Good morning. Thank you all for joining. We're going to give just a few moments to clear the waiting room. As a reminder, when you are entering from the waiting room, please do remain on mute unless or until you are presenting or providing testimony before the board.
Good morning. This is a hearing before the licensing board for the city of Boston. Today is Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. Today's hearing is being held pursuant to temporary amendments to the open meeting law. That is what allows us to meet virtually. Today's hearing is being recorded and will be posted to the
city of Boston's website. Before I review procedural matters, I will introduce chairwoman of the board, Kathleen Joyce. Morning. My name is Kathleen Joyce. I'm chair of the Boston Licensing Board. And today I'm joined by Commissioner Liam Curran and Commissioner Kiana Saxon. Thank you very much. Please ensure that
your audio and visuals are working properly if you will be presenting to the board. We'll call each item in the order that it appears on this morning's agenda. I will then ask who is present on behalf of the applicant. You'll make a brief presentation regarding your proposal followed by questions by the chair and
commissioners. Following questions, there will be an opportunity for testimony beginning with elected officials or their representatives. For members of the public wishing to provide testimony, please limit your testimony to two minutes. And please state your name, address, and affiliation if
any. Begin with the top of this morning's agenda. Calling items one and two together. The Lennox Hotel LLC located at 65 Exit Street uh is item number one, holder of a common victual or 7-day alcoholic beverages license, has petitioned to change the DBA of the
licensed business to Willow and Ivy in the Irving at the Linux. And item number two, same lency, Linux Hotel LLC doing business as Linux Hotel at 61 to 69 Exit Street, holder of an inholder all alcoholic beverages license, has petitioned to change the DBA of the licensed business to the Linux Hotel and
Sweenies on Boilston. Attorney Kristen Scanland. Attorney Scanland. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. Attorney Green Kristen Scanland for the lences. Um, just a couple brief uh housekeeping matters for you this morning to correctly reflect the DBAs on
both these licenses to the latest chosen names for the food and beverage outlets within the hotel. First being um Willow and Ivy. Um, it was initially listed in the conditions on the license as Juniper and Ivy, but they've changed the name uh recently to Willow and Ivy, which is one
of their newly rebranded uh food and beverage outlets. It's a neighborhood eery serving breakfast, brunch, and dinner. Secondly, on that same license was the Irving at the Lennox, which is this um bar located in the center of the lobby, which is an upscale cocktail bar
serving drinks and light bites. And third, obviously the DBA will stay uh the Lennox Hotel, but in addition to that on the uh inholder license, um keeping with the Irish pub theme of the previous tenant operator is Sweeny's on Boilston, which uh serves breakfast,
lunch, and dinner. Other than that, the name changes, there are no other changes proposed to uh either license. Uh thank you. I don't have any questions. Commissioner Carr and Commissioner Saxon. I have no questions. Thank you. None
from me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on these matters? Seeing none, the board will take this under adisement. Thank you. Thank you. Calling item number three, Barcelona South End LLC doing business as Barcelona located at 525 Cremont Street.
holder of a common victual or 7-day all- alcoholic beverages license has petitioned to change the manager of the licensed business from Brandon Cardahana to Alexander Falconer who is present on behalf of the applicant. Is anybody on on behalf of
Barcelona or is I am sorry I'm here. Thank you for being with us. I'm just going to ask you to start your video if that's possible. Yep. Perfect. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Um, Mr. Falconer, are you a
citizen? Yes. Are you a resident of Massachusetts? Yes. What is your experience in the food and beverage industry? Um, I've been working in restaurants for almost 30 years. Okay. In what capacity? Uh, in the
kitchen. I'm a chef. Okay. Um, are you familiar with the rules and regulations of our board, the ABCC, and the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining to the sale and service of alcohol? Yes. All right. Um, with that, I have no other questions. Commissioner Cara,
Commissioner Saxon, I have no questions. Thank you. None from me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Yes. Thank you, Attorney Green, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Sydney. from councelor Flynn's office
and councelor Flynn would like to go on record in support. Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh are there any other individuals who would like to testify? Board will take this under advisement. Thank you for being with us, Mr. Falconer. Thank you. Calling item number
four, Wonder Boston LLC doing business as Wonder Museum located at 2 Avenue de Lafayette. Holder of a general on premise winds and him up beverages with Lor's license has petitioned to change the manager of the licensed business from Jen Carlo Natali to Skyler Mussy who is present on behalf of the
applicant. Hi uh we're both present here. I'm John Carlo. We're proposing to change the manager from Wonder Boston LLC and Skyler Mussi is here as well to answer some questions. Uh thank you both for joining us. Um,
Miss Mussy, are you a citizen or do you have work authorization? Yes, I'm a citizen. Okay. Um, are you a resident of the Massachusetts? Yes. Uh, what is your experience in the food and beverage industry? I've been an event coordinator and assistant general
manager for years. Okay. Are you familiar with the rules and regulations of our board, the ABCC, the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining to the sales of alcohol? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Thank you. With that, I have no questions. Commissioner Saxon, I have no questions.
Thank you. None for me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Yes. Thank you, Attorney Green, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Sydney from Councelor Flynn's office and Councelor Flynn would like to go on record and support. Thank you. Thank you
very much. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Seeing none, the board will take this under adisement as well. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Calling item number five, Bonchon Alustin LLC located
at 101 to 123 Brighton A in Alustin. Holder of a common victual or 7-day wines and malt beverages license has petitioned to change the classification of its license to a wines, small m beverages and the courses license pursuant to the authority contained in chapter 481 of the acts of 1993.
The applicant secondly has petitioned for a change of officers directors LLC managers and lastly has petitioned to change the manager of the licensed business from Quacley Wyn to Jose Pasha Vasei who is present on behalf of the applicant. Hi good morning. My name is Christian Lee and I'm the district
manager for the company. Great. Thank you Mr. Lee. Um first question I would have is is the proposed manager of record on with us Mr. Vasei? Uh no he's not. Okay. we will not the board would not be able to approve him without his presence
here. Um so if it is possible to have him join we could take this item later in the hearing. Um or potentially if he could get on tomorrow morning before the board votes. Um I can hold off and um reach him right now and tell him to I could send him the email and tell him to
um log in. Is that okay? That that would be great. In that case we will take a second call and come back to this item at the end of the hearing. All right. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Calling item number six, Dining Innovation Massachusetts, Inc. doing business as Suru Tonan,
located at 512 Commonwealth A. Holder of a common vigil or 7-day wines and malt beverages with the Kors license has petitioned to transfer the license from the above tovag Kenmore LLC at the same location. Michael Jamman, manager, 2 a.m. closing hour. Attorney Dennis Quilty. Attorney
Quilty. Good morning, Attorney Green. Madam chair, members of the board, Dennis Quilty, attorney representing the uh proposed transfer, excuse me. With me is Michael Jam, the proposed manager of record. This is a uh scenario which of
course the board has seen many times in the recent past of a landlord property owner seeking control back of the asset uh in return for uh unpaid rent and other fees at the location. Uh Mr. Jamon is an approved has been an approved
manager of record for similar situations in the recent past. Uh he's with us this morning. Um this is a situation where they will quickly be looking for a new operator and we'll be back in front of the board for a transfer out to that
operator in hopefully the near future. And there that's the uh entirety of the matter. Thank you. Uh thank you attorney. Uh, thank you for joining us, Mr. Jamman. So, as your attorney said, you've already been approved by this board. Uh, with that, I
don't have any questions. Commissioner Cara, Commissioner Saxon, I have no questions. Thank you. From me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on
this matter? Seeing none, the board will take this under advisement. Thank you. Thank you. Calling item number seven, Su and Sabuj Market, Inc. doing business as Su and Sabouch Market located at 1595 to609
Blue Hill A in Madapan has applied for a retail package store wines and mold beverages license to be exercised on the above. Premise known as 1597 Blue Hill A in Madapan. Approximately 1,551 square feet on one level of a shared building with single entrance and exit. Entrance
exit is standalone from other businesses. Has two aisles lined with stand-up shelves. There's an office in the rear and a register countertop on the left as you walk in the door. Manager Sabuhua. Closing time 10 p.m. Who is present on behalf of the applicant. Good morning everyone. Good morning
commissioner. My name is Sabuch Burua. I am the owner of the Shu Souch Market at 1597 Bluehill Avenue. Great. Thank you for being with us. If you could please briefly uh present the proposed concept to the board.
