Metro Detroit chef Matt Prentice has $1.5M tax bill
Robert Snell, The Detroit News
Restaurateur and high-profile chef Matt Prentice, who shuttered two eateries recently and unloaded his restaurant company amid crushing corporate and personal debt, is bankrupt and owes $1.5 million in delinquent taxes.
Prentice filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Jan. 26 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit, listing almost $5 million in liabilities and $256,555 in assets. His assets consisted of a $250,000 home in West Bloomfield Township, less than $300 in cash, kitchenware and other household items.
He is the second high-profile Detroit restaurateur to file bankruptcy in recent months, reflecting the challenging environment for eateries amid a stagnant economy and drop-off in corporate customers dining on expense accounts.
Seldom Blues owner Frank Taylor closed the Detroit Fish Market and Detroit's Breakfast House & Grill last April, a day after the Downtown Development Authority sued him on claims he tried to "defraud" the city and owed $180,000 in back rent. Taylor at the time denied the charges through a spokesman and said he worked hard to make the restaurants work. The lawsuit has since been settled.
Taylor filed for bankruptcy last June. He owes 69 creditors at least $3.4 million, including $661,000 to the DEGC, according to the filing.
The centerpiece of Prentice's epicurean empire, meanwhile, is Coach Insignia atop the Renaissance Center.
He continues to operate that restaurant, No. VI Chophouse in Novi and Northern Lakes Seafood in Bloomfield Hills. He also runs four delis in Southfield, Novi, West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Hills, plus a catering business.
The Jan. 26 bankruptcy filing came days after Prentice shuttered two restaurants — Beverly Hills-based Tavern on 13 and Shiraz in Bingham Farms — and after the sale of his restaurant company to Detroit lawyer Stanley Dickson Jr.
Debt tied to his restaurant group accounts for the bulk of his debt, including $1.3 million owed to Chase Bank USA, NA and $1.1 million to US Bank Trust.
He also owes more than $11,500 to the law firm owned by Birmingham attorney Norman Yatooma.
He has a host of legal problems, too.
Several companies and individuals are suing him in Oakland County courts to collect debts, including Papa's Refrigeration Service Co. and American Express Travel.
What's owed
$1.5 million
According to the bankruptcy filing, Prentice's debts include $1 million in federal taxes owed to the IRS from 2007-10. He also owes $500,000 in personal income and corporate taxes to the state of Michigan from 2007-09.
His side
Prentice's lawyer Marshall D. Schultz declined comment.
Photo caption: Matt Prentice, shown in 2008, recently filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing almost $5 million in liabilities. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)
