Liquor Board

Last Saturday, I went to Dubai. No, not the glitzy metropolis in the United Arab Emirates; the club on 200 E. Redwood St. that opened in late January under a new name after two years as the troubled Velvet Rope. With the change, the owners hope to distance themselves from a tarnished old name and associate themselves with the luxury that Dubai brings to mind. But those aspirations might be too lofty. If rebranding was all that a bad reputation needed, Hosni Mubarak might still be in power.

The dormant liquor license has been reactivated at 924 North Charles Street, the former home of the Brass Elephant. The approval came at Thursday's meeting of the Baltimore City Liquor License Board. Within a few weeks, the property will reopen as The Museum, according to the board's president Stephan Fogelman. Faced with opposition from neighborhood groups, attempts to reactivate the license stalled in February, when Charles Street Restaurant, Inc., the holding company that operated the Brass Elephant, asked the liquor board for a postponement.  On the eve of the February hearing, however, the association sent its members an email listing concerns about the plans for the property, particularly the inclusion of live entertainment.

The Tiki Barge won't have a twin barge this Spring after all. Owners of the popular and controversial floating barge had planned to build a seafood and raw bar aboard a second barge this Spring, but the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday sided with neighbors who opposed the idea. The decision was a major disappointment for Tiki manager Bud Craven, who was ready to start construction Monday.  "I'm real surprised," Craven said after the hearing. "A lot of time and a lot of money has already been spent on this project.

Simon Paul "Sy" Jarosinski Jr., a retired aeronautical engineer and former member of the Baltimore County Liquor Board, died April 30 of ischemic cardiomyopathy at his Timonium home. He was 90. The son of a Baltimore City councilman and a homemaker, Mr. Jarosinski was born in Baltimore and raised near Patterson Park. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Jarosinski went to work in 1940 for the old Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River, eventually becoming an aeronautical engineer.

City liquor board Chairman Steve Fogleman has a new sideline, as a tennis reporter. Fogleman, who avidly tweets about liquor board business under the handle BaltoBeerBaron , started a new Twitter feed this month under the name Tennis Maryland . Fogleman played tennis as a kid, though never competitively, and has followed professional tennis closely as an adult. On BaltoBeerBaron, he's been mixing tweets about liquor-license transfers with the likes of news on the Williams sisters.

The liquor board Thursday suspended Tiki Barge's license for the month of July — peak season for the floating South Baltimore bar — for disturbing the peace and misleading statements from the bar's lawyer, according to liquor board chairman Stephan Fogleman. Since Tiki Barge shares a liquor license with Sorso Cafe and the restaurant Tabrizi's, all three businesses will not be able to serve alcohol for 30 days, pending an appeal. "When one goes, they're all affected," Fogleman said.

The city liquor board on Thursday fined two clubs on The Block after a man was found to have exposed himself in one and a dancer fondled the genitals of a patron in the other. Circus Bar at 427 E. Baltimore St. was fined $3,000 after a liquor board inspector said he observed a man with his penis exposed receiving a lap dance from a dancer June 16. The bar's owner testified that he immediately fired the dancer and told the board there was nothing more he could have done to stop the incident.

The Baltimore liquor board suspended indefinitely the liquor license for the owners of a Northeast Baltimore club already padlocked by city police, according to the board's commissioner. Club 410, in the 4500 block of Belair Road, has been closed since April after police said it posed a "considerable threat to public safety." At a hearing Thursday, liquor board commissioners ordered the club out of the neighborhood and the license returned to its creditor, finding management guilty of allowing underage drinking and live entertainment in January.

Will the Tiki Barge float again this summer? Fans and critics of the Harborview Marina bar will have to wait to find out. After a four-hour meeting Thursday, the Baltimore Board of Liquor License Commissioner did not come to a decision about the bar's liquor license, which has been challenged by some of its neighbors. Instead, Chairman Stephan Fogleman ordered the owners of the bar and its critics to meet, hash out their differences and appear before the board again in three weeks with an agreement of some kind.

Yet again, it appears liquor inspectors in Harford County have proven their services are in substantial demand. On July 23, inspectors and police, including an undercover underage purchaser, visited 22 places in the county licensed to sell the only legal recreational intoxicant. To their credit, 17 of the operations with liquor licenses refused to sell to the underage person. Unfortunately, it appears five places weren't so responsible when it comes to handling the great responsibility of keeping intoxicants out of the hands and bodies of people deemed under the law not ready for beer, wine or liquor.

