TRY TO imagine it: life without Davio's. The Summer Shack. Olives. Hamersley's Bistro. It makes us shudder, too. But without banker James V. "Jack" Sidell, who quietly helped finance these and many other local favorites, they may have never become reality. Sidell, who passed away on October 2, was an admired and respected champion of the Boston restaurant community. A few of the many local recipients of Sidell's generosity spoke out about his legacy.
"I think what I would say about Jack Sidell is that he was absolutely instrumental, as instrumental as anyone in the Boston community, for the kind of revolution of chef-owned restaurants in this town. Without Jack, most of us would have had to go in completely different directions in order to get money to open our restaurants. He was a true visionary, and I don't know whether or not he had a system for the decisions he made, or how he went about doing it, or whether or not he just played a hunch, but it was really good. He was thinking outside the box, and he gave a lot of us a tremendous opportunity when most bankers wouldn't. He'll be sorely missed around town, and he was just a true gentleman and a really good guy for the restaurant business."
- Gordon Hamersley, owner and executive chef, Hamersley's Bistro
"Jack was huge. He's a little guy, but he's a huge, huge man for people in the restaurant industry. With me and Bertucci's, with his help, I went from a small Massachusetts company to a large national company in 14 states. No banks lend money to restaurants - Jack was the only one, but he invested in people. It was all about people with him. If he thought you knew what you were doing, he'd help you out. And he helped out a lot of people in Boston. He was very helpful in my expansion, when I grew the company. Jack used to be in the restaurant business years ago, so he had an understanding of how it works, where most bankers don't have a clue. Jack had the insight, he invested in people, he built a lot of success stories."
- Joey Crugnale, founder, Bertucci's
"Jack Sidell was my hero. He gave me a loan to open my first restaurant in 1983. I had been looking for money, talking to every bank in town, and was basically shot down as ‘too risky - no assets' and therefore could only borrow equal to the amount that I put up. Problem was, I couldn't come up with enough money to open a hot-dog stand. Jack knew me from the Bostonian Hotel, where I was the opening executive chef. After several meetings and answering many questions, Jack said he would give me the money to open Jasper's at 240 Commercial Street on the condition (not written - a handshake deal) that I worked at dinner at the restaurant at least five nights a week until I paid him back. I paid him back in three years. Jack understood restaurants and restaurant people; he knew who to bet on and was, to my knowledge, always right. To our restaurant community, he was Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life - the banker who understood his customers and cared about them. I will always treasure my memories of Jack. He was kind, intelligent, shrewd, tough, energetic, and humorous - one of the greatest businessmen I have ever had the pleasure to interact with. I will miss him."
- Jasper White, chef and partner, Summer Shack Restaurants
"Jack Sidell was pivotal to the development of the Boston restaurant community, and he was a huge supporter of the industry throughout his life. Olivia [English] and I would have never been able to open Olives in Charlestown without Jack. He was a wonderful man and friend, and he will be greatly missed."
- Todd English, chef and owner, Olives, Bonfire, Figs, and others
"It's just overwhelming when you see all the people who became restaurateurs because of this one guy. Boston would never be where we are today without [Jack Sidell] - because no one would give us any money! If you think about it, maybe half of them could've gotten some money from somebody. It maybe would've taken them years, but without Jack, I don't know where we'd all be. It's really sad for me, because I was still in contact with Jack. He's like my mentor. I would still talk to him about, ‘What do you think of this?' ‘What do you think of that?' - he would still give me advice. We'll never have another Jack Sidell, in my opinion. Look who owns all of our banks: they're all out-of-towners. My big thing is, I wouldn't be where I am today without Jack Sidell. Not even close."
- Steve DiFillippo, owner, Davio's and Avila @
