In November, we broke the story that Laura and Michael Kloeti of Michael’s on the Hill in Waterbury were planning to take over Montpelier’s popular Black Door Bar and Bistro. The eatery had its last big dinner service on New Year’s Eve, then closed in anticipation of the Kloetis’ January 18 reopening.
It won’t happen. “We are devastated,” says Laura Kloeti. She released a statement Monday thanking former Black Door owner Phil Gentile and his staff for being “nothing but forthcoming and wonderful,” but said that “unforeseen last-minute circumstances forced us to change our plans.”
The team remains tight lipped on the “circumstances.” Laura Kloeti says simply, “Phil, Michael and I have together made a firm decision to be adults on this and maintain a professional stance, however challenging.”
Kloeti’s statement ends with an apology to the Montpelier community, and especially to Black Door staff and others personally affected by the news. “[We] truly wish that things had happened differently,” she says. So, no doubt, will all those hungry legislators.
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2011.
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