Director of operations and owner Ryan Fletter looks for a vintage bottle of wine at Barolo Grill in Denver on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Barolo Grill, a Michelin-recommended restaurant in Cherry Creek, and its owner are accused by a downtown landlord of defrauding the federal Paycheck Protection Program by moving money between two corporate entities, a claim that Barolo’s owner steadfastly denies.
“We didn’t mix even a dollar between the two businesses,” said Ryan Fletter, who bought the fine dining Italian restaurant in 2015. “It’s really unsubstantiated allegations. We will attempt to have this thrown out of court for being frivolous and unsubstantiated allegations.”
Barolo Grill, at 3030 E. 6th Ave., has been around for 30-plus years. It was recommended by the Michelin guide in 2023 and won the Colorado Sommelier Award that same year.
Between 2018 and late 2020, Fletter also owned a second restaurant, Chow Morso, in the Saddlery Building at 1500 Wynkoop St., which is owned by Market Street Management.
“When we left in 2021, they said, ‘Who’s going to pay the rent?’ We said, ‘I don’t know, the world’s crushing, we’re under massive distress, we’re leaving the space,’” Fletter recalled. “At that point they suggested we were breaking our lease and they would be coming for the rent.”
Four years later, they are. Market Street sued Fletter, Chow Morso and Barolo at the end of January for $320,000 in back rent. But the property owner went further, accusing that trio of fraudulently transferring money among themselves to avoid paying Market Street.
The lawsuit accuses Fletter of obtaining $626,000 in PPP loans for Chow Morso in 2020 and 2021, including after the restaurant stopped operating, and using that money to pay employees of Barolo and himself. Chow Morso then went defunct, leaving Market Street unpaid.
“Fletter transferred funds and assets from Chow Morso, which was not operating, to Fletter’s restaurant that was operating,” according to the Denver District Court lawsuit.
Fletter was not surprised to see his former restaurant sued for back rent, but was surprised to see the fraud allegations. “It’s very mind-boggling and it’s frustrating for me,” he said.
“It’s all speculation,” the restaurateur claimed. “Allegations with no real documentation.”
Fletter believes the source of the fraud accusations is a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired from Barolo for hotheadedness, he said. The former Chow Morso and Barolo manager is named in the lawsuit as a recipient of some supposedly misappropriated loan money.
“I’ve been priming for four years that they would do this but they actually went quiet for 18 months, did nothing and said nothing, until recently and it’s because of this employee who was terminated last year,” the Barolo owner said of Main Street Management. He speculates that the man may have company “records or assets or things that don’t belong to him.”
A lawyer for Market Street Management, Steven Klenda with Klenda Legal, which is located in the 1600 block of Market Street, declined to discuss the case with BusinessDen.
“They are a very wealthy family, very wealthy company,” Fletter said of Klenda’s client, “and they are coming after the little guy because they don’t like to lose out, I guess?”
Director of operations and owner Ryan Fletter looks for a vintage bottle of wine at Barolo Grill in Denver on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Barolo Grill, a Michelin-recommended restaurant in Cherry Creek, and its owner are accused by a downtown landlord of defrauding the federal Paycheck Protection Program by moving money between two corporate entities, a claim that Barolo’s owner steadfastly denies.
“We didn’t mix even a dollar between the two businesses,” said Ryan Fletter, who bought the fine dining Italian restaurant in 2015. “It’s really unsubstantiated allegations. We will attempt to have this thrown out of court for being frivolous and unsubstantiated allegations.”
Barolo Grill, at 3030 E. 6th Ave., has been around for 30-plus years. It was recommended by the Michelin guide in 2023 and won the Colorado Sommelier Award that same year.
Between 2018 and late 2020, Fletter also owned a second restaurant, Chow Morso, in the Saddlery Building at 1500 Wynkoop St., which is owned by Market Street Management.
“When we left in 2021, they said, ‘Who’s going to pay the rent?’ We said, ‘I don’t know, the world’s crushing, we’re under massive distress, we’re leaving the space,’” Fletter recalled. “At that point they suggested we were breaking our lease and they would be coming for the rent.”
Four years later, they are. Market Street sued Fletter, Chow Morso and Barolo at the end of January for $320,000 in back rent. But the property owner went further, accusing that trio of fraudulently transferring money among themselves to avoid paying Market Street.
The lawsuit accuses Fletter of obtaining $626,000 in PPP loans for Chow Morso in 2020 and 2021, including after the restaurant stopped operating, and using that money to pay employees of Barolo and himself. Chow Morso then went defunct, leaving Market Street unpaid.
“Fletter transferred funds and assets from Chow Morso, which was not operating, to Fletter’s restaurant that was operating,” according to the Denver District Court lawsuit.
Fletter was not surprised to see his former restaurant sued for back rent, but was surprised to see the fraud allegations. “It’s very mind-boggling and it’s frustrating for me,” he said.
“It’s all speculation,” the restaurateur claimed. “Allegations with no real documentation.”
Fletter believes the source of the fraud accusations is a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired from Barolo for hotheadedness, he said. The former Chow Morso and Barolo manager is named in the lawsuit as a recipient of some supposedly misappropriated loan money.
“I’ve been priming for four years that they would do this but they actually went quiet for 18 months, did nothing and said nothing, until recently and it’s because of this employee who was terminated last year,” the Barolo owner said of Main Street Management. He speculates that the man may have company “records or assets or things that don’t belong to him.”
A lawyer for Market Street Management, Steven Klenda with Klenda Legal, which is located in the 1600 block of Market Street, declined to discuss the case with BusinessDen.
“They are a very wealthy family, very wealthy company,” Fletter said of Klenda’s client, “and they are coming after the little guy because they don’t like to lose out, I guess?”
