Food News
Pier 50, LLC, which owns Committee, is suing Demetri Tsolakis, the restaurant’s former general manager and current CEO of Xenia Greek Hospitality.
Baba Ganoush, Salt-roasted Beets, and Grape Leaf Dolmades are served with Pita Bread at Committee Kayana Szymczak for the Boston Globe
A restaurant group behind Committee in the Seaport has filed a lawsuit against the eatery’s former general manager, alleging that he used more than $1 million in corporate funds for personal expenses and to pay for his competing restaurants.
The lawsuit, filed in March in Suffolk County Superior Court, named Demetri Tsolakis — the CEO of Xenia Greek Hospitality, which includes restaurants Krasi, Bar Vlaha, Kaia, and others — as the defendant. The suit said Tsolakis was hired as Committee’s general manager in May 2014, about a year before the Mediterranean restaurant opened to the public in June 2015, and held that position until May 2023.
Tsolakis worked with George Aboujaoude, the owner of Committee, as well as Eva and Tacos El Chikis, who previously ran the Bijou nightclub.
According to the complaint, Pier 50, LLC alleges that over the course Tsolakis’ 10 years of employment, he diverted funds to his businesses through a range of schemes, including taking cash from restaurant receipts and “petty cash” funds. As general manager, the lawsuit said, Tsolakis had broad access to the restaurant’s safe, checking accounts, credit cards.
But Tsolakis’ attorneys are skeptical of the timeline and scope of his authority. A lawyer from Lawson & Weitzen told Boston.com that Tsolakis served as Committee’s general manager only until 2017, the same year his client opened his first Greco location in Back Bay, and did not maintain the level of financial control alleged in the suit.
From 2017 to 2020, the attorney said, Tsolakis transitioned to Committee’s director of operations. After that, he worked only as a consultant and no longer managed finances.
Even during his earlier tenure, the attorney said, Tsolakis didn’t have independent authority over spending. Invoices and purchases for the restaurant would likely have required approval by an accountant for the “majority of the time frame” in the lawsuit.
“[Tsolakis] didn’t have unilateral check-writing abilities or anything of that nature,” his attorney said.
But the lawsuit details multiple instances in which Tsolakis allegedly used corporate funds to support his own restaurants. In one example, the lawsuit claims he directed a cleaning company hired by Committee to also provide “identical services” to his other restaurants — then told the vendor the businesses were “commonly owned,” resulting in roughly $150,000 in charges billed to Committee.
From left, Demetri Tsolakis and Stefanos Ougrinis, owners of Greco on Newbury Street. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
The lawsuit accused Tsolakis of misrepresenting restaurant ownership in order to divert payments for other services. Pier 50, LLC estimated that $300,000 was used for printing, $250,000 was used for floral arrangements, and $180,000 for plateware.
Tsolakis allegedly used Committee’s debit card and checkbook to pay for interior decorations and printing jobs for his restaurants, which the lawsuit repeatedly described as competitive eateries. Pier 50, LLC, also accused Tsolakis of taking money from Committee’s tip pool to pay employees at his other restaurants.
Outside of business expenses, the lawsuit claimed that Tsolakis also wrote checks to fund renovations and repairs at his home.
The defendant’s attorney said Tsolakis relied on his own investors to fund his several restaurants (the lawyer noted that Aboujaoude may have been an early small investor in Tsolakis’ fast-casual Greco, and Aboujaoude’s LinkedIn profile even suggests he is or was associated with the restaurant). The attorney also argued that it’s not uncommon in the restaurant industry for there to be overlapping parties and vendors associated with the restaurants.
In fact, Tsolakis’ restaurants use some of the same vendors that Committee uses, the attorney said, pointing to a premium wax paper used at Greco to wrap its gyros that’s also used at Committee. In the lawsuit, Pier 50, LLC accused Tsolakis of using $100,000 in restaurant funds to purchase this wax paper and other goods from a Maine-based branding company.
Committee’s owners began investigating the alleged fraudulent activity in 2023. The plaintiff is seeking more than $1 million in damages, according to the complaint.
Katelyn Umholtz
Katelyn Umholtz covers food and restaurants for Boston.com. Katelyn is also the author of The Dish, a weekly food newsletter.
Sign up for The Dish
Stay up to date on the latest food and drink news from Boston.com.
