Chicago giant prompts renaming of local eatery

By Matt Neznanski


Gazette-Times reporter

After just six months doing business as Wildfire, restaurant owners Stephen and Intaba Liff-Anderson this week are unveiling the third name for their Southtown eatery in five years: FireWorks.

But this time, the change is not of their accord.

“We got a letter from a company called Lettuce Entertain You telling us to cease and desist,” Stephen Liff-Anderson said.

The pair opened Intaba’s Kitchen in 2002, but found that people struggled with pronunciation of the restaurant’s name. The Liff-Andersons decided to change the name to something suggestive of the restaurant’s wood-fired earthen oven, which they call Maya. Stephen said he liked the name Wildfire, checked the state registry and filed his paperwork.

In March, the duo unveiled a new $20,000 neon sign and Web site featuring the Wildfire name.

Then came the letters from Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., a Chicago-based restaurant company that operates more than 70 restaurants. As it turns out, the company — run by Richard Melman, known in some circles as the Steven Spielberg of the restaurant industry — legally owns the rights to the name “Wildfire.”

Under the Lettuce banner, Wildfire is a chain of 1940s-themed dinner clubs with five Illinois locations, one in Eden Prairie, Minn., and a new location in Atlanta.

“We have the national trademark rights for the name ‘Wildfire,’” said Jay Stieber, executive vice president and general counsel for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. “As such, we have an obligation to protect those trademarks to protect our rights or they will be diluted. We’re not out to hurt anybody.”

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises presides over chains of eateries that do Italian, Chinese, French, American steakhouse and seafood fare primarily in the Chicago area, but also in Minnesota, Las Vegas, Arizona and Maryland. In 2005, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises brought in more than $300 million.

Locally, the Liff-Andersons serve organic dishes and feature locally gathered ingredients when available. The restaurant employs 10 to 12 people, depending on the time of year.

“In this case, someone wrote to us saying they wanted to work for us at our new restaurant in Corvallis, Ore.,” Stieber said.

“There was an obvious confusion about the name.”

Oregon business registry officials said just a single word is enough to allow registration of similarly named business in the state. For example, “Wildfire restaurant” is different from “Wildfire” for state record-keeping purposes.

But in the case of a federally registered trademark, it’s like rock-beats-scissors.

It costs only a few hundred dollars to trademark a name with the federal government. Down the road, though, a company must be prepared to defend its interests or lose them.

The Liff-Andersons found a patent attorney who was a friend of a friend. He coached them through an exchange of letters with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises asking for leniency. They suggested changing to “Intaba’s Wildfire.”

No go.

“Ultimately his advice was we were going to have to change the name,” Stephen Liff-Anderson said.

“Anything that includes the name Wildfire is unacceptable to us,” Stieber said.

Although a few other Wildfire eateries are listed in the Oregon business database, neither the Wildfire Brewery in Bend nor Wildfire wood-fired pizza and barbecue in Portland have so far heard from the lawyers of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.

It’s also news to the owners of the Southwestern-themed Wildfire Grill at the corner of Southwest Taylor Street and Second Avenue in downtown Portland, which is slated to open its doors by the end of the year.

“I may need to look deeper into it,” said Bill Hayden, CEO of Tualatin-based NW Hayden Enterprises, a restaurant consulting firm. Hayden is overseeing the design and construction of the Wildfire Grill.

NW Hayden Enterprises is no newcomer to the restaurant market, either. The company has guided 175 restaurants to opening over 30 years. Everything seemed to be on track for Wildfire Grill.

“We’re legal in the state, I thought we were square,” Hayden said. “We know about Lettuce Entertain You. I think we all thought Wildfire Grill would be a good name for a Southwestern restaurant.”

Stieber said another Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises-owned Wildfire restaurant will open in Virginia in six weeks. While no plans are in the works for a West Coast outlet, he wouldn’t rule it out.

“We get offers all the time from developers,” he said. “It could be anywhere in the country.”

For now, the Liff-Andersons are in the clear after doing due diligence on the national trademark database to make sure there wouldn’t be a problem with their new name.

“Oh yeah, you know that we did,” Stephen Liff-Anderson said. “I would advise a patent attorney mainly because we are in the Internet world. The world is a lot smaller.”

And so, after $50 in registry fees, thousands more in new signage, new menus and Web page, Wildfire becomes FireWorks — maybe for the better.

“We saw a spike in sales after we made the change to Wildfire,” Stephen Liff-Anderson said. “We’re thinking we might see that again.”

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net.

A TALE OF TWO COMPANIES

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc.

Headquarters: 5419 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago

Operates: more than 70 restaurants in 30 chains including Brasserie Joe, Everest, R.J. Grunts, Scoozi and Wildfire in five states

In business since: 1971

Known for: Founder and chairman Richard Melman, known as the Steven Spielberg of the restaurant industry

Sales: More than $300 million in 2005

The Natural Gourmet Eatery Inc.

Headquarters: 1115 S.E. Third St., Corvallis

Operates: FireWorks (formerly Wildfire, formerly Intaba’s)

In business since: 2002

Known for: Maya, the restaurant’s earthen wood-fired oven

Employs: 10 to 12 people, depending on the season