Former owner of Kinsale and Asgard reaches million-dollar settlement with Harvard
The saga is finally over for restaurateur Skip Sack, now that he has reached a $1.1 million settlement with Harvard University that wraps up a nearly decade-long legal battle.
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Sack and his company, Classic Restaurant Concepts, were best known for their pubs, Kinsale in Boston, and Asgard in Cambridge. But it was the fate of a short-lived third restaurant, En Boca, that kept Classic and Harvard battling in court for years.
Classic sued Harvard in 2017, right around the time En Boca closed down. Classic claimed Harvard duped it by prompting the company to sign a lease in 2015 to open En Boca at 8 Holyoke St. in Cambridge, just outside Harvard Square, knowing the street would be shut down for two years for construction. The landlord, Classic claimed, did not provide adequate warning about the massive project next door at what’s known as the Smith Campus Center, other than to downplay it as a relatively minor job.
“The motto at Harvard is ‘Veritas,’” Sack said. “They were anything but truthful. … They never told us they were going to close the street but negotiated the lease full well knowing they were going to close the street.”
Had Sack and Classic known about the construction, they say they never would have invested more than $2.6 million in the space to open the Mediterranean-style restaurant in 2016. Among other things, Classic argued that Harvard didn’t live up to its lease terms because the construction work infringed on Classic’s ability to reap the lease’s benefits. Harvard officials, meanwhile, fought back, saying lease terms didn’t allow Classic to close without making its remaining payments.
Sack estimated that Classic lost $700,000 on operations during its nine months in business. At the time, he had never heard of such a loss in his 55 years in the business.
His tally for the total damage is much higher. He estimates today that collective losses reach $4.3 million, after backing out the $1.125 million settlement amount. (That number includes legal and consulting costs, as well as interest on a loan he took out to buy out the assets and lease of the previous occupant in the Holyoke Street space.)
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Sack said Classic didn’t have enough money to keep the Kinsale and Asgard going at such a slow time because of the losses associated with En Boca, and those restaurants were forced to close as well.
A Superior Court judge ruled against Sack’s company, and for Harvard, so he appealed. The state Appeals Court primarily sided with Sack in 2024, and sent the case back to Superior Court for further review. On the eve of a trial this past spring, Sack decided to settle; he said he was worried after the judge narrowed the case to Harvard’s benefit.
Sack signed the settlement agreement on May 28. Harvard asked Sack to sign a non-disparagement clause, he said, but Sack declined to do so.
The Smith Campus Center ended up opening in 2018, and chef Andy Husbands opened one of his Smoke Shop restaurants at 8 Holyoke St. in 2020. Harvard declined to comment about its settlement with Classic.
Is Sack relieved it’s all over? He still sounds frustrated that the saga ended this way.
“I had no leverage,” Sack added. “They had all the leverage. … It’s a lesson in injustice.”
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.
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