Sure. I am applying for wine and beer license for the city because of in the Mapapen Grand Matapan community. When they came to the my store, they love this my store and my store is very different than all other stores. And my
C when my customer came, they asked me that why did not apply for the wine and beer license. So we can get all the items in one places. So then and I applied for the one and be license especially for the lot of crabin people is live there in Tindanian people,
Jamaican, Haitian and Spanish people also and I would like to do a specifically for the KIN people for the specific item to sell for the my store and one and license. Right. Um thank you Mr. Barua. Um so I
understand you sell very specific Caribbean groceries. Is that correct? Yes, please. Um, and will you continue to sell those groceries, you know, of beer and wine? Yes, I will, definitely.
Um, and could you tell me a little bit about um how much of your store square footage you're going to um use for the sale of beer and wine? Are you going to be removing any grocery options or how are
you what's the floor plan like? And how are you going to account for adding beer and wine? Oh well I going to put it the small portion of the wine and beer license for especially for the grain people and different than all other stores what we have it nearby and like I
can say approach very small portion of this wine and beer and you ask me for the square feet probably like two to 300 square feet not so long within like small portion of this w and beer license okay
um so it's going to be a very limited shelf space. So, I guess what I and you may have already submitted this, but I'd like to follow up. I haven't had a chance to review the application in its entirety, but I will. Um, I just would like to see a floor plan and on the
floor plan have it marked out where the beer and wine is going to be. Sure, definitely. I can do that, of course. Okay. And should you get this license, in the event that we vote to approve this license, we ask um we ask that you
leave a copy of the floor plan um on location out front. Should an inspector come in, they could they could walk around with the floor plan and say, "This is where the beer should be. This is where the wine should be. This is where the groceries should be." So that there any changes to that would have to
come back. So, if you say you're going to have x amount of square feet right now for beer and wine and you want to increase that in any way, you'd have to come back for our approval. Does that make sense? Yeah, sure. Yes, please. Okay. So, I'm going to ask you our
standard manager of record questions. Um, sure. Are you a citizen or do you have work authorization? Oh, I am US citizenship. Okay. Um, do you live in Massachusetts? Yes, I am. Okay. So you've um do you have experience in the
food and beverage industry? Yes, I used to work in anor harbor Boston casino. Had been as a supervisor two years in food and beverage and yes and then after that I start to open up my own business. Okay. Thank you. I used to work in
different country also which is called Tobago. I am very familiar to the Caribbean country and I love this and I have experience also in different country as well food and beverage. Okay. Um so are you familiar with the rules and regulations of our board and
the ABCC and the laws of the commonwealth around I am absolutely yes. All right. Um with that I have no questions. Commissioner Car and Commissioner Saxon do you? Uh not this time. Thank you. No questions from me.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Yes, madame chair, members of the board, Connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. At this time, the mayor's office like to defer to the
judge from this board some background information process. Uh ons had hosted a budding for this proposal on February 20th. It was likely attended. There was one resident who identified herself from uh Rexford Street who voiced support for this proposal. Uh the applicant then
went on to meet with the Greater Madapan Neighborhood Council which I understand that neighborhood council was in opposition. Uh they expressed that they felt there's already so many options uh to buy alcohol uh in Madapan Square and were concerned about the addition of another storefront. Uh with that defer
to the board. Thank you. Thank you, Connor. Are there any other uh elected officials or their representatives who would like to testify before we move to members of the general public? Okay. Uh are there any individuals who would like to testify? I see a hand raised from Wally Valdez. Mr. Valdez, you may please provide your
testimony. Thank you to the board for the opportunity to make our comments. My name is Gually Valdez. I'm the uh president and CEO of Metapan Community Health Center located at 1575 Blue Hill Avenue. We support, we've always been on record of supporting our local
businesses uh and and helping to make Madapan thrive. Our concern is the proximity. We offer substance use disorder programs and this is in very close proximity to those programs and to those individuals who are seeking
assistance to make changes in their lives. and also uh voicing our concern just with the saturation of access points, alcohol access points um all along Blue Hill AB and also other points that are uh uh in close proximity to the
health center. So again, you know, we support all local businesses um but the concern is to the programs that we're offering. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter?
Uh following the testimony, are there any further questions from the board on this matter? No questions. Thank you. With that, the board will take this matter under adisement. Thank you very much. I do see we have been joined by the proposed manager of record on item
number five. Um so we will um wrap that up before we move on to new licensed applications. So calling back into the record, item number five, Bonjron Alustin LLC located at 101 to 123 Brighton A in Alustin holder of a common victular 7day wines and mall beverages license has petitioned to change the classification of its license to a wine
small beverages and leor's license as petition for a change of officers directors LLC managers and as petitioned to change the manager of the licensed business from Quarkley Wyn to Josen Pasha Vasei who's present on behalf of the applicant. I see Mr. Lee and Mr. Vasei with us. So, uh, if you could
please present the proposed changes to the board. Yes. Hi, my name is Christian. Um, I'm with Bonchan and Pasha is the general manager of the Bonjan at 123 Brighton Avenue. Um we're looking to change he is the general manager uh who we are uh
proposing a change on to the license and also we're looking to add to our beer and wine license the cordial um the core license um to um better enhance our Korean food with the flavored soju items that the cordial license will provide
us. Okay, I'm just taking some notes. [Music] Um, okay. How long have you been operating with the beer and wine license at Banchan itself? Ma'am? Yes. Uh, from
Banchan itself is um I believe about over eight years. Okay. I've been with the company for three. Okay. And it's your testimony today that the addition of the LUR's license will enhance the menu items you have.
