The Grilled Asparagus, a new vegetarian restaurant in downtown Winston-Salem, closed Friday after only three weeks and one owner is accusing her co-owner and ex-boyfriend of assaulting her and abandoning the restaurant while using cocaine, court records said.
The closing coincided with Judge Laurie Hutchens of Forsyth District Court issuing a domestic-violence protective order against Darryl S. Murray, a chef and co-owner of the restaurant.
After a court hearing, Hutchens ordered Murray, 48, not to assault or threaten his ex-girlfriend, Nanette Reyna, and to stay away from her. Reyna is a co-owner and the sole investor in the business.
Murray could not be reached by telephone for comment yesterday, and Reyna said he no longer lives with her.
Reyna accused Murray of beating her on three occasions, according to the protective order. The assaults consisted of Reyna being choked, thrown down and slapped. She said she wasn’t injured.
The protective order also accuses Murray of abandoning the restaurant for four days. Reyna, in an interview, said Murray withdrew $1,200 from the restaurant’s bank account.
When he returned Oct. 5, Reyna accused Murray of being intoxicated on cocaine, the order said. Reyna said he told her he had been at a crack house, according to the protective order. Murray had violated a previous court order to stay away from Reyna, court records said.
Reyna said she is scared of Murray and that she didn’t pursue a protective order sooner because she had invested money in the restaurant and was busy preparing to open it, court records said.
Murray returned to the restaurant again Friday and fired all of its employees, Reyna said in an interview. Murray is a graduate of the Triad Community Kitchen restaurant-training program run by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina.
Winston-Salem police have outstanding warrants that charge Murray with violating the domestic-violence protective order and writing a worthless check, a police official said.
The Grilled Asparagus opened at 239 W. Fourth St. on Sept. 27. The restaurant had about 200 customers a week for lunch and dinner, Reyna said.
Reyna, 53, a nurse, moved to Winston-Salem in April from Montana because she was engaged to Murray, she said.
They met at a hockey game in Raleigh while Reyna, a widow, was visiting a family friend.
She declined to reveal how much money she invested. She leased the 2,400-square-foot restaurant, bought food and supplies and provided money to hire the employees.
“It was his dream to have a restaurant,” Reyna said. “I loved and supported Mr. Murray.”
But their relationship soured, she said. When the restaurant opened, Murray, the manager, hired nearly 40 employees, Reyna said. But the restaurant’s revenues didn’t cover the employee’s payroll, and Reyna used her money to make ends meet.
Reyna said she will pay every employee for their work. The restaurant may reopen, but she still needs to work out those details with her attorney.
“It has been a lesson of a lifetime,” Reyna said. “He (Murray) walked away and left me with everything.”
jhinton@wsjournal.com
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