicatessen at 468 Moody Street because company officials are not named on liquor and food licenses.
All the licenses are under the name of former employee Joshua Smith, an acclaimed chef and meat maven who appears to have left under a cloud.
Without his involvement, none of the involved businesses (Moody’s Delicatessen, The Backroom and El Rincón de Moody’s) can serve food or liquor by law.
The Waltham Police liaison for the city’s license commission confiscated the licenses Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Moody’s was closed.
“It may just put us out of business for good,” company official Dan Revers told the commission during an emergency hearing Tuesday night.
Revers, a wealthy businessman from Weston, worried that Moody’s staff will quit if it takes “a month or two or three” to resolve the situation.
“I feel terrible,” said commission chairman Wayne Brasco, explaining that he had no choice. “I know what happens when you shut the door.”
The complicated process to transfer all the licenses could take two months, but the licenses to serve food could be transferred sooner, possibly in three weeks.
The situation is worsened by what appears to be a bitter split between Smith and company officials.
Starting in 2013, Smith built up a slate of ambitious businesses on Moody Street.
But he recently parted ways with Moody’s, telling the Boston Globe he had another project planned and wanted to spend time with family.
“No, it wasn’t good,” Dan Revers said about Smith’s departure.
“A lot of things were not good there. I backed someone I thought was a friend. A lot of things didn’t go right. We parted company,” Revers said.
Revers said he was “doubtful” he could get Smith to come to the Moody Street business in an attempt to speed up the license transfers.
But he added that Smith is “obligated to cooperate” as part of a legal agreement, so he would contact Smith’s attorney.
Meanwhile, the commission is trying to assist Moody’s as best it can.
A 10,000 SF meat processing facility on Clematis Avenue, New England Charcuterie, was not affected by the closure.