Yes. Um we're a Korean um Korean fried chicken place and soju is a Korean item. Um we're looking to add the cordial license in order to add the flavored um um soju so we can make flavored cocktails. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Um, and Mr. Viji, I'm sorry. Is that how you pronounce your name? Yes, ma'am. You can call me Pasha if you like. Okay. Thanks for joining us. Um, I'm just going to go over the standard manager record questions we ask everyone who appears before us applying for a
change of manager. Um, are you a citizen or do you have um work authorization? Work authorization. Yes. Great. Um, do you live in Massachusetts? Yes, ma'am. Do you have experience in the food and
beverage industry? Yes, over 22 years. Okay. Are you familiar with the rules and regulations of our board, the ABCC, and the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining to the sale and service of alcohol? Yes, ma'am. Okay, great. Um, I have no
questions. I want to see if Commissioner Curran or Commissioner Saxon have any questions. I do not. Thank you. No questions from me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Are there any
individuals at all who would like to testify on this matter? Seeing none, the board will take this under advisement. Thank you very much. Thank you. Calling item number eight. Thank you. Oh, thank you very much. Calling item number eight, the Weston Way LLC located at 300 Warren
Street in Roxberry has applied for a common victual or 7-day all alcoholic beverages license to be exercised on the above 1,720 square foot restaurant space located on the first floor of a mixeduse building with one entrance and three exits. Main dining area in front of
space with tables and seating for approximately 180. Bar seating, bar with seating for approximately 11, kitchen and rear of space along with two restrooms and 2250 ft of storage in the basement for storage only. Manager Clayton Weston, closing time 2 a.m. Who's present on behalf of the
applicant? Good morning, sir. Mr. Green, I am present. Perfect. Uh, Mr. Weston, thanks for being with us. If you could please uh present your proposed concept to the board. Thank you for having me. Um, uh, good morning board. I'm Clayton Weston. Uh husband, father, lifelong resident of
Roxbury. Um I'm a BPS educator for the past 21 years. 12 of those years I've served as a teacher at the James P team James P James P middle school in Roxberry. Um I'm a community organizer,
uh a member of uh School of More, Inc. uh who do a lot of um community organizing and um uh uh local events for the youth in Roxberry. Um I'm also a local developer and investor in Roxberry. Uh I also have 24 years of
food and beverage industry of which I'm tip certified and serve safe certified. Uh I I I find it very important for me to state uh uh my reasoning uh uh for like my why and what I do for Roxbury
and why I believe so much in Roxberry and it's always been a mission to me. Um uh to see the people of Roxbury and Boston like presented in a better light. Um uh it always has bothered me as a as a young man um to see the negativity
that surrounds our local community and to get questions from uh people in from surrounding areas that would ask me is it really that bad or difficult in Roxbury. And so all of this has driven me to kind of uh be the person that I've
become, which is what I would always say is undo stereotypes um and choosing to be a role model for the youths of Roxberry. Um and so after becoming an assistant principal in uh Boston public schools, uh I chose to
really have a voice for the young people in the community and to help them understand uh that it it education really does pay. And so that's what led me to a vision uh through like the community needs and seeing from all my
years of being in the community and understanding that we have no place uh in our community in Roxbury where we can uh go and sit and have a a nice dinner um and have a drink amongst the people within our community or and and bring
people into our community to understand uh what it is that um uh we offer here in Roxbury. And so I due to the fact that I um uh am pretty heavily invested in the Roxburg community in terms of real estate, I saw
uh a blighted property that has been a eyes in the community for quite some time that I I I I saw that could be a nice vision to to start bringing some of this to fruition. Um and so that is where um I've had um the opportunity to kind of like go
through a thorough community process um and reflect on all angles. And this is where I am today where um I'm bringing to you uh the local 02119 restaurant where I could bring some Caribbean infused food
uh to the Roxbury community members. Great. Thank you for that explanation. Uh we'll see if the board has any questions for you at this time. Yeah. Can you Thank you. That was really great testimony. Could you expand upon your business plan? Like how many seats
you plan on having? Is there a bar? Are you going to have, you know, a full Caribbean infused menu? what what tell us a little bit about the actual restaurant and the reason that you are looking for this license.
Okay, so the actual restaurant is going to be um uh the the property itself is uh currently as it stands three um like commercial uh spaces on the on the bottom floor of which I plan to uh uh
create that restaurant setting. It will have a a full bar of maybe about 11 seats. Uh some booth seating across the window, uh tables for people to sit. Um uh I had I revised the plan a few times
in regards to uh some community conversation. And so we will seat about 75 people uh within the space. It will have a full kitchen. Um and I'm not sure if I answered everything that you asked.
Tell me a little bit about the menu. I'm just I'm taking notes. When I when it comes to vote, it'll just be helpful. Um I am uh Antiggan uh of Antiggan descent. Um and uh West Indian. So the goal is to create
a menu that will have uh that will cater to the West Indian uh like I said infused food um with some also some American appetizers and food as well. Uh, and just to kind of give like a we don't have any uh West India restaurants
within the the Boston community at all or I'm not even sure of too many of them in Massachusetts at all where you can actually sit down and um and and eat with your family, your friends, and the community members. So, uh that is the
goal. Um the menu has not been completely um uh finalized as yet but that is the idea of it all. Okay. So you're going it's going to be a sitdown experience. Correct. Um with a full menu
and a bar that seats about 11 people. Yes. The bar itself will seat about 11 people. Um, there's also, like I said, some boot seating as well as additional table seating and uh like a elongated uh um high top. Okay, that's helpful. Um,
thank you very much. I don't have any questions. I'll see if Commissioner Carr and Commissioner Saxon have any questions. Uh, not at this time. Thank you. None from me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their representatives?
Yes, Madam Chair, members of the board, Connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. At this time, the mayor's office like to defer to the judgement of this board. Some background information, the community process. Uh, so our office hosted two abutters meetings for this proposal. Uh, the
first was in uh August of this past year. Uh, the most recent one was January 28th. the first of Butters meeting there were a lot of residents on who expressed concerns over what they thought would be potential uh impacts on uh parking availability um noise issues
uh trash being generated etc. Um, also concerns about the concept. Uh, applicant after hearing that and after reworking some things, uh, represented kind of more of a family style restaurant, uh, for the second of Butters meeting. Uh, there were still some concerns raised regarding, you
know, parking as well as other substance abuse issues in the area. Uh there were a number of people uh on the meeting though that were in support in the second abutters meeting uh including a member of the assistant uh adviser for the Suffach County District Attorney as
well as uh Senator Liz Miranda uh sent in support letters. Um other residents that were on spoke to uh the character of the proponent um and also mentioned that there really is not a lot of options uh of bars in the Roxberry area and thought this would be a good
addition. Um, with that information, we will defer to the board. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other elected officials? Are there representatives who would like to testify on this matter before we move to uh general public testimony? Hi Danny, this is Kevin Higgins on behalf of Senator Miranda.
Hope everyone's doing well. Uh, I just wanted to come on and convey Senator Miranda's strong support uh for the applicant. Um, this initiative promises to enhance the community by introducing muchneeded sitdown dining, promoting local culture through food, and creating
a welcoming space for both residents and visitors. Um, locally inspired lunch menu. It's going to be a beautiful facility with sports screens and community events and a a neighborhood hub. and they're really aiming to foster connection and vibrancy in the
neighborhood. In addition to revitalizing the property and supporting local suppliers, it's going to provide meaningful employment opportunities for Roxbury residents. Uh and Senator Miranda um feels strongly that as a longtime community member, homeowner,
BPS uh member Clayton's deep roots and thoughtful engagement with the community make this project valuable and and worth uh the board's support. and thank you for your consideration. Thank you very much. Are there any other elected officials or there representatives who would like to
testify on this matter? Uh yes, my name is Sean Sudino. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Sino. You'll have up to two minutes to provide your testimony. Uh yeah, just I'm a local local um resident of um Boston and I do
see this as a plus in regards to our community, our Western Indian Caribbean community um diaspora as far as this would be a a positive thing for our community um based on the fact that we don't have too many options in Boston as well as in Roxbury or
Dorchester or these or the uh neighborhoods and and I do see this as a positive thing, positive investment and for the community as well as for the individuals who are putting this together and I do support it. Thank you very much. Thank you for your testimony.
