The Liquor Authority & Fresh Ricotta, I give up

Hi readers....
Our liquor license...well, you know it's taken awhile. A WHILE? FOREVER!
So it seems that "the worst person" in the NYSLiquor Authority has been reviewing our application and it's the one guy who has no motivation to clear out that inbox. Our lawyer has been working on this and cajoling, manipulating and trying to make it "pass" like a big kidney stone. This week he called to tell me that several of our customers had called and "pestered" the authority about what's taking so long! We LOVE that news!

Now it seems, this slowpoke needs 1. a better picture of my passport, 2. our bank statements from April/May/June, and 3. a menu. See, you all think I'm making up the red tape, but it's not just 3M that makes tape.

First, I sent a really good xerox of my passport. I like to look good, even for unknown bureaucrats. I know they make comments like "look at this one". Second, they have a few of our menus. Third, they cashed our check so we should be serving liquor. I am really upset by this un-american,bureauocracy-encouraging process. We're missing the sales, of course, which is what our business cares about, but we're also not collecting sales tax which might help this "budget strapped" state. We can only hope that our Albany expert in these matters can find a way through the very sticky red tape.

This week I had a meeting in New Haven Conn. Not at Yale. As I sip my coffee and tell Bert that's where I'm headed in the day..he tells me to go to Pepe's Pizza for the White Clam Pizza. How do he know? It's amazing. You give him a city and a time of day and he can tell you what and where to eat. Detroit, Buster's ribs, Boston, Pigalle, Phoenix, Sand bistro, Denver, Uncle Sams Bobcat Cafe, San Fran, there are too many to list...he has a place and what to order. I almost never go there but it's good to know where I should be going.

Tonight, I surprised Bert with some great cheese from DePaola's at 200 Grand Street Wow. This is the kind of thing that thrills him. The first time I was in the store, everyone but me spoke Italian as their first language. Beyond the Italian, the fresh Ricotta is A M A Z I N G. Really amazing. A good chunk of bread and this cheese and you'll forget your name. If you don't want the bread, just eat the cheese and you'll forget where you live. Also got some very good Parmesean cheese. These people are not from Wisconsin, but they really know and keep great cheese. Also, Speck is now available in the US and they have a great one. Speck is cured Procuitto and it tastes phenominal. Go there if you're in the neighborhood. It's really worth the trip.

Speaking of go there...we hope that you'll consider having one meal with us this weekend. For my part, I'm making several summer ripe fruit tarts for a big finish to your meal. Bert is working on some excellent entrees, salads, fish, vegetables and a great fresh pasta, so come in, bring your own wine (AHEM!) and toast our lawyer. We look forward to seeing you at the Red Barn.
Chris & Bert

Comments

[Doug]

For those of us without direct access to Bert I might reccommend the Chowhound message boards. Here is the link to New England http://www.chowhound.com/newengland/index.html and the TriState area is here http://www.chowhound.com/boards/tristate/tristate.html

Be forewarned, the message boards take forever to load even on broadband but are well worth the read.

doug

[Jen]

I disagree with you