BY URSULA MILLER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ciao Cucina Corp., struggling for survival since it went public two years ago, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday.
The Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cincinnati follows the closing this week of Ciao's restaurant in Harper's Point and the sale of its newest eatery in Cleveland. The company also closed its Memphis, Tenn., restaurant, leaving only two locations - one in downtown Cincinnati and another in Washington, D.C.
Major management changes - the third round in four months - also have taken place. Covington restaurateur Dean DiGiacinto, named just five weeks ago as president of Ciao, has resigned. Ciao has hired local restaurant consultant Elliot H. Jablonsky to replace Mr. DiGiacinto as president.
Ciao director Marvin Rosenberg also has resigned.
Jack Wyant, whose venture capital firm is the largest investor in Ciao, said the company filed for protection from creditors after the city of Coral Gables, Fla., sued Ciao for $2 million. The suit stems from a lease agreement for the development there of an unfinished Ciao restaurant.
The bankruptcy filing shows Ciao with assets of $7 million and liabilities of $3.5 million. Ciao attorney Richard Boydston said it's not uncommon for a company to have more assets than liabilities in a Chapter 11 reorganization.
He said he wasn't sure whether Ciao's remaining restaurants are profitable.
"It's expected that they will be profitable," he said, explaining that Ciao is keeping its "strongest" properties.
Mr. Wyant's firm has lent $920,000 to Ciao for working capital in the last year and may extend up to $350,000 more, Mr. Boydston said.
Ciao's troubles became public this spring after its board voted to remove founder and chief executive Carl Bruggemeier. All of Ciao's other original top corporate managers either resigned or were laid off in the last year as debts mounted amid an ill-fated expansion. Ciao closed at least two unprofitable restaurants and hired a turn-around consultant to help it restructure.
Ciao announced a planned merger with a New York City restaurant company in late spring. That deal fell through this fall. Then Ciao announced Mr. DiGiacinto's appointment.
Ciao's stock trades for pennies on Nasdaq's OTC-Bulletin Board. Though the company was never profitable, it went public for $7 a share in 1996.
