By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
A group of mainly local investors, including employees of Brew Moon, have submitted a bid to buy the Honolulu restaurant and microbrewery out of bankruptcy.
Restaurant general manager Shawn Rubert said he, brewmaster Brennan Fielding and a couple of other investors have submitted a roughly $500,000 offer to the court that could close April 15 if confirmed by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Massachussetts.
Brew Moon opened at Ward Centre in 1998 after local entrepreneur Laurie Foster convinced Boston-based franchiser Brew Moon Enterprises Inc. to allow her to establish a franchise here. Foster found investors, raised $3 million and made the restaurant profitable, Rubert said.
But Brew Moon Enterprises, which had anticipated making a public stock offering last year, ran short of cash. It filed for Chapter 11 protection late last year. Microbrewery operator Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc. offered to buy Brew Moon’s four East Coast operations, but didn’t want the Hawai‘i operation.
Rubert had been with Brew Moon in Philadelphia. He said he came to Hawai‘i two years ago because he was the only single employee without kids.
"Maybe I’ll end up with a restaurant out of the deal and get an extended stay," he said.
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