I see a hand raised from Troy. Uh I'm going to ask you to unmute. You'll have to two minutes to provide your testimony. If you could please just identify yourself and then you can provide your testimony. Absolutely. My name is uh uh Troy Omar Phillip. Uh I am a uh resident of Boston
uh all my life. I work for Boston public schools down in the central office area. And as a person who is of Caribbean descent, uh there's not a lot of options in the area. Uh even even for food, uh when I'm going out to lunch, I find myself order from Uber Eats. So if you
know the opportunity to have a restaurant as such to go to and sit down, have some food, and go back to work, uh that'll be that'll be amazing um for us. I'm also a um working in the restaurant indust ind industry for over 10 years being a bartender, bar manager,
and I support this this uh idea. Thank you very much for your testimony. Uh the next hand I see raised is from a Tindy. I'm going to ask you to unmute as well and you can please uh provide your testimony up to two minutes to do so. Hi, good morning. Hi. Uh my name is
Tindy. Um I am a community member, lifetime or lifelong resident um of Roxberry. Uh specifically in that area that uh Mr. Weston is trying to establish a restaurant. Um that space um has is an eyesore. It has been vacant
for decades. I remember walking to school uh going to to um high school and just wishing that something would be done. Um, you know, there's always going to be potential impacts no matter what establishment is going to go. Um, I
believe that this will be a success successful establishment. It will create the job opportunities. It will help the community thrive because as it has been mentioned, we don't have anything in that community. Um, the closest establishment to eat is a McDonald's. Um
so I believe that you know this um restaurant will foster a positive environment um for the community, for family, for visitors of the Boston area, you know, to gather and socialize. Um so I hope that he receives um the votes to
get get it started. I think it will be good. Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. The next hand as he raised is from an iPhone. I'm going to ask you to unmute if you could please identify yourself and you'll have up to two minutes to provide your testimony. Uh yes. Uh can you hear me? Am I I'm
Yes. I'm uh Tony Richards. I'm a a long-term resident of the neighborhood. I also run a nonprofit that has been in that area for 35 plus years. Uh basketball program I started out of the Roxbury YMCA. Clay Clayton was one of my
younger young men at a 8 nine year old age and I watched him mature into the man that he is today and you know his vision into investing into the Roxbury area has been you know a proud moment to watch him flourish in that area. my my
you know concern or my support uh in in terms of supporting it, you know, just watching the youth that grow up in our city and how they come here, they they grow from being residents of Boston, graduate from school, get educated, and
then they fly out, they go into other cities and become greater, you know, start businesses in other cities because Boston, you know, sometimes is a challenging space to get these license uh approved. D. Um, I think it's an investment. We we we we often I've had
several talks with the mayor, you know, you know, going back to Manino and to the Marty Walls administration of how do we keep our young adults here in our city to make them feel invested? How do we create social space so these young
folks have somewhere to go as well as residents? We don't have a lot of options here in this city. So that's why a lot of times when that social climate isn't warm and inviting, people flight out. They go into other cities and start their families and put poor into the
investment of other cities. We want to capture a lot of that and and remain it to be here in Boston. And I think this is just a vision that Clayton has that can continue that that that uh you know aspect of how do we keep our jewels of
our residents here in the city to allow spaces like this vision that he has to be more of so we're able to have more people invested in the future of Boston. So, I just, you know, strongly support his vision, knowing a young man that he
is, how he's invested in this city and Roxbury particularly, uh, to go strongly in favor of of this project. Thank Thank you for allowing me to share. Thank you very much for your testimony. I see another hand raised from Beverly Williams. Miss Williams, I'm going to
ask you to unmute. You may please provide your testimony. You'll have two minutes. Uh, yes. I am a lifelong resident of Boston. I am a retired Boston public school teacher and that is when I first um met Mr. Weston. I taught with him for many many years and can
speak of his character. Um I am also a community leader. I am with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and this is what I do. I look for opportunities to uplift our communities, support our
communities. and look for opportunities for economic development for owners and for the community itself. I can almost guarantee that some of the things that people are talking about like no park
and trash and all of that that Mr. Clayton and his team will make sure that this is a safe healthy place for people to go to. I don't think that McDonald should be
our family restaurant. I live um close by and when I heard a family restaurant was coming and I was so happy about it and found out it was just another fast food joint. And so I really hope that
you were positively um vote in favor of making sure that this venture of Mr. and actually becomes a reality for our community. Thank you very much. That is the last hand I see raised. Are there any other
individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Any follow-up questions from the board? Danny, I have a couple of questions just based upon some of the testimony we had. I wanted to ask Mr. um Weston a couple more questions. It sounds like you're still building out your concept. Is that
right? The application says 180 people and today you said probably about 75 which is okay. I'm just trying to figure out where you are in in building out this concept. Very good question Miss Joyce.
So in the application process um uh initially I was attempting to do um like a a sports bar right and so that was like a like a standing capacity right now. And as I told you, I went through with the community and heard their
feedback and um and and pivoted uh to do um a restaurant and so uh that's more so thinking about seated capacity. Okay. Um is there going to be like a function? Some people mentioned it'll be a place for community to gather for
functions and events. Is there going to be a separate function space? No, no, no, not a separate function space at all. uh we just utilize the restaurant in that way where we can you know okay uh maybe uh political events or you know that nature. Okay. I am also the
executive director on the entertainment side. So if you don't mind indulging me um are you planning on having live entertainment a dance floor applying for that later on? Is this going to the license you're applying for is until 2 a.m. Are you planning on serving food
till 2 a.m.? um what's the need for a 2 a.m. license? So, in regards to um a dance floor, uh no, there will be no dance floor area. Uh just all purely a restaurant. Okay. Um I I applied uh for
a 2 a.m. license. Um uh just to not actually um like pigeon hole uh what the community uh might want or need, right? Um, I don't intend to be going necessarily till 2 am. Um, uh, but on
the weekends or maybe a holiday weekend, if it if it if if it is, um, if if the community needs that and are still looking for, you know, good food to eat, I would love to be able to offer that to them.
Okay. Um, are you going to have like We can talk about it again. You asked me I I apologize. You asked me also about uh entertainment. Um just briefly like we'll we'd have a separate hearing for that. Nothing more than uh maybe uh at you know just like some background music
and restaurant and so forth. Televisions probably to watch television. Yes. Correct. But you don't plan on bringing like in bands or DJs? No. Okay. Okay. Um those are all the questions I
have. Thank you. What? Mr. Clayton, when do you propose to be open? I apologize. I didn't hear. Um, can you repeat your question? Propose to be open. When do you plan to open?
