Louise’s Trattoria Files for Ch. 11, Gets Infusion

Louise’s Trattoria Inc., a well-regarded Italian restaurant chain whose expansion has caused financial problems, will reorganize under U.S. Bankruptcy Court protection, according to company executives who presented portions of the plan to creditors Friday.

Creditors informed of the plan supported the reorganization, Chief Financial Officer Allan Sargent said. However, several creditors have yet to be informed, he said.

Under the Chapter 11 reorganization plan, Torrance-based Louise’s will get a $4.5-million cash infusion from Jon Chait, managing director of Manpower Inc., a Milwaukee-based temporary services firm, and the brother of company President Bill Chait. Jon Chait will also become chairman of Louise’s, which has 15 restaurants in Southern California and one in Milwaukee.

Jon Chait, who holds the No. 2 position at Manpower and is based in Brussels, will obtain 70% of the company in exchange for his investment. He will also loan Louise’s $2 million under the reorganization plan, which must be approved by a Bankruptcy Court judge.

Louise’s ran into trouble after Bill Chait, who acquired what was then called Louise’s Italian Kitchen of Santa Monica in 1985 and expanded it locally, engineered an East Coast expansion.

That expansion and other expenses led Louise’s to incur about $14.5 million in unsecured debt, according to Bill Chait. That sum is to be repaid in the course of the reorganization.

Under the terms of the plan, Bill Chait will remain on the board of directors but will be replaced as president by Fred LeFranc, former chief operating officer of Palo Alto-based Una Mas, a restaurant chain.

Louise’s restaurants in Philadelphia and Bethesda, Md., were closed in 1995. The Washington, D.C., restaurant was closed in 1996.

“Our goal is to get in and out of Chapter 11 quickly,” Bill Chait said in a statement. “The investment by Jon will enable us to do that.”