When Susan Valiant heard the news of Bitwise Industries’ financial difficulties, new wounds opened up.
In the mid-2010s, she ran a popular downtown Fresno restaurant, Mabel’s Kitchen. After settling into the old downtown club location on Kern Street, she was persuaded to move into a swanky new building by hip new company Bitwise.
The business partnership was not going well, she told GV Wire.
“Everyone started calling me when[the news of the recent issues at Bitwise]broke and I don’t think I want to hear about it. Why? “It was traumatic for me,” said Valiant, who at times struggled to keep his composure.
Mabel’s Kitchen served an engaged and happy lunchtime crowd, serving panini sandwiches. Valiant made everything from scratch.
“We had a lot of people exiting the courthouse. And I just loved this place,” Valiant said.
Jake Soberal was one of the customers. Bitwise’s then co-CEO convinced Valiant to move their restaurant to its soon-to-be-opened South Stadium building just a few blocks away. She agreed.
She said she should never have moved. Instead of staying closed for a month, it took a year for her to reopen her shop. And Bitwise never really did well.
Bitwise representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Mabel DeMorales and Susan Valiant. (Specifically for GV Wire)
Get the Run Around the Rosy
Valiant founded Mabel’s Kitchen – named after her grandmother Mabel DeMorales – on Stanislaus Street in 2013. Shortly thereafter, the company moved to the Kern Street location.
Soberal recruited her to South Stadium.
“He told me, ‘Hey, it’s going to be great.’ You know, we’re going to have classes for kids and every day about 1,500 kids are going in and out of the building, the occupancy is 300, you know, and I sort of explained that I didn’t have the money for it. And he said we’d do the build-out, you know, and basically he’d give me a turnkey kitchen,” Valiant said.
Valiant was won over by the prospect of a fully equipped kitchen with an extractor hood. The expansion would take a year, she said. She closed her Kern Street restaurant about a month before the new location was ready. Bitwise helped her move and store her equipment in the new building.
Weeks later, Bitwise told Valiant that construction was behind schedule and the opening had been pushed back to February 2016.
“I assumed in good faith they would have it done… it was like dirt in there. In fact, when they opened, half of the building wasn’t finished. And that was in October (2015),” Valiant said.
Bitwise paid her $3,000 a month to secure her life. Valiant said Bitwise offered her some catering jobs – difficult because she didn’t have a kitchen to work in and her equipment was in storage.
“I was probably losing at least $5,000 to $8,000 a month in sales,” Valiant said.
Valiant said Bitwise “came ahead” when she asked when the restaurant would be ready.
“I’m just trying to let it go because you get so stressed about things and the restaurant business is so stressful anyway,” Valiant said.
It finally opened in September 2016, a year later than expected.
After opening, the problems persisted
Valiant said the kitchen was having electrical and plumbing issues.
“It was embarrassing. My customers were like, ‘Why do the lights keep flickering in here?'” Valiant said.
“If the power goes out, you know, then I can’t cook and then I can’t make any money … it was like a war with them because it was really happening almost daily and they just ignored it,” she said.
The power went out shortly before it opened in September 2016, Valiant said. Your food was spoiled.
Problems with disputes between builders
South Stadium’s landlord, Baltara Enterprises LP, disputed Valiants’ bill, saying it was their equipment that caused problems.
“The 700 Van Ness office building was constructed with a small coffee shop area on the first floor, with the intention of attracting a coffee vendor and tenants for sandwich-style lunches. The electrical requirements and limitations of the café space were clearly spelled out in Mabel’s lease. Unfortunately, the specialty kitchen equipment that Mabel brought far exceeded the electrical service that was available for the cafe building premises. After Mabel’s departure, the space has been continuously rented out and run by sandwich-style operators and there have been no further problems with the electrical system,” a company spokesman told GV Wire.
Baltara confirmed that it has sent Mabel’s Kitchen a three day notice requesting action (repair) or termination regarding the power supply. The notice included a section from the lease that prohibited “unusual consumption of utilities such as 240V power.”
Mabel moves out
Valiant accepted the difficulties of growth and made some money. In March 2017, some Bitwise employees based at South Stadium moved to a different building.
“My sales went down about $4,000 a month,” she said. “You didn’t tell anyone.”
The lease had a term of two years with an option for one year. Valiant said she paid $1,500 a month. She said Bitwise would not honor the option year.
“I said, well, I’m sorry. Since I couldn’t find another place, I’ll stay here for another year. And[Soberal]said he was going to go through the lease and basically try to get me out of there,” Valiant said.
She received several three-day terminations that were not enforced. She also said she was charged for things she hadn’t previously paid for, such as cleaning and parking fees.
“It’s still mentally draining,” Valiant said.
Valiant said Bitwise would then introduce food trucks, which would hurt business. The staff even used their tables to eat. They allegedly removed televisions and rearranged seating in the restaurant.
Valiant felt helpless.
“I didn’t have money for a lawyer,” she said. “(Soberal) told me sue me, I’m a lawyer. And I’m like, hey, I wish I could.”
Valiant said she felt bullied and harassed.
No regret
Despite the bitter experience, Valiant said she has no regrets.
“You learn from your mistakes, you know, that’s life. It’s not all easy. There’s turbulence in life,” Valiant said.
After moving out of South Stadium, Mabel’s Kitchen opened at Jack’s Car Wash on Herndon Avenue and West Avenue. She moved in nine days before the 2020 COVID shutdown. When lockdowns eased, she tried to open but never managed to make a move.
It has been closed since 2022 but hopes to open in a new location in north Fresno soon.
“I found something in my life that brought me joy. And I’m so glad I get to do it. I just wish I could get a break,” Valiant said.
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