She's asking when you plan to open. Thank you, Miss Joyce. Uh, so, uh, the goal would be to like, uh, to catch like the the lunch lunchtime. Uh, so maybe like around 11
am getting started up until the evening to the night. Sorry, Commissioner Zack, is that what you were asking? Go ahead. I'm sorry. I was actually talking about the restaurant itself, not your hours, but like when do you when do you propose to actually be able to open the restaurant?
Oh, sorry. Um, uh, so currently I'm in a construction phase. Um, as I said, it was um quite a blighted property. Uh there's expansive renovations happening right now to the restaurant and uh the residential uh spaces. So the goal would
be um and we've been moving quite fast. Uh the goal would be uh by like midsummer um uh going for like uh occupancy and so forth and and and and making sure that that all those things are taken care
of. Late July I would say that would be a good estimate. Thank you. I do see one more hand raised from a Winfield Warren Press. Um, you may please provide your testimony. You'll have two minutes to do so. Thank you. Uh, good morning everyone. Uh, my name is Winfield Warren Press. I've been
a longtime uh, friend of Mr. Weston, business partner, um, colleague. Uh, we work currently, uh, in the same industry. Um, and there are a couple things that I think are important, similar to the testimony
that's already been provided. Uh, Mr. Weston, uh, his vision for his community, Roxberry, I'm a resident of Boston, uh, also a school administrator for Boston public schools. uh his vision for his community uh in Roxbury is exactly the type of vision
that our city councils, our mayor um are asking for um and are investing in folks who can bring uh businesses and opportunities to communities uh that provide for the
needs of the communities. Um I've attended several of the meetings uh you know with the community. We've heard all of you know sort of the positive feedback as well as some of the requests to alter some of the plans and I am
fully in support of what Mr. Weston is proposing what he is doing because Roxbury and Madapan certain parts of Dorchester are deficient of a number of resources including restaurants and
family oriented establishments uh that are integral in other parts of the city but are missing in some of these communities of color. Uh so what he has undertaken with his own money uh without the support of the city uh or any
outside partners uh is commendable and is worthy of full support. Um so I'm in full support of it and I'm happy to see that a number of other members of the community of that city neighborhood are also fully in support of this uh venture. Uh that's my full testimony.
Thank you very much for your testimony. I will ask again. Are there any uh other individuals who would like to testify on this matter who have not yet done so? I have a question. Uh hello. Can anyone hear me? We we can hear you. Yes. Okay. Um uh my name is Jamal Williams. Um, I'm
a longtime member and um member of of of Clayton as well as the community um in Roxberry, Dorchester area. I am also on the board of the Greater G Hall Main Street and within
the initiatives that we do with economic development and so forth is to empower, you know, new business and business owners to thrive within our community. So, um, you know, uh, you know, I'll echo same sentiments that everyone has
has has has provided in favor of this as well. And so, I just want to say that I'm also in favor as well. Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Williams, for your testimony. Um, seems like someone else unmuted themselves at the same time. Uh, if you could, uh, please identify
yourself and you'll have just two minutes to provide your testimony. Um, if you can pop back up on the screen. Hi, how are you? My name is Amalia Alen and I am a resident of the Roxberry community. Um I just wanted to state that Mr. Weston has been a pillar in our community for many years for the youth
and other adults. Um I believe that this would be a great asset to our community for the Caribbean and West um American um community. So I am in support fully of what's going on. Thank you very much for your testimony. Uh one one last
call. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? And are there any remaining questions from the board? Okay, with that, the board will take this matter under adisement. Thank you very much. Thank you. Calling item number nine, Cool Shade
Jamaican Restaurant LLC doing business as Cool Shade Jamaican Restaurant located at 388 Blue Hill A in Dorchester has applied for a common victual or 7-day all alcoholic beverages license to be exercised on the above. Cool Shade Jamaican Restaurant is a 2,800 ft restaurant located on the first floor
with two entrances and two exits. Dining area with seating for 18 in the front of the space, restroom in the rear of the space, and kitchen in the rear and right of the space. Alcohol will be stored in the kitchen area and will only be accessible by staff. Manager Andre Williams. Closing time 11 p.m. Who is
present on behalf of the applicant. Good morning, Madam Chairperson, members of the board. Uh my name is Andre Williams. I'm the owner and manager on record of Cool Shield LLC. I'm a US citizen and a resident of the Commonwealth. I'm familiar with the
rules and regulation of the city of Boston licensing boards and the ABCC. I have also have um over 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. Um the community is um is 100% supportive behind me right now with this
um project. So um Cool Shade Restaurant um approximately open 2 years now and we're um in our the Darkchester community. The people love our food and we're doing
pretty good right now. We do real authentic Jamaican um food. So um a lot of residents in the community um you know come in to support us and would want um to sit and dine and
because we don't have um that the liquor license you know we had to um reach out to the board to try to um fulfill the community um require um the community um request. Thank you guys. Thank
you. Um, so, uh, Mr. Williams, the seating is for 18 people. Yes. Um, do you do you plan on keeping that number? Should you get this? Oh, okay. Um, sorry about that. And,
um, I'm just trying to see. How long have you been at this location? Um, two years. Two years. Okay. And um can you describe for me like what kind of alcohol what your alcohol menu would be like to complement your
Jamaican food menu? Well, so um we usually do um a Jamaican special like rum punch that's a mixed drink. And we also would like to do a lot of um red stripe beers that Jamaican, you know, compliment our food or jerk chicken, you
know, or oxtail. So, a lot of people likes u mixed drinks or um beer to complement their food. Okay. Thank you. That's very very helpful. Um Commissioner Cara, Commissioner Saxon, do you have any questions?
Not at this time. I may ask comments. Thank you. No questions. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Yes, madame chair, members of the board, Connor Newman with the mayor's office of
neighborhood services. This time, the mayor's office like to defer to the judge of this board. Some background information in the community process. Uh ONS had hosted a Butters meeting. Um it was lightly attended um with no concerns raised. Uh they met with the local civic association uh overseen by Mike Kosu. Uh
and that civic I understand was supportive of this proposal. As I mentioned, unaware of any concerns at this time and with that will defer to the board. Thank you. Hi, Danny. Kevin Hagen, Senator Miranda's office. Just want to convey the senator's support.
