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Aviation Boutique Catering LLC — that’s the name of the “phantom catering company” operating out the city-owned property leased to Burger Bob’s. It’s managers, as reflected in state records, are Rita Tennyson and Henry Ayanna.
Not only has the city allowed this entity to operate out of city-owned property without a lease (and without any remittances to the city), but it also allowed the company to operate without a license.
The “side operation” came into full public view a few months ago when the Miami Herald ran not one, but two articles in which it was revealed that Rita Tennyson, long-time employee of Burger Bob’s was also running her catering business out of the restaurant’s kitchen. Reasonable people might assume that the city would “take some action” once it learned that there was a rogue entity operating an unlicensed catering facility out of one of their properties. And the city did act, only the actions taken defy belief. The city extended the breached lease and left the catering business undisturbed.
Rookie Commissioner Kirk Menendez used a technique known as the “pocket item” to propose that the commission extend The Burger Bob’s lease through Dec. 31, 2021. The basis for the extension? Populist, feel-good politics. Its bad governance, and the citizens of Coral Gables deserve better.
And let’s not forget, Burger Bob’s is a “cash only” operation. What kind of sales reporting does the city get? Is there any accountability? If the existence of “Aviation Boutique Catering” is any indication, I’d bet the answer is “no.” If the Biltmore showed up tomorrow and decided they were only going to take cash at the restaurants, is Commissioner Menendez going to bless that too?
The city long has been accused of applying different rules to different individuals and this is a prime example. And what happens if and when someone gets sick (or worse) after ordering food from an unlicensed catering business?
A search of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s licensing database (www.myflordialicense.com) reveals no active catering licenses for either Aviation Boutique LLC, Rita Tennyson, or Henry Ayanna. (There are no records of inactive licenses either.) Worse still is that City of Coral Gables is fully aware of these issues. Why is this allowed? What is the basis for allowing this complete disregard of local and state laws?
We recently reported that the city was finally taking steps to remedy the operational adequacies relating to the administration of city-owned properties. Then we learn about things like this and it’s like taking one step forward and 10 steps backward.
