Inventory for November 26th, 2017

Hi friends! We’re nearing the end of the year and news is slow. Which is we today we only have the following three topics for you: David Wondrich tells the tale of 1980s New York, when dancing used to be illegal in bars, Brexit is causing many a restaurant to close, and the team behind The Palomar restaurant is readying itself  to take over a 278-year-old pub. Cheers!

Is the person you’re dating hiding something from you? Maybe it’s the fact that they’re a bartender! If you need to figure it out, the Matador Network has got your covered with their clever little listicle titled 12 Signs You’re Dating a Bartender. Our favorite sign? Number two: “Your weekly alcohol intake has tripled.” But maybe that’s just a sign that you’re dating a douche and need alcohol to maintain the relationship.

When It Was Illegal to Dance in New York Bars

Remember the tiny town in Footloose? Apparently, the dancing ban can happen anywhere, even in the city of dreams, the big apple, the city that never sleeps. That’s right, we’re talking about New York City. David Wondrich once again takes on a delightful historical topic for his column in The Daily Beast. This time, he tackles the “arcane Cabaret Law” which just got overturned in New York this month. Wondrich talks about his time dancing in Tribeca bars in the 1980s with nursing students (read the piece to make sense of that tidbit), which it turns out, was illegal until very recently.

“New York, you see, had the Cabaret Law, which dictated that there was to be no dancing where alcohol was served unless the establishment had a cabaret license, and the city granted cabaret licenses with the same abandon with which Donald Trump grants apologies. Most bars observed the law: there were inspectors, and fines were heavy. You’d start shimmying a little, what with youthful exuberance and Kamikazes and all, and next thing you know the bartender is yelling at you to stop that damn dancing over there. Be good or be gone.” But on November 1st of 2017, New York City repealed the Cabaret Law. An amazing piece that’s an insightful look into a New York that no longer is and will most likely never be again.

Recent London Restaurant Casualties

“A number of high profile London restaurants, including HKK in Shoreditch and Paradise Garage in Bethnal Green, have been forced to close as profit margins become increasingly squeezed.” What’s to blame? Brexit. The Drinks Business reports that the perfect storm has been created by the dip in the value of the pound in the wake of Brexit, imported ingredients are getting pricier, and the fact that fewer Europeans are seeking employment in the British hospitality industry. This comes as no surprise. “Accountancy firm Moore Stephens predicted that as many as one in five restaurants in the UK are threatened with closure with the number of restaurants declaring insolvency having risen by 13% in the year ending March 2017.” Casualties include HKK, L’Autre Pied, Paradise Garage, and Vineet Bhatia. The more worrying news is that we’ll be seeing a rise in chain/restaurants again soon “Bloomberg reports that independent restaurants are in jeopardy in London, with the number of new indie restaurant openings falling while spinoffs are on the rise.” Cool, just what everybody needs.

Palomar Team to Take over 278-year-old Pub

This is the reason Americans wax lyrical about Europe, try finding anything that’s over 200 years old (and wasn’t stolen from another culture) in the US. The brother and sister duo Leo and Zoë Paskin, who run The Palomar and The Barbary restaurants, are readying themselves to take over a 278-year-old pub in London’s Chinatown. Set to open on December 5th, The Blue Posts has operated at its Rupert Street address since 1739. The pub is meant to be kept as a pub, with the addition of a daily changing menu as well as a bar menu.