Jazz spots could be coming to Hyde Park, Roslindale

The owner of a Haitian restaurant on Hyde Park Avenue today described his plans to add jazz and dancing to his offerings should he get one of the three all-alcohol licenses the city has to dole out in 02136 over the next year.

Separately, the proponent of a jazz club proposed for an enlarged and modernized building on Poplar Street in Roslindale Square will present his plans at a meeting tomorrow of a neighborhood association. That proposal could hinge on winning one of the similar three all-alcohol licenses set aside for 02131.

George Craan, whose mother opened Little Haiti International Cuisine ten years ago at 1184 Hyde Park Ave. in Hyde Park, today made his case to the Boston Licensing Board why he should get one of the three full liquor licenses the board will consider giving out in 02136 after its Dec. 6 deadline for applications.

The board has said it will place a priority on restaurants that not only have support from existing customers, but fill a need in a neighborhood that other places do not. Craan said his restaurant is the only "open-kitchen" Haitian restaurant in the area - patrons can watch their food being prepared - in a neighborhood that does not have all that many sit-down restaurants with liquor licenses regardless of cuisine. He said his drinks menu would include "Haitian-infused" drinks developed by his mother, which feature hand-squeezed lemon and passion fruit.

He said that he hopes to put to use a dance floor left over from the location's earlier use as the Hyde Park Pub - and would bring in jazz performers, in part because jazz is popular in the Haitian community.

He added another unique feature would be the return of a neighborhood bar-like atmosphere that he said many of his customers still miss from the days of the Hyde Park Pub.

The board will also have two beer-and-wine licenses to give out in 02136, due to a law passed by the state legislature that gave Boston 195 new "neighborhood licenses" to give out over the next three years in 13 specific Zip codes.

Unlike traditional liquor licenses - of which the city is getting a total of 12, to be distributed in groups of four over the next three years - these new licenses cannot be resold on the open market and have to be returned to the city when their holders close their businesses.

Meanwhile, the West Village Neighborhood Association's monthly Zoom meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, will, among other things, feature a presentation on the proposed Privé jazz club at 25 Poplar St., in which a one-story commercial building is now getting two floors of apartments added to the tops - and in which the jazz club will replace a hair salon where Suya Joint used to be.

In addition to the liquor licenses, the two establishments would also need separate entertainment licenses from the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing. Unlike liquor licenses, however, there is no limit on the number of entertainment licenses the office - chaired by the same person as the licensing board - can hand out.