Fabricio on May 19, 2009, at 09:50PM – #1

I tried to go to this restaurant a couple of time, but things I read about it like the lack of preparation and unpaid staff when it opened kept me from going. It sounds like a case as seen in the movie Pacific Heights.

ritzy periwinkle on May 20, 2009, at 02:53AM – #2

Don't they also own Mother Road in the Stillwell Hotel?

JM on May 20, 2009, at 09:01AM – #4

I tried to go there early 2008 after reading about it, but they'd just closed their doors. At the time, I heard there had been a water leak. This story is most enlightening. What a shame and what a waste.

Anthony Jones on May 20, 2009, at 10:33AM – #5

I read the article written on your site this morning and wanted to express my disappointment in some of its content and clarify some representations made in this article.

First, it is important to understand the context of the Mode debacle.. yes, it is true that there is an eviction on the premises, but it is not as black and white as that. We leased the property to put a 24 hour restaurant there and paid our rents faithfully. Upon opening and obtaining all of our necessary permits, including our final health permit, we were open for business. While open, we were approached by LA Department of Building and Safety indicating that 1) the building was illegally separated, 2) that our permits were invalid because the address was wrong, 3) that the building did not meet electrical requirements, and 4) that we needed to get our Industrial Waste permit reviewed. At that time, this was simply a "Correction', not a closure. So, to meet the electrical requirements we obtained a generator and hired a contractor/architect to handle what we thought were administrative details at the time. Later, B and G Cookie Company had an inspection of their own in an attempt to open. Their inspector saw our generator and was livid, because 1) it was apparently illegal and 2) a separate set of permits was required for it, including the fire department.

The inspector notified the health department of not only the generator issue, but all of the issues mentioned before. at that time, the health department came down and served a notice of closure indicating that we were fine with them as far as they were concerned, but until we got LADBS clearance we could not open. Our architect then reached out to Russ Ito at LADBS who instructed us that we would have to go through the entire permitting process again, re-inspect previously permitted work, and that new plans would have to be submitted that reflect approved separation of the building and sub-metering. Our architect estimated that this would take 6 months to a year.

Knowing that B and G were in suit with the owner, DOTO Investments, we chose to be amicable about the situation and wrote a letter of rent abatement to DOTO. While he seemed to understand he only allowed rent forbearance, which in effect mean that you could pay it late, but it had to be paid. After four months of paying for corrections, he demanded rent and we flat out refused. He sued us for Unlawful Detainer for nonpayment and we counter-sued.

That suit was settled on the date of trial pending agreement on payment terms and how to proceed with the work that needed to be done. Due to loss of income we expressed that we had a need to open a business to cover for our inactivity. Both parties met in February of this year and agreed that we would proceed with the Mode project after the completion of Mother Road. We would work through the permit process mutually and commence fiduciary obligations in June 2009. If you take a look at the eviction notice you will notice that this is the date that indicated. However, my cousin who was keeping the property indicated to me that one day the Sheriff department arrived and posted the notice and he was asked to leave the property.

As you will find in court documents we are filing, this is a fraudulent tactic by a shady owner who used both tenants to improve his un-permitted, illegally divided property, to gain benefit and ultimately possession. In fact, he has attempted to claim furniture and fixtures inside. While we are most assuredly not going to continue at that address, the context of the circumstances should be clear. this is without question an ongoing issue.

As for Institute for Communication Improvement, I was the Director of The Grant Institute beginning in 2003. From 2003 to 2007 we trained over 30,000 professionals in the United States and abroad in professional development programs. We trained governement agencies, including law enforcement agencies. To date, I am the director of a similar program with a different institution. As you will find from ongoing litigation, this program became a model for other national programs. In fact, former employees and trainers set up identical programs. The issues with the program were not the result of shady practices as you refer to in your article, but beginning in 2007 complaints began to pour in about poor programs, refunds, and cancelled workshops. In the period , we had complaints well under 1%. many of the people who complained post-2007 did not attend our program, but were fooled by copy-cat programs. The Yelp post, which has been removed, was posted by an ex-employee. Our current programs are not associated with the Grant Institute and have not since 2007. I don't know how much more I can tell you about those who are running these programs, putting my information online, and attempting to make connections to me as litigation is pending, but "Don't they also own Mother Road in the Stillwell Hotel?" on your own site after the article seems very deliberate and personal. I am sure one of these copycats who has an address in the same office building in order to look like us is behind it. The intent is clearly to sabotage the ability for Mother Road to makes its own case independent of these issues. I would hope that your publication would not facilitate that.

I am not at the very least embarrassed by the article, nor do I have an issue being public about the circumstances of your article. I have a tremendous respect for journalism (as I have taught it and other Communication studies courses at colleges and universities throughout southern California) and feel it should be clear, thorough, and balanced. There is much about the article you wrote that lacks back-story or even valid sources. Information from anonymous bloggers with an axe to grind is clearly troubling and its disappointing. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. If you want confirmation of the facts I have given you about Mode and our pending issue, please email myself, or you can speak with Richard Daggenshurst at Daggenhurst Law at . he will be more than happy to speak with you about DOTO and our litigation.

Anthony Jones

L.S. on May 20, 2009, at 01:47PM – #6

Thank you Anthony for telling us your side of the story. A splashy headline should be followed by a story that covers all the facts on both sides.

Turner on May 20, 2009, at 01:59PM – #8

Screeeeeech!

nanorich on May 20, 2009, at 03:07PM – #9

This is getting good!

Urban Bruin on May 21, 2009, at 09:49AM – #10

When it opened, I was hopeful that Mode would become a great local destination for downtown night owls. Unfortunately, what I found was an over priced restaurant with horrible ambiance. Really, who wanted to chow down on burgers and fries at 3 a.m. with B-roll tape of skinny skanky models on a runway?

If Mother Lode is from the same owner, I’d say they learned their lesson. ML is a much better concept for the area (price and menu selection), a welcomed addition to the neighborhood.

benjamin on May 21, 2009, at 05:25PM – #11

it looked nice but i blinked too long. it was already closed.

JB on October 22, 2009, at 09:49AM – #12

Mr. Jones is not being truthful. I was one of his trainers and they owe me 8K that I never received. So many negative stories to tell and feel bamboozled by him. If he was as honest as he says he is, then why not pay me. My e-mail is if he cares to be upfront.