Popular Montreal restaurateur accused of making threats

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Everyone in Montreal seems to know restaurateur Ted Dranias, including the judge who paroled him in a criminal case at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday.

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Dranias, who owns several restaurants in Quebec, including Jardin Petros in Little Italy, was taken into custody after his arrest Wednesday on charges of threatening women he is associated with.

Hours after the arrest, Frank Pappas, an experienced defense attorney who was elected mayor of the Laurentian town of Esterel in November, represented Dranias before Quebec court judge Julie Riendeau.

Pappas told the judge that he was representing Dranias because he knew him and his family well, and because he had an urgent request: He was seeking Dranias’ release because his son was getting married on Friday.

Riendeau was unable to hear the case on Wednesday, but Pappas managed to convince Quebec court judge Manlio Del Negro to hear the case on Thursday.

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Pappas brought up the nuptials again, informing Del Negro that the women Dranias allegedly threatened were in the courtroom and ready to testify in support of his release.

The lawyer told the judge that Dranias, 59, has been trying to open a restaurant in the US and recently experienced “burnout.”

“He said something on the phone that he never should have said,” Pappas told the judge.

In an interview with the Montreal Gazette in December, Dranias said he was opening a Petros restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He expressed relief at how the US was exempt from additional COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by Ottawa late last year.

“This sounds good. I’m making a big investment with this new place in Fort Lauderdale, so I have to be there regularly,” Dranias said then.

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In a previous interview, in 2020, he said, “I opened my first restaurant, a hot dog joint, when I was 19 years old, and I haven’t looked back since. It’s in my blood. When I see a potential location, I get excited.”

Dranias also raised concerns about whether the COVID-19 restrictions would hurt his restaurants in Griffintown, Plateau and Westmount.

Del Negro agreed to proceed with the hearing. But, before doing so, the judge said he wanted to be transparent and revealed that he had met Dranias at an event for the Greek community a month ago, and that he had eaten at the Petros Garden in the past.

“One of my Greek friends introduced me to this man who is, if I’m not mistaken, the owner of the Petros restaurant,” Del Nelgro said. “I spoke with this gentleman during the course of the evening, strictly on a social basis. He just wanted people to know that, for things to be clear and transparent.

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“If anyone in the courtroom sees a problem with what I just revealed, I will immediately disqualify myself.”

The prosecutor said he had no problem with the judge hearing the case because, as of Thursday, the Crown no longer opposed Dranias’ release.

“Montreal is a very small community,” Del Negro said. “Three million people live in Montreal, but it’s a very small world.”

The judge agreed that Dranias could be released after he agreed to follow a series of conditions: he is not allowed to be within 300 meters of one of the women he allegedly threatened; he is not allowed to communicate with the woman except at the wedding of her son; and he is not allowed to refer to the woman on social media.

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