They updated their Facebook status last week, saying that they are temporarily closed, and will reopen late this summer now. They deleted their earlier status update.
So now Strega will be closed for at least seven or eight months, while holding a liquor license. Isn't it time to for the licensing board to take some action? Isn't this the definition of a pocket license, in a city where all available licenses are taken?
In better news, I've been to Scratch Kitchen a few times now. Love it. Good, honest food, made from the best ingredients available. Try the brisket sandwich, the fries and rings (homemade and messy), the soon to be famous burger with the red onion jam, and the bacon mac and cheese. Have an Allagash White with it. Don't go here if you're vegan. There's nothing for you, or next to nothing. This place is for carnivores. Next up for me are the pulled pork and the Cuban sandwich. Can't wait. The first time I was there, I saw Tony Bettencourt from 62 Restaurant and Wine Bar having lunch there. I knew I was in for a treat.
I'm torn about things like Strega closing. For starters, I was an early fan of the place. Better than most food, terrific service, great atmosphere. Over the next few years it changed identities (not the name or owner - the menu and focus) a few times, with ups and downs, and by late last year it was mainly a bar scene that was Yelp-savaged.
ReplyDeleteI think a restaurant should generally have up to a year to either re-open or surrender the license. That should be plenty of time to recapitalize, renovate, or make any other changes needed. Perhaps they should be required to update the licensing board every 90 days during the process - with loss of license sooner being the consequence for not reporting.
If the board did that, though, there ought to be discretion in deciding whether to pull the license or not. Restaurant owners pay a lot of money to get their licenses, and we should err on the side of lenience when taking them away.
That's me the person talking more than me the candidate, by the way. I also think cities should be free to determine the number of licenses they hand out and that the state shouldn't have any part of it.