Table Talk
Buca vs. Buca ends in friendly name-change deal
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Carol Tice
Restaurateurs are often so focused on the food that they forget to attend to other, important business details. This was the case for Luigi DeNunzio, owner of the authentic Italian basement restaurant La Buca and above-ground mini-eatery Bengodi, both on Cherry Street in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood.
DeNunzio neglected to take the necessary steps to trademark La Buca's name when he first opened in 1992. This never posed any particular problem -- until 1996, when the Minneapolis chain Buca di Beppo arrived in Seattle and then built its name awareness with a second local unit in Lynnwood the following year.
Suddenly, DeNunzio found himself routinely trying to find seats for unexpected large parties, who had made their reservations across town at the Italian kitsch-palace of Buca di Beppo. Confusion reigned.
If DeNunzio had only registered La Buca's name, Buca di Beppo would have had to operate in this market under a different moniker. But due to the oversight, the expanding Buca di Beppo chain is free to dot the landscape with its own Italian places, creating ever more problems for La Buca.
DeNunzio recently contacted the rival Buca about the problem, and arrived at a solution. For an undisclosed sum, Buca di Beppo purchased the rights to the Buca name.
And so in May, La Buca will become Luigi's Grotto. DeNunzio is looking forward to reclaiming his sanity once Buca di Beppo patrons stop mistakenly showing up on Cherry Street.
Tidbits
• Another restaurant has changed its name, but for an entirely different reason. Asian soup company Dunamis Corp., which opened Gaio's Favorite Foods of Vietnam in Belltown in May, has found its first restaurant venture tough going. The company has already recast the concept and changed the eatery's name to Fragaria Mesa. The cuisine now mixes Asian tastes with the dishes of the Southwest.
• Europa West on Bainbridge Island has closed its doors, an apparent victim of overambition on the part of owner Jason Weisser. A psychologist with no previous restaurant experience, Weisser first opened Europa West as a gourmet takeout place about two years ago. The business got a warm reception, and islanders were soon munching happily on roast chicken that put the local grocery stores' takeout versions to shame.
Weisser wasn't satisfied with the single unit. Last April, he sank $1.5 million into a second unit in Kirkland's tony Waterfront Market development. The second Europa West offered takeout, catering, and a small sit-down bistro. He lured former Six Degrees chef Emily Moore to the venture. But Moore departed from the Kirkland Europa a few months after her arrival, and Weisser had no luck hiring a replacement. The restaurant closed last fall, after being open just five months.
The Bainbridge bistro struggled to compete against several high-quality, lower-priced eateries that were a few steps away. Now the phone number for both bistro and take-out is disconnected. Weisser could not be reached for comment.
• Another restaurant that has seen its high ambitions come crashing down is Khana Himalayan Lounge in Seattle's Fremont district. Co-owned by Seattle Catch Seafood Bistro owner Jill Levine, Khana -- which featured the exotic cuisines of Nepal and Tibet -- started slow. Levine reports her partner soon departed, leaving her to run both restaurants on her own.
"For me it was a little more than I wanted to be doing, running the two restaurants," she said.
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