We got a liquor license for our terrasse a few weeks ago.
This means people can now enjoy some wine, locally made beer or spiked lemonade with their lunch (it’s a restaurant license so patrons have to order a meal to get booze).
The process took over 7 months. Why? Because our store concept didn’t fit easily into the defined categories the Regie uses to decide if an establishment is valid for a liquor license.
It was painstaking and ended in hearing before a Regie panel. At the hearing, we had no lawyer, we don’t speak legalese (let alone french legalese) and thought we’d been slaughtered by the Regie’s legal team. Both Linds and I said ‘That was awful’ as soon as we got out of earshot of the judges and Regie officials.
Basically we wrote the license off as a lost cause and wasted effort.
But sometimes life surprises its participants.
That’s what happened to us. We got the license. Just goes to show, you really never know! Yogi Berra’s pearl of wisdom ‘It ain’t over till it’s over’ looms large.
