… There is a place right next to them that sells empañadas and they don’t serve liquor. You don’t need liquor if you are a good restaurant to stay in business.â€
“I am not racist,†he continued. “[Patrick-Odeen] is from Barbados. She’s a British subject. She’s not African American. She didn’t suffer Jim Crow, Reconstruction, lynching. … For her to exploit the true sufferings of African Americans is disgraceful.â€
In response to his interview, Sweeney says, “I give good quote. You don’t get notoriety or publicity if you say bland things.†He characterizes his comments as “snarky†and says he “was exasperated†at the end of the interview with the Voice.
Lola has never offered chitterlings on its Southern-inspired menu. But it did provide a strong 19-year reputation and an Âupscale, loyal following from its previous location in a neighboring section of Manhattan known as Chelsea. The Âattraction, aside from the fare and a full bar, was the Sunday gospel brunch as well as live jazz and classic R&B during the week.
A Storied History
The restaurant experienced financial woes after the 1988 death of its original owner, Eugene Fracchia, who left 90% to his boyfriend, William Manning, and 10% to close friend Yvonne Bell. According to Tom, in the early 1990s, Manning sought his advice. Tom, a native Swede, who comes from a family of restaurateurs, moved to the States when he was 17 and worked in restaurant management. Problems arose, says Tom, because the new owners were at odds. “It was a viable business,†he says. “There were two owners that just did not get along and were drawing huge salaries. Eventually it became clear that, financially, the business could not support the two of them.†He says he recommended they file for bankruptcy, which they did in 1991.
“I came in with a competing plan [and] was awarded all of the shares of the restaurant by the court,†Tom says. He and the restaurant’s then-chef, Lynne Aronson, ran the business as partners until 2000, when Tom became sole owner.
At that time, Gayle Patrick-Odeen had been working for Chase Manhattan Bank for nearly 20 years. She’d met Tom in 1995 and eventually became a fixture at the restaurant, helping the staff in the evening. After 9-11 she retired, and joined Tom full time in 2002.
By 2003 the business was turning a profit, but faced with a rent increase from $14,900 a month to close to $30,000, the couple opted not to renew its lease. In September 2004 they signed a lease through September 2015 further south in Manhattan in a trendy neighborhood. The property was an empty, ground-floor space that had been vacant for three years in SoHo.
At the same time, Patrick-Odeen invited two investors aboard, became the majority owner, and added “Lola†to her given name, Gayle (she changed it legally earlier this year). “She was the personification of everything that Lola embodied,†her husband says.
She was given six months free rent to turn the new space with a stage and multilevel seating