The Daily Dirt: A restaurant lease and a stroke of bad luck

A restaurateur signs a 15-year lease, then has a debilitating stroke. What happens next plays out in two very different versions, depending on who’s telling the story. When Keith McNally suffered a major stroke in 2016, the famed restaurateur behind Pastis, Balthazar and Minetta Tavern feared his career and his body had collapsed for good. To make matters worse, the man who once ruled New York’s dining scene suddenly found himself trapped in a business deal he could no longer execute. He’d leased a Meatpacking District space to reopen his iconic restaurant Pastis, backed by a $1 million personal guarantee. […] This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.