Scotto Brothers to close Chateau Briand, lay off 112

Chateau Briand, a Long Island catering venue acquired by Scotto Brothers Inc. 44 years ago, will close at year's end and lay off all 112 employees, according to a government filing.

The 16,000-square-foot Carle Place catering hall, which has hosted baby showers, Sweet 16 parties, bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings for decades, is part of the Scottos' sprawling Long Island catering and restaurant holdings.

The filing listed the property's ownership as D.V.V.A. Carle Place Restaurant LLC and Victor Scotto as general manager. The reason for closing was described as "economic."

 Chateau Briand patrons and guests, recalling landmark events at the venue, lamented the closing in Facebook posts. One commenter, who was married at the catering hall, said she "always imagined having an anniversary party there...RIP Chateau Briand." 

Catering halls have come under pressure in recent years by a decline in the marriage rate, lower spending on corporate trade shows and conferences and the COVID-19 outbreak, though many such businesses have qualified for pandemic relief from the government.

Chateau Briand, for example, received two Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020-21, totaling $1.8 million. Overall, businesses owned by the Scotto family received at least $21.8 million from pandemic aid programs, according to data reviewed by Newsday.

Scotto Brothers properties include the Fox Hollow catering, restaurant and hotel in Woodbury. Anthony Scotto, one of the Scotto brothers, has opened high-end restaurants under the Anthony Scotto Restaurants brand, including Insignia in Smithtown, Rare650 in Syosset, Opus Steakhouse in Jericho and Bijou, One10 and Blackstone Steakhouse in Melville.

Telephone calls seeking comment to Chateau Briand, Anthony Scotto and the Scotto Brothers' corporate office were not immediately returned.

It was unclear whether the closing would affect any  events scheduled for 2023.

The Scottos began building their restaurant enterprise in 1967, when Anthony Scotto and his brothers opened Scotto's Pizzeria in Port Washington, according to the website of Anthony Scotto Restaurants.

Chateau Briand, "then a small catering facility," was the first expansion by the enterprising clan.

A July report by IBIS World forecast that revenue for the highly fragmented U.S. catering industry would rebound to $10.6 billion in 2022 from 2021's $9.5 billion. That mark, however, still would be far below the pre-pandemic level of $14.4 billion in 2019.

One demographic trend working against catering halls is a declining marriage rate. For example, in pre-pandemic 2019, there were  7.2 marriages per 1,000 population in New York State versus 8.6 in 1990, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Another market for Chateau Briand — corporate and professional events — also has faced headwinds. The IBIS World report cited a 1.4% annual decline in spending on business trade shows and conferences from 2017 to 2022.

A search for recent Facebook posts mentioning Chateau Briand was dominated by photos of glitzy weddings, but also included a Sweet 16 party (with atmospheric smoke), a 100th birthday party, a charity poker tournament and a United States Tennis Association awards event.

In a diversification from the hospitality business, Anthony Scotto has proposed building a $120 million, 176-unit apartment complex and marina on a seven-acre parcel he owns on West Shore Road in Port Washington.

In return for the two federally guaranteed Paycheck Protection Program loans for $1.8 million it received from HSBC in 2020-21, Chateau Briand pledged to maintain 145 jobs in the short term. Both loans were forgiven, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which oversees the program.

An SBA official said on Tuesday that the PPP employment requirement no longer applies. "There are no general long-term employee retention requirements associated with PPP loans," said agency spokeswoman Kelly J. LoTempio.

The Scotto family received at least eight additional PPP loans, totaling $5 million. All were forgiven, the data obtained by Newsday under the Freedom of Information Act show.

The loans were eligible for 100% forgiveness if at least 60% of the funding was used for payroll and no layoffs occurred during an eight- to 24-week period for each loan.

Beside PPP loans, the Scotto family received three Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants, totaling $15 million. The family was among those receiving the most on Long Island from the RRF, which only helped 12% of the Island’s bars, restaurants and catering halls, Newsday has found.

The RRF data doesn’t indicate which Scotto properties benefited from the grant money.

Together, Scotto-owned businesses won at least $21.8 million from the two federal COVID-19 aid initiatives. 

With James T. Madore