Smile - Chapter 11 Case Summary

Business Description

Smile, LLC (the "Debtor"), doing business as Basil Ginger, is a full-service restaurant in Wasilla, Alaska. It serves lunch and dinner and earns its revenue from in-restaurant dining, takeout, and related food and beverage sales.

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Corporate History

Ri Kuang, the Debtor's Manager and a Member, is its principal and a person in control of it. Kuang is also the individual through whom the Debtor operates and manages its business. Kuang, spouse Sasikan Keawyom, and step-daughter Junket Kanokkarn together perform services necessary to the Debtor's continued operation. Before the filing, none of the three was paid a wage or salary. Each instead received periodic owner draws (distributions on account of equity) of approximately $2,750 per week.

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Operations Overview

The restaurant relies on hourly and salaried employees who handle food preparation, cooking, serving, hosting, scheduling, supply procurement, and day-to-day supervision. Kuang and the two family members hold core roles:

• Ri Kuang — Day-to-day management of the restaurant, staff supervision, vendor and customer relations, and the Debtor's reorganization efforts.
• Sasikan Keawyom — Manager and Sushi Chef.
• Junket Kanokkarn — Server and cook, with duties that include cooking, hosting, server scheduling, supply pickups, and day-to-day supervision of employees.

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Events Leading to Bankruptcy

In 2023, the Debtor decided to build a new commercial real estate building to serve as its main place of business. According to the Debtor, increased construction costs led to unanticipated expenses, and those expenses required it to take on more debt than it had foreseen. The Debtor does not state the amount of that debt. The Debtor also cites financial pressures in the period before the filing that it was unable to resolve outside bankruptcy. After consulting counsel, Kuang decided to commence a Chapter 11 case.

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Chapter 11 Filing

The Debtor filed for Chapter 11 on October 8, 2026 (the "Petition Date") in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Alaska. Kuang's declaration in support of the first-day motions (the "Declaration") describes Chapter 11 as the course that would best preserve the Debtor as a going concern, protect its employees' jobs, and maximize value for the estate and creditors. According to the Declaration, the automatic stay allows the Debtor to stabilize its operations and pursue an orderly reorganization.

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First Day Motions

• Counsel retention — Application to employ Blake Fulton Quackenbush, PC and Elisha Ononye, Esq. as the Debtor's counsel effective as of the Petition Date, at hourly rates of $350 for attorneys and $195 for paralegals. The firm represented the Debtor in preparing and commencing the case. Prior payments totaling $7,738, including the filing fee, were deposited into the firm's trust account.
• Wages — Expedited motion to pay the unpaid portion of the Debtor's bi-weekly payroll that was earned before the Petition Date, together with the associated employment taxes. Gross wages total $10,247.32, of which $8,462.62 is net pay to employees and the balance is employee withholdings and deductions; associated employer payroll taxes total $1,784.70. No individual employee's claim approaches the $17,150 priority cap under section 507(a)(4)(A), and the payroll taxes carry priority under section 507(a)(8).
• Insurance and critical vendors — Expedited motion for interim and final orders allowing the Debtor to keep its insurance policies on its premises and operations in place and to continue the related financing obligations. The motion would also authorize, but not require, payment of the prepetition claims of approximately 38 critical vendors and service providers, including perishable-food suppliers, subject to a monthly cap and conditions in the proposed orders. The Declaration describes a lapse in coverage as cause for conversion or dismissal under section 1112(b)(4)(C).
• Insider compensation — Expedited motion to set postpetition compensation for Kuang, Keawyom, and Kanokkarn. The Debtor has stopped the owner draws, which the Declaration describes as distributions on account of equity that are not permitted postpetition outside a confirmed plan. It seeks authority to pay the three going forward in the ordinary course, with no bonus, retention payment, or severance, and characterizes the amounts as the reasonable value of each insider's services and no more than a non-insider would be paid for comparable work.
  • Ri Kuang — $102,000 per year ($4,250 per semi-monthly pay period) as Manager/Member.
  • Sasikan Keawyom — $34.62 per hour ($3,000.40 per semi-monthly pay period) as Manager/Sushi Chef.
  • Junket Kanokkarn — $22.54 per hour plus tips earned ($1,953.47 per semi-monthly pay period) as server/cook.