Little Café-Paris' Closure No Surprise, Former Manager Says

Victoria Trestrail had an inkling something was amiss shortly after she took the job as manager of the Little Café Paris in January.

Samira Messaoud, who opened the French-themed, Ormewood Park coffee shop in mid-December, hired Trestrail via telephone and e-mail.

The previous manager quit the day before Messaoud left for short trip to her native Belgium.

Messaoud never came back.

When Trestrail would ask her about her return to Atlanta, there was always an impediment.

"It all seemed a little fishy," Trestrail said Wednesday in an interview with EastAtlantaPatch.com.

"There was always some reason — 'My mother is sick,' 'I was hit by a taxi,' — God only knows what is true and what is not true."

Now, Trestrail and the five other employees who worked at Little Café-Paris are looking for answers  and paychecks from their former boss, who'd promised to return this past Tuesday.

When Trestrail arrived to open the coffee shop Wednesday morning, she found the entire place gutted of its equipment, furniture and decorations.

"I showed up ready to open at 6:30 and everything was gone," Trestrail said.

Two residents would later tell Trestrail they saw a couple of men hauling stuff away in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, Messaoud's other business, the Wafflery, a Belgian-themed breakfast and brunch eatery in Lenox Square mall's food court, closed suddenly this week, also without explanation.

Trestrail, who said some of the things taken from the Ormewood Park café were personal items of the employees and Cartel Properties, which owns the building, filed a police report and said she called Messaoud.

And when Messaoud returned her phone call, it was from an Ontario, Canada telephone number.

"I don't know if she's in Canada, if she's still in Belgium, or if she's in Atlanta," Trestrail said.

When she pressed Messaoud for an explanation, Trestrail said she was told it's none of her business.

Cartel Properties, owner of the Ormewood Square retail center, which includes the 1,230-square-foot café space, has made attempts to reach Messaoud, too.

Matt Rohrig, a property manager with Cartel, said Thursday he has not reached her, but that in previous conversations Messaoud always said business was good.

"Every time we talked to her, she told us she was doing good over there," he said, explaining Messaoud had a three-year lease on the property. He said Cartel hasn't fully decided next immediate steps but will likely re-lease the space.

In the meantime, Little Café-Paris' employees await payment for wages owed, Trestrail said.

"Some employees were paid through March 27,  some employees were partially paid through the 27th, but nobody has been paid in the time frame since the 27th," she said.

"We knew something was going on but we didn't think it was going to be dramatic," Trestrail said. "I don't think she set out with bad intentions."

Messaoud did not immediately respond to an e-mail request seeking comment.