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Friday, February 12, 2010
Wine distributor cited for improper alcohol sales in Madison’s case
A state investigative agency has issued a citation against Vintner Select accusing the Mason-based wine wholesaler and distributor of improperly selling wine to a restaurant that did not have a valid license to serve alcohol, Julie Hinds, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Ohio Investigative Unit, said this morning, Feb. 12.
The citation is connected with the Jan. 14 raid on Madison’s Bistro in Washington Twp., in which agents with the unit seized beer, wine and liquor and charged Madison’s owner George Argue with illegal sales of alcohol. The citation against Vintner Select comes two weeks after the state agency took similar action against Dayton-based beer distributor Bonbright Co. and Centerville liquor wholesaler Arrow Wine & Spirits.
The citations against Vintner Select and Bonbright, and the recommendation for potential action against Arrow, are not criminal charges, but could result in administrative sanctions, up to the possible revocation of their licenses to serve as wholesalers-distributors in Ohio, Hinds said.
Companies that distribute beer, wine and liquor on a wholesale basis have a responsibility under Ohio statues to make sure the restaurants and bars who purchase the alcohol have a valid permit to sell it at retail, Hinds said. Madison’s Bistro’s license to serve alcohol was revoked on Jan. 12, 2009, as a result of non-payment of state taxes, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Liquor Control.
Gordon Hullar, owner of Vintner Select, said his company “received no notification that Madison’s license had been terminated. If we had, we would not have sold them wine. “
“The Ohio Liquor Control person that delivered the citation told us that they don’t send notices when licenses are terminated but rather list it on a web site. We were not aware of or monitoring this web site and thus sold the wine. … Now that we have been made aware of this web site, we will begin monitoring it to ensure this doesn’t happen to us again.”
The state’s raid on the Washington Twp. restaurant at 5531 Far Hills Ave. came one year and two days after the restaurant’s attempt to renew its liquor license was rejected.
Argue has pleaded not guilty in Kettering Municipal Court to one count of illegal sales of alcohol, a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of $1,000 fine and six months in jail, and keeping a place where alcohol was sold illegally, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine with no jail time. A pretrial conference has been scheduled for Feb. 25.
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TweetRestaurant Week sets all-time record
Miami Valley diners’ hunger for a great bargain — combined with perhaps a touch of cabin fever — pushed last month’s Winter Restaurant Week to record-setting levels.
With only a few restaurants left to report their numbers, the Miami Valley Restaurant Association reported this morning, Feb. 12 that 21,216 Restaurant Week meals were served starting Jan. 24 — eclipsing the summer 2009 mark of 19,690 and shattering the record set in winter 2009 of 20,009, which was achieved in part because restaurants extended the promotion to two weeks following a paralyzing snowstorm during week one.
The record numbers “show the willingness of diners across the Miami Valley to help great causes and to try new restaurants,” said Amy Zahora, the restaurant association’s executive director. A touch of cabin fever also helped, as did the fact that a few more restaurants extended the promotion into a second week, Zahora said. Restaurant Week allows diners to order a three-course meal from a special menu for $20.10, with restaurants donating $1 for every special meal sold to local charities. The winter 2010 charities benefitting were Blue Star Mothers, Camp Emanuel and Family Violence Prevention Center of Greene County.
Also contributing to the week’s success was the decision by several sports bars and casual-dining restaurants to join Restaurant Week for the first time this year and to offer frugal diners an option of getting two meals, rather than one, for $20.10. Such “two-for” specials accounted for about 600 dinners, or less than 3 percent of the total meals sold, however — suggesting that most Dayton-area diners still equate Restaurant Week with fine-dining restaurants and a chance perhaps to dine at restaurants they otherwise wouldn’t.
Click here for your reviews — and mine — of Restaurant Week meals.
Mark your calendars now for Summer Restaurant Week, which is scheduled for July 25-30.
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