Tony Winnipeg restaurant closes
Wednesday, March 1st, 2006
By: Dan Lett
WINNIPEG — Green Gates restaurant — one of Winnipeg’s premier special event venues — closed its doors late last week and was unable to make payroll for some of its employees.
A voice message and signs at the restaurant confirmed Green Gates closed Feb. 24 because of a sewage backup. The voice message indicated the restaurant would be back in business on Feb. 27 but as of yesterday, there was no sign of activity at the stately Roblin Boulevard facility.
David Wolinsky, a frequent spokesman for the restaurant, could not be reached for comment.
Robert Tapper, the lawyer for David Wolinsky and Costas Ataliotis, who is also a shareholder in the restaurant, confirmed Green Gates was closed, but could not offer further details.
He said there were approximately 30 individuals who partially owned the restaurant, including his clients.
“I don’t know anything about the sewer backup or the closure of the restaurant,” Tapper said. “I can only tell you the restaurant is, temporarily at least, closed.”
Restaurant employees who contacted the Winnipeg Free Press indicated many of the approximately 70 staff walked off the job on Feb. 24 when payroll cheques bounced.
Instead of cheques from a payroll service, which had been the norm prior to February, one employee said staff received hand-signed cheques on the evening of Feb. 23 directly from Wolinsky.
The employees said a senior executive with Protos International, a related company, had signed the cheques.
The employees said some staff members went the next day to the branch of Astra Credit Union on Portage Avenue where the cheques were drawn, only to be told there were insufficient funds available.
“The whole thing is extremely stressful,” said one long-time employee, who asked not to be named. “There are a lot of good people who have been hurt by this.”
Craig Lee, president of Astra Credit Union, confirmed in an interview the credit union was unable to honor the payroll cheques for Green Gates employees. Lee could not explain why cheques were written on an account that did not have sufficient funds.
“I wouldn’t know what the principals (of Green Gates) were aware of or not aware of,” Lee said.
Current and former employees of Green Gates said the restaurant had not made money in recent years and last year had net losses of approximately $150,000.
© 2005 The Brandon Sun