Thank you very much. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Yes. Hi. Um, my name is Venice and I, um, in favor of this uh, new initiatives. Um, Cos Jamaican restaurant
is unique. The food is great and the ambience is great. Uh it would be a great opportunity to have a full service Jamaican restaurant in our Dorchester Roxbury community as we don't have many options. Often time we find ourselves
leaving our community and moving to other community to dine. We need to build our community and we need more of this uh sort of uh restaurants in our community. I am fully in support of of Andre's um restaurant and um I believe
that this will promote uh growth and unity in our neighborhood and um possibly increase employment. So I'm fully in support of this. Thank you very much. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on
this matter? Seeing none, the board will take this matter under adisement as well. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um it's just come to my attention that the uh board did not ask the required manager of record questions for the previous applicant. Mr. Weston,
are you still with us? I see you're you're here still on the participant list. Um if we could just quickly um Thank you very much, Chairman Joyce. Thank you. Sorry about that. Um Mr. Weston. Um, are you a citizen or
do you have work authorization? I'm a citizen. Okay. Do you do you live in Massachusetts? Yes, I do. Um, do you have experience in the food and beverage industry? Yes. 24 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. Okay. Are you familiar with the rules and regulations
of our board, the ABCC, and the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining to the sale and service of alcohol? Yes, I am. Okay. That covers all four questions. Thank you very much. No problem. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Weston. We are now officially done with item number nine and item number 10 as well. We are now
calling item number 11, AAA Restaurant LLC doing business as AAA restaurant located at 3141 Washington Street in Jamaica Plane has applied for a common vicular or 7-day all alcoholic beverages licensed to be exercised on the above 1,186qt restaurant on a single floor
building with one entrance, one exit. Upon entering, there is a dining area with seating for approximately 19, a service counter, kitchen, and two restrooms in the rear. Basement is approximately 500 square feet for storage only. Manager Paula Martinez. Closing time 11 p.m. Who is present on
behalf of the applicant? I am. My name is Paula Martinez. I'm the manager of AE Restaurant. Um, I would like to thank all who have helped us with this process and a special thank you to Wendy Law. Um, we are so grateful for your guidance and support. Um, I am a citizen of the
United States. I'm a resident of the Commonwealth. I am familiar with the rules and regulations of the city of Boston licensing board. I completed the tip and the serve state food program. I received my certificate for both. Um, we
had opened up a restaurant back in 2008, but um, we were open a few years. Um, we had to sell it later on because I got sick. And, um, we opened up again in 2023. And, um, we hope to acquire the liquor
license to enhance our restaurant and offer better, um, dining for our community. Okay. You did a great job um explaining your concept so far. Um tell me a little
bit about your menu. Um the type of you know what you're envisioning. The menu is um like Hispanic food. Um we do pretty much everything. Um from fried chicken to rice, beans, we do fish, we
do salads, we do soups. Um it's a wide variety of um steaks, um sandwiches, different kinds. I've been open there before and we were doing very well. It's just we
had to sell, but um we're opening up again and um our community knows us very well. We've been in that area for many years. Okay. So, oh, so this is it's going to be like a re-imagining of your previous restaurant.
Yes, sort of. Yes. Okay. Um so, the the description says seating for about 19. Yes. Uh yes, it's around 19 right now. Um we are applying to see if they can um give us for like 40
49 49 um people. Okay. [Music] Um that's very helpful. So just for um sharing information. So, all these applications that we're hearing today um
are going to be grouped with all of the applications that um are ready to go by the end of May. Um so, I'd like Do you have any idea of when your goal is to open should you get a license? Um
we should be opening up. I'm sorry. Um around June. Um shouldn't take us that long. Around June. Okay. around the beginning of June, we should be opening up. Okay. So, just to give you guys some perspective, I'm not we have not scheduled the hearings yet, the voting
hearings yet on these. So, it might be a little Just to um your expectations of June, it could happen, but um it might be a little bit longer just the way the um administration has phased in these
licenses. So, we won't be voting on this until after sometime after May 23rd. And then there's the process with the ABCC which takes it could take a couple of weeks but they've been really good so far. So just for everyone who's on the agenda today um June might be an
aggressive deadline just to understand. Okay. Um I don't have any other questions. Commissioner Cara Commissioner Saxon. Yeah. Not at this time. Thank you. Thank you. None so far. Although the manager
of record questions were they asked or do they need to be asked? Excuse me. I think No, she did. She explained it herself. Oh, I'm sorry. No, she did a great job. Thank you. The initial presentation. Uh, are there any
individuals who would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Yes, madame chair, members of the board, Connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. This time, the mayor's office deferred to the judge from this board. Some background information, the community process. Uh,
ONS had hosted an abutters meeting on December 4th of last year, was lightly attended, no concerns raised. Uh, they went on to meet with the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association, uh, which was supportive. Um, from what I understand, I don't believe they've connected though with the they might have connected with
the JPNC, but I don't believe they've presented at this time. Um, with that, we'll defer to the board. Thank you. Thank you, Connor. I do see a hand raised from Michael Ricekin. Mr. Ricekin, um, you may please provide your testimony. Uh, my name is Michael Ricekin. I live
at 425 South Huntington Avenue in Jamaica Plane, member of the Jamaica Plane Neighborhood Council and chair of its public service committee. Uh, we'd like to ask for a deferral of any decision in this uh request. Um we are
scheduling a meeting uh which we hope that Martinez can attend on May 6th at which time uh we can look at all issues relating to AAA restaurant. As she said uh the Martinez family has operated AAA
for many years as a restaurant. It's a small seating takeout place at that time. Um, and uh, I', um, I'd like to sort of personally apologize. Paula Martinez did reach out
to me in March. I have not gotten back to her to schedule this meeting. Um, it's completely my fault, but I know she did go to the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association. Um and um with your uh deferring of everything until
May 21st, I don't think it'll uh hold her up if you defer uh until our um uh May meeting. Um the um she is also having a a um a separate
expansion. It's a um it's a commercial space with residence above and there were two storefronts on the first floor and as I understand it she's trying to expand to the other storefront uh which would be nice which would be the 49
seats. I'm not sure if that would be a two-step process at the licensing board if uh she is um approved for a license 419. Um but uh in any case, we're asking for a deferral to go over all these
issues uh until May 6th. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ricekin. And just answer that if she is approved um for this 19 seat and later expands, that would be an alteration of premise application further down the road. So that can be handled through a secondary licensing approval. Are there any other
individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Hi Danny. uh Kevin Higgins on behalf of Senator Liz Miranda to convey her support for the applicant. Thank you very much. I'll ask one more. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter?
Board will take this under adisement. Thank you very much. And I apologize that we skipped over item number 10 now calling into the record. Item number 10, Gourmet Creole LLC doing business as Dune and Pepe located at 657 Washington Street in
Dorchester has applied for a common victual or 7-day allcoholic beverages license to be exercised on the above 1,732 ft restaurant space on two floors with one entrance and three exits. First floor includes a dining area with seating for approximately 49. Kitchen, food prep area and one restroom.
Basement includes three dry storage rooms, walk-in cooler, walk-in freezer, prep area, and an additional restroom for employees only. Manager Natalie Laor closing time 12 a.m. Who is present on behalf of the applicant? I am present Natalie Lorps. I also have Vanessa
Blakeley who is my strategic advisor and Oluadari Oning Vinde who is my COO. And Danny, thank you so much for the introduction. Good morning everyone. My name is Natalie Lorps. Um, good morning madame chair and all the members of the board. Um, I am the owner of Gourmet
Creole. I am a US citizen and currently reside um in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Over the past four months, I have become educated on the rules and regulations of the city of Boston licensing board and
the ABCC. I grew up in hospitality with my family's Haitian restaurant for over 22 years and I have been operating my own food truck business here in the city of Boston since 2021. Um, a little bit about Dune and
Pepe. Um, we are planning to open in the fall. It's going to be like you said 49 seats. Um, and the menu is going to be a fusion of Dominican, Haitian, and Cuban food served tapa style. That's why the,
you know, hopefully we can get this liquor license cuz it'll be a great pairing for us to have um drinks to pair with the food. Um, so our goal is to provide elevated dining experience for all of the patrons in the neighborhood.
