17 Dec 2020
French Laundry, an upscale restaurant in Napa, California, where Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom was caught violating his own coronavirus lockdown rules, got more than $2.4 million in loans from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.
The loans were reportedly used to retain the restaurant’s 160 employees.
The SFist website reported on SBA’s release of data on the program, created when Congress passed the Cares Act in the Spring:
ABC 7 reports that Thomas Keller’s flagship restaurant in Yountville had two loan approved on April 30, one for $2.2 million to retain 163 employees, and another for around $200,000 to retain five other employees. That amounts to about 17 times more federal money that the average Bay Are restaurant received and it’s another example of a larger, wealthier business reaping stimulus benefits that many smaller businesses didn’t have access to.
French Laundry Received $2.4M in PPP Loans, 17 Times What Most Bay Area Restaurants Got
In another revelation from recently released data on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) from the Small Business Administration, the French Laundry received $2.4 million in two separate loans last spring, ostensibly to retain over 160 employees.
ABC 7 reports that Thomas Keller s flagship restaurant in Yountville had two loan approved on April 30, one for $2.2 million to retain 163 employees, and another for around $200,000 to retain five other employees. That amounts to about 17 times more federal money that the average Bay Are restaurant received and it s another example of a larger, wealthier business reaping stimulus benefits that many smaller businesses didn t have access to.