Michelle Rick

Community Board 3 may reverse its hardline stance against new beer-and-wine licenses in booze-heavy areas of the East Village and Lower East Side. In a letter to residents, the board will ask whether it should be more lenient to those seeking such licenses within resolution areas, so long as the businesses agree to operate primarily in the daytime and close at midnight or earlier.

The move comes just a few months after The Local unleashed a sobering study showing that the State Liquor Authority regularly disregards the board’s recommendations regarding who should or shouldn’t be allowed to serve wine and beer (as opposed to hard liquor) in resolution areas – nightlife-heavy strips such as St. Marks Place where the board has recommended a moratorium on new licenses.

At a meeting of the SLA task force last night, board member David Crane described the motivation behind the potential policy shift. “The SLA generally is going to grant a beer-wine license,” he said. “Since that’s a reality, we’re interested in preventing problems. We want to work with the SLA given that that’s a fact.”  Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown The electrifying scene at last night’s meeting.

The always-colorful Community Board 3 liquor license committee recommended on Monday night that one of its more outspoken critics not be allowed to serve beer and wine at his restaurant.

The board denied the beer-wine license for Keith Masco’s 24-hour B.A.D. Burger, citing the proximity of other booze-selling establishments, similar restaurants that operate without licenses, and “consistent community opposition.”

“B.A.D. Burger, bad neighbor. Deny them,” said Shawn Chittle, who lives above the restaurant at 171 Avenue A.
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C.C. Glenn The various brands of Beaujolais Nouveau 2010, which made its debut Thursday night.

Wielding an 18-inch baguette in one hand and a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau in the other, Luis da Silva marched around Jules Bistro on St. Marks Place Thursday night wearing a kitschy black apron.

Le Beaujolais est arrive! the manager’s apron declared, the universal cry that the young, fruity, barely fermented (and to some, barely drinkable) wine has hit the shelves and bars.

Around the world, the third Thursday of November marks the official release of Beaujolais Nouveau, the wine crushed from 100 percent Gamay grapes from the Beaujolais region of France, in the southernmost part of Burgundy.

Most wine connoisseurs, vendors and drinkers agree that Beaujolais Nouveau isn’t actually that tasty. A marketing ploy, an advertising maneuver – call it what you will – it’s no secret that the Beaujolais Nouveau is marketed to be a grandiose event, albeit misguided.

French native Geoffroy de Guibert, who met a handful of other French friends for the celebration at Jules Bistro, says, “No, it’s not good. You know it’s not a good wine. You know it’s kind of a disgusting wine, but it happens once a year. It’s just for the event.

Because the wine is not aged, it is best served chilled (and is likely to taste worse as it warms to room-temperature). And while it may not stimulate your palate, the young wine can serve as an indicator of the vintage’s success. Each year the nouveau tastes different: last year it hinted at banana, this year the jury’s still out. “It’s about the weather, it’s about rain, it’s about sun,” says Chloé Descombes, another French native celebrating the event at Jules Bistro, agrees. This year? “I’d say it’s a good wine,” says Ms. Descombes.
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