The "Top Chef" contestant is in bankruptcy court.
T.D. Bistro Inc., which owned the now-shuttered bistro and T.D. Lounge, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a development the Baltimore Business Journal first reported. Dean is president of T.D. Bistro Inc.
I just reached Dean by phone, but he declined to comment, except to say that the BBJ had "covered it." He told that paper that the recession and winter weather had done him in. "The snowstorm really buried us," he said.
Dean also told the BBJ that the filing would have no impact on Prime Steakhouse, the restaurant he opened in the same Eastern Avenue location in late February, not too long after those whopper snowstorms, come to think of it.
T.D. Bistro first filed for bankruptcy a year earlier, on May 1, 2009, listing both assets and liabilities in the same $50,001 to $100,000 range. But that case was dismissed in June for failure to complete required filings, according to court records.
The new bankruptcy filing lists assets of $0 to $50,000 and liabilities between $100,001 and $500,000. The list of creditors holding the 20 largest unsecured claims starts with Dean himself.
It says MTD Realty LLC is owed $50,000. Dean's bankruptcy attorney, Stephen Prevas, confirmed that Dean controls that LLC, whose address, 1717 Eastern Ave., is the same location as Dean's restaurant and lounge ventures.
Other creditors listed are the state comptroller (owed $41,036), M&T Bank ($29,094), Jessup seafood purveyor E. Goodwin and Sons ($13,000), The Country Vinters ($11,065), BGE ($7,786), Department of Labor ($7,559), Fells Point Wholesale Meats ($5,500), Arlene S. Cristmon ($4,000), Congressional Seafood Company ($3,937), International Gourmet Foods ($2,200), American Express ($1,991), Waste Management ($1,983), Rose Bud Entertainment ($1,775), Byron Del Cid ($1,500), Martin Seafood Company ($1,500), City of Baltimore water department ($1,365), American Express, again ($1,212), Verizon ($1,069) and Silver Spoon Ltd. ($950).
Bravo photo