After tragic end of owner’s troubled young life, Birchwood restaurant closes

The Birchwood Restaurant in Polish Town has closed its doors — at least for now.

A sign posted on the front door promises that the iconic pub-style Riverhead restaurant and catering hall will “reopen shortly.” The restaurant is closed for renovations “over the next several weeks,” according to the notice, which is signed “Sincerely, The Owner.”

But former employees and government records tell a different story.

No building permits have been issued by the Riverhead Town building department. Nor have any permit applications been filed, according to building department records.

The business is in the estate of James Loo, who died in January at age 42, leaving behind a 12-year-old daughter as his sole heir and an estate burdened by significant debt, tax liens, judgments and pending legal actions. He did not have a will.

Immediately after Loo’s death, his brother and fellow restaurateur, Kenny Loo — who owns Hy-Ting, Haiku and Blue Agave Grill — went in and took over operation of the Birchwood, according to former Birchwood employees and Suffolk County Surrogate Court filings.

Kenny Loo operated the Birchwood until early June, when his deceased brother’s ex-wife, Andrea Meyer, as guardian of the couple’s daughter, was appointed administrator of Loo’s estate. The appointment came June 4. Within 10 days, Meyer had come to the conclusion that she would close the restaurant down, at least until the company’s affairs could be sorted out and many needed repairs were undertaken, according to Birchwood employees, who spoke to RiverheadLOCAL on the condition of anonymity. They said she called employees together in mid-June and told them the restaurant would close for a while, but she planned to reopen. Meyer could not be reached for comment.

The Birchwood’s liquor license expired June 30, according to N.Y. State Liquor Authority records. The license had been issued to Javan Enterprises Inc., a corporation in which James Loo was a principal, according to SLA records. But Javan Enterprises Inc. was dissolved in 2010, according to the N.Y. Department of State.

The Birchwood Restaurant Inc. currently has two outstanding sales tax warrants against it, totaling more than $100,000, a spokesperson for the N.Y. Department of Taxation and Finance said today. One, filed in July 2013 is for $53,331. The other, filed in April of this year, is for $47,434, according to spokesperson Cary Ziter. Both are for sales tax liabilities that accrued in 2013 and prior, he said.

The real property, owned by Loo Real Estate Holdings Inc., is currently in foreclosure, according to documents filed with the Surrogate’s Court. Loo Real Estate Holdings Inc. was in default on a $775,000 mortgage loan made in 2004 and owed Bridgehampton National Bank More than $869,000 on the loan at the time of Loo’s death. The foreclosure action was commenced in November 2011.

Bridgehampton National Bank, in papers filed with the Surrogate’s Court on April 14, sought appointment of the bank as a limited administrator of Loo’s estate, in an attempt to safeguard the asset securing its mortgage loan.

“Kenny Loo continues to operate the cash restaurant business at the secured premises to the direct harm of petitioner’s secured interest in the premises,” BNB attorney Brian Egan wrote in a court affidavit.

In January of 2011, Loo Real Estate Holdings Inc. was dissolved by the N.Y. secretary of state “by proclamation,” a procedure instituted when a corporation fails to file required franchise tax reports or pay franchise taxes for two consecutive years, according to the state tax department’s website. 

By that time, James Loo’s life was in a downward spiral.

His wife had divorced him in 2004, the same year Loo Real Estate Holdings Inc. purchased the restaurant for $965,000. Their daughter was just 3 years old.

His debts and financial woes piled up. Judgments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars had been entered against Loo and various corporate entities he owned or controlled, according to state corporation records.

He lost his successful Calverton restaurant, Village Crossroads — which he’d purchased in 2001 for $1 million — to foreclosure in 2010.

That August, a $292,506 judgment was entered against Loo by Jesse R. Goodale and in November of 2010 a judgment of more than $50,000 was entered against him by JP Morgan Chase. His residence in Wading River went into foreclosure in 2010.

In July 2011 a state tax department judgment of more than $415,000 was recorded against Loo and his corporation doing business at the Crossroads address.

That October, an IRS tax lien of $34,931 was filed against him.

Friends and close associates say the charming, affable Loo — a dynamic young man everyone loved, including longtime Birchwood employees — was plagued by substance abuse issues. Many say they felt sorry for the once-successful entrepreneur.

His life came to a tragic end on Jan. 8 at Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he’d been admitted the day before. The 42-year-old died of cardiopulmonary arrest, multi organ system failure and metabolic acidosis, according to his death certificate in the Surrogate Court’s file.

Former employees remain loyal to their deceased boss. They bristled at a media report quoting Loo’s brother, who explained his own difficulties with the state tax department — which seized Blue Agave Grill in April — by saying he’d discovered his brother had been “five weeks behind on payroll” when he died.

“I had to pay those guys,” Kenny Loo told the News-Review. “A lot of things I can live with, like owing the state money. But I can’t owe people that have been working there for 30 years and not give them their paychecks.”

“That really bothered us all,” said Lori Siebert, a chef at the Birchwood for 25 years.

“We got paid up until the day before Jimmy passed away,” she said.

The Blue Agave Grill subsequently reopened.

When — or whether — the Birchwood reopens will be a matter that will likely need sorting out by the Surrogate’s Court.

Public records do not indicate who owns or controls Loo Real Estate Holdings Inc., the dissolved corporation that owns title to the real estate where the Birchwood is located.

A Hauppauge law firm filed a notice of appearance in the Surrogate Court action on behalf of “Loo Real Estate.”

On Feb. 6, just less than a month after Jimmy Loo died, a certificate of incorporation was filed for a new entity called “Birchwood Restaurant of Riverhead Inc.” It lists a Hong Loo at the Birchwood’s address (512 Pulaski Street) as the agent for service of process, a designation required by the secretary of state for all corporations formed in N.Y.

Kenny Loo did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.