Um, we are one of few. Um, there's not many sit-down dining restaurants here in the Common Square neighborhood and I don't think any with a liquor license to be quite honest. I think there's one uh restaurant, Fresh Food Generation, that does have a liquor
license here. Um, we have a deep commitment to the community. We want to hire local. Students and veterans definitely are welcome. Um, there's many benefits of having a liquor license. uh expanding the customer base, long
customer stay, increasing revenue for gourmet Creole and Dun Pepe. And it's a neighborhood demand. Um we want to keep people in the neighborhood to celebrate their birthdays, to celebrate graduation, uh baby showers, all of
these amazing things. So that's one of the hopes and dreams of Dun and Pepe, to be able to uh provide for the community. Thank you very much. We'll see if the board has any questions for you at this time. Uh thank you. Uh you did a great job
explaining your concept. Um so it's going to be two floor restaurant. No, just one floor. Okay. All right. [Music] Um, and it it just it'll be the 49 seats
will be in the dining room. There's no um function space attached or anything like that. No. Okay. I might have questions after the public testimony, but uh you did a great job. So, thank you for joining us. Thank you. Yeah. Uh same for me. No questions at
this time. None for me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Yes, madame chair, members of the board, Connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. Uh at this time, the mayor's
office like to defer to the judgment this board some background information the community process. Uh ONS had done an abutters meeting for this proposal on February 4th. Uh there were a handful of residents in attendance. Um some residents had concerns just regarding the potential impact on parking and
noise. uh some questions over uh what alcohol would be served in the establishment in the closing hour. Uh there was a resident on that did speak in support uh saying this is what we've been looking for in our neighborhood. Um they also received support from the Codman Square Neighborhood Council um
after they connected with them um post a butters meeting. Uh with that information we'll defer to the board. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Hi Danny, Kevin Higgins on behalf of Senator Liz Miranda to convey support
and also just uh she wanted to add a personal note that this is an applicant who uh used her culinary talent and her her entrepreneurial spirits to feed people throughout the CO 19 pandemic and also uh assisted over 900 families when
we were experiencing the migrant crisis uh in Boston with uh new neighbors. and this is just an applicant who's been incredibly rooted in the community in all through all of her businesses and her uh her community involvement. So, thank you.
Thank you very much uh for that testimony. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? I would like to say my name is Vanessa Blakeley. As Natalie mentioned, I've been uh I've had the honor of of getting to know this team and to work and help them in building out a sustainable
business plan and making sure that they have um a strategic effort around their business, around um all of the uh many ambitions of this team. And I can say that I'm in full support of their application for the liquor license. Um particularly with their location being
in in uh Quadrin Square in Dorchester. I'm a longtime Boston resident and I feel that these neighborhoods need that vibrancy that um Natalie and her team are going to bring in and that are going to be so um inclusive and relevant um to
the the neighborhood and to the actual makeup of the neighborhood. And so many people that we talked to when we were going through this process expressed the desire to stay in their neighborhood and to have a beautiful place and to have something that they feel really proud of that's not just uh operational or
functional but also um happy and vibrant with the lights on and plants and and colors and making it so that we have that kind of um creative approach to business but also sustainability in the neighborhood. So, I'm in um full uh full
support of this and I thank you all for for all of your your help and guidance. Thank you very much. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter who have not yet done so? Any further questions from the board following
testimony? With that, the board will take this matter under advisement as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Calling item number 12, Conua LLC. doing business as Moe's Tavern and Kitchen located at 571 to 575 Washington Street in Brighton has applied for a common
vicular 7-day all alcoholic beverages license to be exercised on the above premise known as 575 Washington Street in Brighton. 12,200 ft² upscale gastro pub on a single story with one main entrance and two exits. We'll include an open floor plan with a long bar with up
to 20 seats as well as booths, banettes and hightop seating for up to 50 guests. There will be an open kitchen located in the rear of the space. There are two ADA compliant bathrooms. And in the basement, there will be an office, walk-in cooler, and storage. Manager, Candace Dowing. Closing time, 1:00 a.m. Who's present on behalf of the
applicant? Uh, I am. My name is Damian Dowling. Um, I'm the owner and my wife is Candace. She's going to be the uh general manager. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for being with us. If you could please uh present the proposed concept to the board. Sure.
Um we uh both al already own uh two very small our two small um neighborhood restaurants. One in uh Brooklyn and one in Cambridge. Uh both of them are called the Abbey. So we were hoping to do a similar concept which would be like a neighborhood
friendly neighborhood familyfriendly restaurant beastro American style beastro um with a very varied and mixed menu. um every anything from devild eggs, burgers, sandwiches, steak, fruits to fresh pasta, uh fresh seafood, um so
forth. Um it will have a uh we were hoping to have a a full menu till um 12:30 uh every night uh 7 days a week. Um with with our other small restaurants, we feel that
um we there is there is a niche market there for late night food from other workers, from hospital workers, from police, from other restaurant workers looking to get uh food after most restaurants close at 10:00. So yeah, so that's our concept. It will be a very
neighborhood orientated, familyfriendly uh restaurant. um in the Oak Square area at the moment there are there are numerous uh restaurants, excuse me, but um there are none that serve um uh beer, wine or liquor um currently. So um we were
hoping to to enrich the neighborhood. We are both um 21 24 year old residents of Brighton um Oak Square area. Um our kids went to school here, so we're very much invested in the community. Thank you. Um, thank you for that
description. It's very helpful as we contemplate these applications. Um, Mling, are you a citizen or do you have work authorization? I am a citizen. Yes. And do you still live in Brighton? We do. Okay. Um, your
husband explained your experience in the food and beverage industry. The last question is, are you familiar with the rules and regulations of our board? ABC and the laws of the Commonwealth around um sale and service alcohol. Yes, I am. I might have some questions if there's
public after public testimony, but um at this time I'll see if Commissioner Carr and Commissioner Saxon have any questions. I have no questions this time. Thank you. None for me. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals would like to testify on this matter, beginning with elected officials or their
representatives? Yes, madame chair, members of the board, Connor Newman with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. At this time, the mayor's office like to defer to the judge from this board. Some background information the community process and had hosted a Butters meeting. Uh residents that were on were not opposed
to the project. Uh but there were concerns expressed about existing rodent problems in the area and asked that the applicant work with the landlord to ensure uh that trash is disposed of safely and securely. Um they went on to meet with the Brighton Austin Improvement Association that was very
supportive of this proposal. Uh with that, we'll defer to the board. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? I see a hand raised from a Joseph Walter. We're going to ask you to unmute. You'll have up to two minutes to provide your testimony. Uh good morning. Thank you for your
time. Uh my name is Joseph Walter. I live at 12 Mon Avenue, which is right around the corner from the property. Um unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Butters meeting. Um, so I apologize if my concerns were already addressed. Um, I am very excited to see a new business going into that spot. Um, it's
been vacant for a while and I'm a big fan of the Abbey. So, uh, I'm really rooting for them. However, the trash situation is really pretty bad. Uh, it's currently a bunch of plastic bins between their property and mine. Uh, they chewed through full of holes. Uh, and there are rats pretty much
everywhere. Um, I'm not sure that there's really room for a dumpster on the property. Um, but there have been numerous trash complaints filed against that property for trash that's just left on the ground as well as dirty mattresses left over the place. So, if they can address those issues, I'm really rooting for them and hope they
get this project approved. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Any follow-up questions from the board? I have no questions at this time. Thanks. There are no further questions. The
board will take this under advisement as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And calling item number 13, Embrace Boston, Inc. located at 1200 Tremont Street, has applied for a general on premise all alcoholic beverages license to be exercised on the
above. of the premise shall consist of a portion of the building on levels one and two and it proportionate chair of the mechanical penthouse totaling approximately 31,000 square ft and use of outdoor pavilion combined occupancy an estimated 5,000 ft² rooms will
include a 6,000t theater 2400t gallery 2,000 ft for retail 1,000 ft for 3 to five offices and multi-use spaces manager Julie Chalianardi closing time 11 p.m. who is present on behalf of the applicant.
