Restaurateur Matt Prentice says an improving Michigan economy and new business opportunities a year after he filed for personal bankruptcy are allowing him to open four new restaurants and hire 300 workers.
Besides the previously announced Gastronomy restaurant at 1 Towne Square in Southfield, the newcomers will be a resurrection of Prentice's former Morels, set to open in Farmington Hills; a variation of his Deli Unique brand, located in Milford, and a kosher restaurant suitable for special occasions and business dining in the Huntington Woods-Berkley-Royal Oak area, he said Monday.
Gastronomy, which will open this spring in the former Morton's steakhouse space, will need 50 employees. Prentice also needs 50 more employees for his catering operation at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills. The Morels project will require 100 new employees; 50 more will be needed at Deli Unique and 50 will be hired for the kosher restaurant.
Prentice started catering for Adat Shalom in November, and "catering there is off the hook because the Michigan economy is starting to come around," he said.
The new Morels should open by late March on Northwestern Highway, south of 14 Mile. The original Morels, which was in Bingham Farms and featured a Michigan-themed menu, closed in 2006.
Prentice said he is looking at sites this week for the kosher restaurant -- a bistro that will serve lunch and dinner.
He wouldn't say where the new Deli Unique in Milford will open because he and the owner only have a verbal agreement.
"It's nice to be adding jobs instead of getting rid of them," he said, referring to past closings.
His chief investor, attorney Stanley Dickson Jr., took over Prentice's company in October 2009 for financial reasons. It became Trowbridge Restaurant Group for a time, but the venues are again being marketed as the Matt Prentice Restaurant Group, with Prentice as CEO.
Prentice declared personal bankruptcy in January 2011. "That scared a lot of the business community away ... but as soon as we announced Gastronomy, the phones started to ring," he said.
It signaled that his personal bankruptcy had not affected his businesses, he said. "People realized we were fine. ... In fact, things have never been better than they are right now, and we're anxious to capitalize on it."
Contact Sylvia Rector: 313-222-5026
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