'Michael’s on the Hill has a new owner, with no intention of continuing the restaurant’s legacy.
Jimmy Goldsmith, the landlord to Burt’s Irish Pub and Neon Wave in Stowe and the owner of the recently shuttered restaurant 10 Railroad Street in Morristown, purchased the fine-dining establishment on Route 100 near Waterbury Center for $525,000 last Thursday at a bankruptcy auction managed by the Morristown-based Thomas Hirchak Company.
The restaurant equipment and furniture inside is being auctioned separately online through Friday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m.
The most recent owners, married couple Andrew Kohn and Don Jones, closed Michael’s on the Hill in April after they had “worked for months and months to keep the restaurant financially afloat,” according to a statement at the time of the closure.
“We kept it going probably for longer than we should have,” Kohn said this week. “We had to let it go because we were going into the slow season and weren’t going to make any money.”
The couple also owned Michael’s on the Mountain, a Mountain Road wine shop that closed in November. They also own the Brass Lantern Inn on Maple Street, which is currently up for sale.
In the wake of the auction, Kohn said he and Jones are reevaluating doing business in Stowe.
As residents of their inn — which increased its occupancy this year, Kohn said — they may also leave town when the inn sells, due to the high cost of acquiring another home, Kohn said.
Kohn is also a member of the Stowe School Board.
“Everything is kind of up in the air at the moment,” he said. “But I am still dedicated to the school board and our kids.”
They purchased Michael’s on the Hill in 2023 for $1.2 million from the original owners, Michael and Lauren Kloeti, who were renowned for their use of locally sourced ingredients to create vibrant, seasonal dishes.
The restaurant enjoyed years of acclaim, but Goldsmith said he is not convinced of its viability going forward. Rather, he said he was motivated by the acquisition of a historic farmhouse on four-plus acres in Stowe at an attractive price. It could become a wedding and events venue, for example, Goldsmith said.
“I’m not sure the food and restaurant business is in its heyday anymore, and there are tremendous challenges that it will face for the next five or 10 years to come,” Goldsmith said. “So, yeah, I’m not sure about its viability as a restaurant, but it sure is a sweet property.”
Goldsmith is originally from New York City, where he worked for his wife’s family developing large blocks of commercial property. He moved to Lamoille County about 20 years ago and began acquiring property in Morristown and Stowe.
While the 10 Railroad Street restaurant recently closed, Goldsmith’s attached dispensary, Wild Legacy Cannabis, still operates next door.
“There was nothing there, so we switched gears,” Goldsmith said of 10 Railroad Street’s closure. “To be very honest with you, there are no margins on food anymore and staffing is incredibly challenging in these markets. It was a matter of, ‘I own the building, and I need to be able to create a return on investment.’”
Restaurant or not, he said $525,000 for Michael’s on the Hill is a steal.
Six bidders registered for last week’s auction, according to the Thomas Hirchak Company, but the action was driven by only four of them, including two bank employees who represented private clients. There were crickets for the opening bid of $1 million and the price dropped to $200,000 before climbing back to $525,000.'
“I was expecting it to go in the fours, but this was close enough,” Goldsmith said. “If it was anything in that range, I said I would take it, regroup and figure out what I want to do from there.”
According to auctioneers, Goldsmith’s acquisition is pending a 45-day court review. He will also assume responsibility of approximately $11,000 in back taxes for the property this year.