Hi, it's Julie Chad Embrace Boston and I'm also joined by our COO Duncan Ramish Healey. Thank you very much. Uh if you could please uh present the proposed concept to the board. Uh thank you Danny. Um and also Madam Chair, members of the board,
special thanks to Miss Law, Miss Frell, Miss Jana, and the Lower Roxberry Neighborhood Association for their help in the process. Um, so who we are, Embrace Boston is a 501c3 nonprofit. Our first project with the city was the Embrace Memorial, a monument representing the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Kretta Scott's
meeting, Falling in Love in Boston, a time that helped shape their work in the civil rights movement. We unveiled the Embrace in the 1965 Freedom Plaza in January 2023 in the Boston Common. Since then, Embrace Boston has worked towards the intersection of arts and culture and
research and policy through recurring community activations, festivals hosting local food vendors, performing artists, and a commitment to spatial justice and economic empowerment through social infrastructure. So, the project specifically is uh parcel 3 in Roxberry
through the my city at peace and hymn plan to develop this 7.8 an 8 acre lot into a hub centered in black culture and intergenerational economic development and wealth building through affordable housing, job creation, and public art. Our piece within the development in
Nubian Square is a 31,000 square foot cultural center which includes revenue generating spaces, performance hall, event space for rent, commercial space for vendors, open seating, and a permanent and rotating art gallery and flexible multi-use space.
Thank you. Anything further uh before we move to questions from the board. Great. With that, we will see if there are any questions. Chairman Joyce. Um excuse me. So, let me just get the manager of record questions out of
the way. Um Miss Miss Leonardi, are you a citizen or do you have work authorization? Yes, I'm a citizen. Do you live in Massachusetts? Yes. Do you have experience in the food and beverage industry? Uh yes, I was a supervisor,
executive director of a K28 uh public school um where we had our own commercial uh kitchen and we made our food from scratch. Okay. Are you famili familiar with the rules and regulations of our board and the ABCC, the laws in the Commonwealth
pertaining to the sale and service of alcohol? Yes. Okay. So, um either you or um u Mr. Healey, could you just describe like how this license will help you with the um programming you envision in the
space? Like how are you going to use the license? I understand what the space is, familiar with that. Um but tell me a little bit about how you plan on using this liquor license. Um well we have um every year been hosting our own festivals and conferences um by having to rent other
other spaces. And so by having our own space u we would be able to provide our own food and beverage um for these cultural events and where we're promoting bipok and womenowned businesses. Um and given the sort of economic disparities that we see in uh
the retail and food and beverage industry, um we want to include the liquor license as as a component for our own events um hosted by uh vendors as well as uh we do have a plan to have a small business incubator. Um so to be
able to provide the facility piece that while a small business might have the food and beverage piece or the the kind of um other kind of retail component cultural um angle that we want to um share representation and then we'd be able to provide the license and the
facility. Okay. So are you still a little confused um about your use of the license? Will it just be for special events? Are you having a cafe that show sells alcohol every day? Um, is the entire facility
open to the public? How do you plan on You're talking about incubator space like you're going to have an incubator food and beverage restaurant in there or I mean it's one license that you would be responsible for. So, can you talk me through I I just I can't
picture it right now. Um so so the the goal would be to be able to house a a regular either restaurant or cafe um that would be run through um some of the first and second floor um and so uh that housed
restaurant or cafe um that would be regular use of the license. I can jump in here too as well. Uh thank you for for the time. Uh we spent about three years now kind of designing this out future casting of course as this development has come on and been in partnership with HYM and my city of
peace and I think part of it is that um you know we've got architectural renderings and a business plan that's backed into it. Um and so we can share more of that with the committee if that's helpful to kind of visualize the concept. Uh but it is it is something that u we have done a deep dive into
understanding the needs and wants of the uh community in terms of re reaffirming what was once there uh economies and other uh other uh entities um and also being a part of a larger community that is going to be uh developed there.
Okay. So back to the application for a general on premise all alcohol license. You plan on having a restaurant though too as part of this? Correct. We've got great partners that we've been building up including uh Brockton and Beer Company that is running their own thing
and so they would essentially be an anchor institute within this space and would be one of the primary uh restaurant uh components to this. All right. So the space will have a primary restaurant tenant of some sort and then you're going to have a space for private functions.
Um, and so where's the is there a kitchen? Yeah, there's a there's a whole back of the house uh kitchen. If you've ever been to um Union Square and seen Bow Market, uh it's a similar like setup
where there are shared kitchen spaces or there's dedicated kitchen spaces depending upon the needs of of the tenants. And again, these are early stages, so we're just trying to futurecast and make sure we've got the tools in place. So, as we start to to build it out [Music]
and I'll I'll take a look at your floor plans and stuff, but um if it's going to be one liquor license over this entire space, so you're um there's like rules around the
connectivity of the spaces and the passage of alcohol from one place to the other. And I don't see anything in the application about a restaurant. So, it looks like you're applying for a general on premise license, which isn't
something that can be um it doesn't seem like it can be used in the way you're describing, but we can I guess we can talk to you about that. Um I I feel like I'm not fully prepared. I haven't done a deep dive into your application, but do you understand those
rules? Yeah, and we're we're happy to again continue the conversations and share other things. I think our architectural renderings also account for the blocking off of certain areas and making sure there is uh security measures and all that so that it isn't just an open, you know, concept that
there are places where alcohol is consumed and then there are places where there are there is alcohol that is not. Okay. Um I think we might need to work a little bit more on this one, but uh Commissioner Caro, Commissioner Saxon, do you have any questions? Uh mean nothing additional at this time.
Thank you. No questions right now. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any individuals who would like to testify on this matter beginning with elected officials or their representatives? Yes, madame chair members of the board conne with the mayor's office of
neighborhood services. Uh at this time the mayor's office to defer to the judge from this board. Um some background information the community process uh ONS had done an affairs meeting that was likely attended. No concerns raised. Um as you heard they connected with the uh
lower Roxberry uh neighborhood group uh which was supportive of this proposal. Uh with that we'll defer to the board. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter? Seeing none, the board will take this under adisement as well. Thank you
very much. Those are all of the items before the board this morning. Uh the board is set to vote tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Notice has been posted to the city's website that will adjourn this hearing. Thank you all. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you.