By:Doug Miller
What it won't offer is Ted.
Milan claims he was forced out of the partnership of the new Milan's, and is suing to either recoup part ownership or to prevent this business from bearing his name.
In papers filed in Nassau County Supreme Court Jan. 12, Milan said that the restaurant's owners, Pre Khanija of Old Bethpage and Sunder Luthra of Hicksville, brought him on board with promises of a partnership they never intended to honor so they could use his good name to attract customers.
The attorney for the new owners, Manhattan-based Gerald Kadish, said last week that the partnership never existed because no one could agree on terms, and that no contracts were ever signed. He added that Milan doesn't own the name of the restaurant any more than he owns the name of the city in Italy, and that Milan was paid a consulting fee for the three weeks he worked with the restaurant before it opened. Milan said he was never paid, and that he put in "two months of 16-hour days" before the business relationship soured. "I'm dealing with gentlemen who honestly feel they are above the law," he added.
Milan announced that he was purchasing the former TKOPS last November, with the idea of having a grand opening around the holidays. When none materialized, there was some buzz as to why. Milan said that, like every previous restaurant he had owned in Long Beach, he had put everything he could into this one. "I'm a vision type of guy," he said. "People know when they come to my restaurant that I am a perfectionist, that the linens will be spotless and creased, that the three pieces of asparagus will face in the same direction. And the public knows that, and that's why they wanted my name on the door."
There is no denying that Milan is a known quantity in Long Beach, as much a schmoozer as a restaurateur. Just in the last 10 years, his Ted Milan's New American Grill, at 36 E. Park Ave., was such a hit that it kept his name long after he had sold it.
Khanija and Luthra wanted Milan to be the public face of the restaurant because, he alleged, they did not believe Long Beach would support a restaurant owned and operated by men of Middle Eastern descent. "I'll take sodium pentothal," Milan said. "They said, 'We're afraid of it surfacing who we are in Long Beach.'"
A former producer of films and commercials, Milan enjoys telling stories about famous people that include him as a main character. He will pull out his Directors' Guild card at the slightest prompting, and volunteers that this year he will be voting for Jamie Foxx for the best actor Oscar for the film "Ray."
Sitting in the office of his attorney, Garden City-based Thomas Liotti, Milan said he had an oral agreement with Khanija and Luthra to establish a partnership in which they put up the money and he provided his name, his experience and sweat equity. He wanted 50 percent of the profits and a salary, they offered 20, but work on the place commenced without anything being signed. He said he continued to work in good faith, but that Khanija and Luthra never intended to sign anything, charges Kadish denied.
"Milan was somebody they were talking to about being partners with," Kadish said. "But they never agreed on the terms. And trust me, they have no desire to trade on his name."
Perhaps to twist the knife just a little, Kadish said that business has improved since a court-ordered sign was placed in the window announcing that Milan was no longer affiliated with the establishment.
The two sides were in court Jan. 21 hoping to at least resolve the name issue, but the case was held over for trial in February. Milan is suing for $1 million and to have his name taken off the door or, failing that, to get back into the partnership. He said he is willing to still be a part of the team if the other side will have him.
"What it comes down to is I'm the one who will fill this restaurant," Milan said. "I'm the one who made this baby. Why wouldn't you want it healthy?"
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