Of Love & Regret, Brian Strumke's upcoming bar in Brewer's Hill, got an endorsement from the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday. The board conditionally approved the bar's liquor license, pending a meeting with the Canton Community Association. Of Love & Regret is a creative and business collaboration between Stillwater founder Brian Strumke and Ted Stelzenmuller, chef and co-owner of restaurant Jack's Bistro in Canton, and is expected to open some time this Spring.  But the bar's license wasn't the most watched portion of Thursday board meet.

UPDATE: Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, after revewing the video and the photos from Canton, said promised better police deployment next year: “There is no question the neighborhood was destroyed, and it shouldn't have been. It looked like a garbage dump. Homeowners deserve better.” St. Patrick's Day celebrations got a bit out of hand in several Baltimore neighborhoods, with police arresting 10 juveniles Saturday night in the Inner Harbor after a stabbing and at least one fight broke out downtown.

The Tiki Barge won't have a twin barge this Spring after all. Owners of the popular and controversial floating barge had planned to build a seafood and raw bar aboard a second barge this Spring, but the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday sided with neighbors who opposed the idea. The decision was a major disappointment for Tiki manager Bud Craven, who was ready to start construction Monday.  "I'm real surprised," Craven said after the hearing. "A lot of time and a lot of money has already been spent on this project.

Faced with opposition from neighborhood groups, plans to reopen the Brass Elephant have stalled. The restaurant's owners asked the city's liquor board on Thursday for time to regroup amid concerns that the cherished fine-dining restaurant would be converted into a nightclub. "We would like to have legal representation," said Stuart Teper, a representative of Charles Street Restaurant, Inc., the Brass Elephant's holding company. The owners had been seeking to reactivate the Brass Elephant's liquor license but instead asked for a postponement, which the Board of Liquor License Commissioners granted.

Of the seven charges against Dubai nightclub at the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday, it was the accusation the club allowed guests to smoke pot that piqued commissioner Elizabeth Smith. On September 2 of last year, police officer Stephen Wilson was called to the club, the former Velvet Rope , for crowd control after rappers Jim Jones and Juelz Santana had performed. Wilson "walked into a visible cloud of smoke that had a strong odor of marijuana," he told the board.

The controversial and popular Tiki Barge may have a sister barge this Spring. The people behind the Tiki Barge - including Harborview developer and liquor license holder Richard Swirnow and general manager Bud Craven - asked the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday to add a seafood restaurant and sushi bar aboard another barge to their existing liquor license. That license covers Tabrizi's Restaurant, Sorso Cafe and the Tiki Barge. After what chairman Stephan Fogleman desribed as a "vibrant discussion," the Liquor Board said it will have a decision on the expansion in two weeks.

Of Love & Regret, Brian Strumke's upcoming bar in Brewer's Hill, got an endorsement from the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday. The board conditionally approved the bar's liquor license, pending a meeting with the Canton Community Association. Of Love & Regret is a creative and business collaboration between Stillwater founder Brian Strumke and Ted Stelzenmuller, chef and co-owner of restaurant Jack's Bistro in Canton, and is expected to open some time this Spring.  But the bar's license wasn't the most watched portion of Thursday board meet.

Of the seven charges against Dubai nightclub at the Baltimore Liquor Board Thursday, it was the accusation the club allowed guests to smoke pot that piqued commissioner Elizabeth Smith. On September 2 of last year, police officer Stephen Wilson was called to the club, the former Velvet Rope , for crowd control after rappers Jim Jones and Juelz Santana had performed. Wilson "walked into a visible cloud of smoke that had a strong odor of marijuana," he told the board.

Gambling charges against a state lawmaker's brother and three others were set aside on an inactive docket Monday in Baltimore County District Court in Towson, meaning the court made no finding of guilt or innocence in the case alleging that a Dundalk tavern made cash payouts on video game machines. Daniel J. Minnick, 86, brother of state Del. Joseph "Sonny" Minnick, who was also a part-owner of Minnick's on Sollers Point Road, agreed as a condition of setting aside the charges to forfeit five video game machines and half the cash confiscated in a police raid on June 29. Police alleged that the bar/restaurant was making payouts to customers playing the machines.

State Del. Joseph J. "Sonny" Minnick and his family have quit the tavern business after 20 years, selling their liquor license shortly before the lawmaker's brother faces trial on gambling charges in connection with video machine payouts at the Dundalk establishment. Records show that the Minnick's Restaurant liquor license was transferred last month to new owners, two of whom also have Baltimore County political connections and own another Dundalk restaurant. The Democratic delegate's older brother, Daniel Minnick, 86, faces six charges in a case scheduled for trial Monday in Baltimore County District Court.