OCTOBER 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2015, 9:56 AM
BY ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT CRITIC |
THE RECORD
Janice Tinari, a longtime stay-at-home mom who turned her devotion to the Betty Crocker cookbook into a culinary career, has spent the last 14 years building a Ho-Ho-Kus neighborhood spot known for its breakfast tacos, moist short ribs, creamy risotto and striking flourless chocolate cake.
Just Janice defied many of the odds of the notoriously risky restaurant business: It managed to remain popular and in business for many years as a small, non-chain, family-run bistro with no liquor license.
Then in the early-morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 2, a driver careened through the front of the restaurant, breaking the front windows, causing structural damage and destroying outdoor furniture and some indoor tables. The 55-seat restaurant was closed at the time and no one was seriously injured.
More than two months later, the once-lively dining room still sits empty and dusty as Tinari struggles with insurance companies that, she says, paid her less than she needs to reopen. The 60-something owner had been counting on one day selling the restaurant to fund her retirement. Now she’s just hoping she can keep it in business.
“At my age, I’m scared to death. If this doesn’t work out, after this, what do I do?” she said.
Tinari’s situation illustrates the risks of running a small business in an industry with thin profit margins: She and her son and manager, David, say they made less than 10 percent profit (the National Restaurant Association says the national average is 3 to 6 percent). Tinari adds that she had been living paycheck to paycheck since getting divorced in 2013 and buying out her ex-husband and partner, John.
