Dry times are almost over

Oberlin's dry spell is just about over.

Since the approval of the sale of wine and mixed drinks within two Oberlin precincts in last week's elections, five downtown restaurants have applied for liquor permits.

Business owners anticipate approval of the permits in the next few weeks, after which they will be able to add beer, wine and mixed drinks to their menus.

The Black River Cafe, the Foxgrape, Jia Wei's Tea and Noodle House and the Mandarin officially applied for separate liquor permits. The restaurants' applications will undergo at least a month of processing at the Department of Liquor Control.

The Black Cafe chef and owner Joe Waltzer, OC '97, and Jai Wei, owner of the Noodle House and the Mandarin, initiated the change by first sending statements of intention to the State Department of Liquor Control in July. Both businessmen then gathered signatures from local residents within their local precincts: 2-A and 2-B. Having gathered enough signatures the question was put on the local ballot in last week's election.

Waltzer is excited by the prospect of serving alcohol at his cafe. "I want to do Bailey's Cream and Kahlua and champagne brunches on Sunday," said Waltzer. "I could even think about doing margaritas with the Chi Chi's mix but they're not that good."

Foxgrape chef and owner Alana Kelley applied for the D2 liquor permit which will allow the sale and service of wine as well as the service of mixed drinks. "The biggest intention is wine," Kelley said. "We want to serve by the bottle as well as the glass. We'd be able to do cognac after dinner," she said.

In addition to being able to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, patrons of the Foxgrape might see another benefit from the change: lower food prices. "Our food cost is high because we use high quality ingredients. The money is a reflection of the quality of food," said Kelley. But by serving wine Kelley hopes to lower these prices for students. "It is my intention to lower prices to encourage students to come," she said.

Wei has applied for a D5 permit, which is the same as the D2 permit but also allows the sale of beer. "We want everything so we have more options," said Wei.

Currently Wei is taking things one step at a time. Even if he is able to sell hard liquor drinks, Wei said he plans to start with wine. He looks forward to having a wine list to give his customers. Wei is also the owner of the Mandarin restaurant where his D5 permit would also apply.

Waltzer was confident about the pending liquor permit applications results. "I think everyone downtown will get one," he said.