While Adam and Kim Weitsman, owners of Upstate Shredding LLC, Owego, N.Y., learned that the historic The Krebs restaurant in Skaneateles, N.Y., was for sale, it sparked an idea designed to preserve the more than 100-year-old restaurant and provide a way to generate significant donations each year for Onondaga County charities focusing on children and hunger.
The Krebs, founded in 1899 by Cora Krebs, was passed down through the family to Larry Loveless. He and his wife, Jan, ran the restaurant for 46 years until Jan’s death in July of 2010. Loveless wanted to retire but also wanted The Krebs to continue a tradition of hospitality that has endured through three generations of family ownership. 
Loveless’ daughter, Lori Loveless Gray, says of the transaction: “I am very happy for my dad to take his retirement. When I heard that the Weitsmans were going to buy, renovate and donate the profits to food banks, I was very excited. I think it’s wonderful and a very generous thing to do. To have the Krebs name is a huge honor, and what he is going to do with the profits is just fantastic. I was just overwhelmed hearing what he was going to do with it.”
Phil Romano, an experienced restaurateur and founder of successful restaurants such as Fuddruckers and Romano’s Macaroni Grille, has been mentoring Adam Weitsman on the project. Born in Auburn, N.Y., Romano, like the Weitsmans, has a summer home on Skaneateles Lake.
“I like Adam and his wife,” says Romano. “He expressed a desire to try to take The Krebs and do something with it. He had to do the right thing to make it work. I think that the preservation of The Krebs is very important for the people of Skaneateles, and any help I can give Adam in accomplishing this I will be doing,” he comments.
“We saw The Krebs as a challenge to save what has become an institution in the Finger Lakes Region while reinvigorating the restaurant into a world-class, sustainable, profitable enterprise with a philanthropic mission,” says Adam Weitsman. “We are not going to take one dollar out of the business. All net profits will be shared among Onondaga County food banks and other charities. Even if the business isn’t profitable, we will donate a minimum of $100,000 dollars a year to feed the hungry and help children. But we will work our hardest to deliver a much larger contribution,” he adds.
Kathleen Stress, director of internal operations for the Food Bank of Central New York, says of the Weitsman announcement, “It’s fabulous. I wish more people would walk through the door and say they want to give a minimum of $100,000 a year. I think the fact that they have recognized hunger does exist and they want to help the community and release profits back to the food banks and charities to help children is amazing.”
Regarding the need for the donation in the central New York county, Stress comments, “The face of hunger has changed. What was once the homeless man on the street is no longer considered the face of poverty; now it’s a family of four or more. Some have lost their jobs, so they have to make ends meet by visiting a food pantry or receiving other assistance to get by. We found that roughly 37 percent of emergency food recipients visiting pantries and soup kitchens are children under the age of 18. That is a startling statistic here in central New York.”
The sale of the 2.46-acre property for slightly more than $1 million includes the restaurant and two adjacent houses that will be used for staff quarters. The restaurant will close in the fall of 2010 and re-open the following spring. During that time, renovations totaling $1.85 million are planned for a new kitchen and to make the restaurant handicapped accessible as well as for landscaping and other improvements. The Krebs will retain its serving of seven-course, old-fashioned dinners supplemented by a menu that also incorporates locally produced vegetables in support of area farmers.
Gary Robinson, owner-operator of Rosalie’s Cucina restaurant in Skaneateles, has been named as the new general manager of The Krebs.
“The Krebs is really a tremendous thing and [Adam’s] doing it for all the right reasons,” Robinson says. “The Krebs is over 100-years-old and it’s right in the heart of the village, and if Adam didn’t purchase it and keep it as The Krebs, who knows what would have become of it? When I talk to restaurateurs around the world, they all know The Krebs. It’s truly an institution. We are looking to make it one of the best destination restaurants in the East with the finest food and finest service.”
Adam Weitsman is president of Upstate Shredding and Ben Weitsman & Son, which combined comprise of the largest privately held scrap metal processing and recycling companies in the eastern United States.
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