Raleigh City Council’s excessively wasteful pursuit of a white-tablecloth restaurant — that is, a white-tablecloth restaurant on Fayetteville Street, dagnabbit, not where risk-taking entrepreneurs paying attention to market trends chose to locate theirs — failed with The Mint, but did not end there.

If anything, the city politicians’ bumbling restaurateuring appears to be getting sillier with their new tenant, Bolt, while at the same time looking more and more unnecessary even according to its foundational purpose. Raleigh, after all, is becoming a diner’s paradise with a wealth of options.

First: for background on Raleigh’s failed “experiment” with The Mint, see the work of my friend and retired colleague Michael Sanera.

Now: Here is where things stand with Bolt. The News & Observer reported on June 3:

Bolt pays $18.89 per square foot each month – less than the $21.65 per square foot rate The Mint paid before it closed. Average commercial rental rates in downtown Raleigh are in the mid-$20s per square foot, according to Moss Withers, a broker with NAI Carolantic Realty. …

In 2012, after The Mint closed, Raleigh signed Bolt to a 10-year lease and required the new tenant to serve more affordable food, including bistro-style options and tapas. …

David Sadeghi, Bolt’s co-owner, recently made the city an extension offer. Sadeghi says he will pay for $100,000 in building renovations if Raleigh extends his lease to 2032, waives nine to 12 months of rent payments and allows Bolt to have greater menu flexibility, according to a May 20 memo published by City Manager Ruffin Hall.

Bolt pays about $14,500 a month for its 9,193-square-foot space.

Sadeghi, who is on vacation out of the country, said in an email that he hopes to change the appearance of Bolt’s outer walls but declined to comment further on other renovation or menu ideas.

Amir Sadeghi, David’s son and owner of Cold off the Press juice bar next to Bolt, said his father wants to install larger, retractable windows that would allow people to see in and out of the restaurant. The goal is to attract more customers now that Raleigh recently remodeled Exchange Plaza, which Bolt faces.

Today, the Raleigh Public Record reports:

… it does appear as if the Bolt restaurant, located in the City-owned One Exchange Plaza building downtown, may be changing up its menu. Per the agenda for yesterday’s Council meeting, here are some of the proposed changes.

  • Alter the lease to allow flexibility in the menu. The current lease specifies certain menu items; the tenant wishes to pursue a different restaurant concept with a new menu and new restaurant name.
  • Installation of improvements including new windows to the restaurant, improvement of the bar area, and addition of new equipment including ovens and furniture. Cost of improvements would be paid for by the tenant, subject to City approval and will remain with the premises at the conclusion of the lease.
  • Reduction in the amount of leased space to encompass just the restaurant, removing from the lease terms the office and juice bar areas. For the purpose of the lease amendment, the small basement area currently utilized by the tenant would be treated as zero rent space. Tenant would still be responsible for the grease trap and other restaurant equipment located in the basement area.”

A reminder (from the N&O’s article) of what this means beyond mere government foolishness. Government getting mixed up in private enterprise is fraught with cronyism and negative unintended consequences, even against the very groups it wants to help:

“Government should not be landlords to private, small businesses,” said Ron Hines, co-owner of Cafe Carolina and Bakery, which has a location a block away from Bolt in the Wells Fargo building.

“It could give (the city’s tenant) an economically unfair advantage if they’re giving lower lease rates than everyone else,” Hines said, adding that he doesn’t begrudge Bolt for contracting with the city. “If you can get that deal, good for you. You’re lucky.”