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Russian club seeking city permission to expand runs afoul of city, state liquor laws
By adamg on Tue, 04/09/2013 - 2:00pm
The Russian Benevolent Society admitted today it let patrons buy entire bottles of vodka even after the chairwoman of the Boston Licensing Board called its manager and told him not to. The club's lawyer said bottle service is very important to Russian culture.
The board decides Thursday what action, if any, to take for the citations issued by Boston Police detectives on an inspection on Feb. 17 at the society's Crystal restaurant on Linden Street in Allston.
Sgt. Det. Robert Mulvey told the board this morning that when they arrived around 12:15 a.m., he and other detectives found bottles of Smirnov, Absolut, Grey Goose and other brands of vodka just sitting on tables. In addition, a menu showed patrons could purchase bottles of homemade cranberry vodka for $85 apiece, he said.
Crystal, which has rapidly grown from a small society open only a couple days a week into a full service restaurant, does not have a bottle-service permit from the licensing board. In recent years, the board has let a number of bars offer the service. But unlike in other cities, patrons are not allowed to simply get a bottle for their table - the bar has to dedicate an employee to the table for the night to pour out drinks and ensure nobody drinks too much.
Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer told club manager Alex Matov at the hearing she was particularly disturbed because she'd called him after seeing an ad for Crystal offering bottle service for Valentine's Day and told him he couldn't do that. "You said you weren't going to do it, and yet here you are doing it," she said. Matov said he thought the requirement was only for the bar part of Crystal, known as the Garage lounge. His lawyer added that bottle service "is important to their culture, to Russion culture," and that the society will be seeking permission for bottle service.
Board member Suzanne Ianella added that the society has to ditch the homemade cranberry vodka - Massachusetts law requires restaurants to buy their spirits from licensed wholesalers.
In addition to the liquor issues, Mulvey said the Garage Lounge, which was not open during the inspection, did not appear to have adequate fire exits and that the society was letting customers park in a fire lane out back.
The society goes before the Zoning Board of Appeals next month for permission to add additional indoor seats and a 90-seat outdoor patio.
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Comments
Cronyism and corruption in
Cronyism and corruption in the Boston licensing board is outrageous. What place does government have in forbidding the sale of "bottle service."
Licensing board funds should be reallocated to fighting gang violence and rebuilding the dilapidated infrastructure in Boston.
Bottle service rules
The city and state have a pretty clear basis for rules that regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol. We ban open containers in public, set opening hours, license venues and sales types, mandate that bartenders be at least 21, forbid serving alcohol to inebriated patrons, etc.
Bottle service makes it easier to drink more, and can put an extra layer between the patron and server, which can increase the risk of very-drunk people in bars. So, it's justifiable to regulate which places have bottle service, and to require that a bar employee regulate how much any one person has to drink.
I don't necessarily agree with it, but that's the reasoning, and it's pretty clearly legal.
The prohibition on infusing fruit into your booze is stupid as hell, though. I don't see why that's forbidden. Presumably they're buying vodka and putting it in a jar with fruit, which is... totally normal and commonplace and I don't see any reason why that should be prohibited if it's OK to mix vodka and cranberries in other ways.
I assume they aren't distilling their own, because the ATF would be involved and not the licensing commission.
Infused vodka
The rule makes sense, mostly in that there's a complete loss of quality control when you take alcohol from a bottle and pour it in to something else. It's probably mostly in place to prevent places from rolling their own jungle juice.
I suppose there's also an issue that Vlad might show up one day with some berries he found on his walk to work and try a new infusion.
Gonna side with the board here
I don't always care for 'em, but for Chrissakes, if you're stupid enough to RUN A PRINT AD declaring bottle service, then the city calls you and tells you that's a no-no, and you do it anyway, you're a moron. The bar clearly deserves to be suspended.
If you want to run a
If you want to run a business, follow the rules like everyone else. Most rules protect the consumer and I'm glad someone is checking what is going on.