Dupont ANC Taking Aim at Saint-Ex?

Is 14th Street brunch/dinner/bar spot Saint-Ex a restaurant or a tavern?


This is the question that has confronted it and numerous other restaurants in the Dupont/Logan/U Street area in recent months, as the city has moved to clamp down on establishments that don't meet the "restaurant" requirements for food sales. Tavern licenses, which offer much looser restrictions on food, can be difficult to obtain because converting an establishment from a restaurant to a tavern necessitates a change in the liquor license, which is nearly always protested.

With Saint-Ex, the issue is a particularly intriguing one, and serves to highlight the problems inherent in both the District's liquor license laws and the way in which such licenses can be protested.

Thanks to a recent article in the Dupont Current, we learned of Saint-Ex owner John Snellgrove's attempt to convert the liquor license of his business from a restaurant-class license to a tavern. The reason, according to Snellgrove, is that "keeping a chef on premises until two hours before closing time [as necessitated by the restaurant-class liquor law] makes no financial sense." So he's seeking to convert Saint-Ex's license to that of a "tavern" which would significantly loosen the restrictions on the hours of food service.

The point to keep in mind here is this: Snellgrove is adamant that Saint-Ex is dependant upon food sales to survive. The establishment currently exceeds the amount required to meet the restaurant-class quota, and Snellgrove has no intentions of scaling back or otherwise changing his food service. He is merely looking to escape a burdensome regulation that is costing his business money.

If you think that this sounds straightforward enough, then you clearly aren't familiar with the way liquor license protests function in our neighborhood. Practically every single license application —be it for a new license, renewal or change — is protested, frequently by the ANC in which the establishment resides. The U Street Commission has already voted to protest the license change in an attempt to negotiate a new "voluntary" agreement with Saint-Ex. I wasn't in attendance at the U Street ANC meeting when this decision was made, so I can't comment on what changes they are looking for. But that move by itself should have been sufficient to address any concerns the neighborhood might have with Saint-Ex.

Not for Dupont Circle ANC Commissioner Ramon Estrada. You might remember Estrada for his ardent opposition to Constantine Stavropoulos's plans to open a 24 hour diner and comedy club at a still-vacant building at 14th and T streets. Well, Estrada is back, and this time he's taking aim at Saint-Ex.

His complaint? Well, Estrada, who lives across from the establishment, is quoted in the Current article as saying "It’s common for 15 to 20 people to congregate on the sidewalk outside the establishment . . . I’m getting e-mails, calls. People are coming to my door saying that late-night noise shouldn’t go on.” Oh, do tell. You mean people are congregating on a block which sits in the middle of one of the most popular late-night corridors in the city and includes both a late might pizza takeout and a Yum's carryout? You don't say.

Never mind that Estrada can't identify which establishments these clusters of people have been patronizing, at what hours they are congregating, or how much of a disturbance they are actually creating (a fellow T Street resident is quoted as saying "We never have problems [with noise]"), it's got to be the fault of Saint-Ex.

And never mind that Saint-Ex doesn't even reside within Estrada's ANC — he led the charge for a unanimous vote (with one abstention) 6-1 vote (with commissioner Jack Jacobson in opposition) by the Dupont ANC to protest them anyway. And yet, the most absurd statement made by Estrada must be this:

“On its face, I cannot accept that you can’t keep your kitchen open until two hours before closing." To which I say: On its face, I cannot accept advice on running a food-serving establishment from someone who never has.

It is not clear what about Saint-Ex's voluntary agreement the ANC is seeking to amend--information and minutes from the respective ANC1b and 2b meetings are not yet available. Presumably though it would be something along the lines of enforcing the "peace, order and quiet"--a catch-all term that is frequently used to protest liquor licenses and which most certainly is already included in Saint-Ex's VA. Regardless, one has to wonder what other steps Estrada and others have taken to address concerns about crowds and noise associated with Saint-Ex prior to filing the protest.

Though we rarely stake out such defined positions on this blog, I'm going to do so now: that the Dupont ANC is involving themselves in a protest against an establishment that was one of the first restaurants to open along a blighted stretch of 14th Street, is not seeking to change its operations and, by all accounts, has served as a good neighbor is preposterous.

We're not against the proper regulation of businesses in the neighborhood, and we're not opposed to protesting said businesses when legitimate issues arise (such as issues related to The Space in Shaw, and their treatment of neighbors there). But there appears at times to be almost an undercurrent of hostility directed at business owners in the neighborhood, and particularly those with liquor licenses, by some in the community. We've mentioned this before, but it's critical to maintain perspective on these issues: are the complaints emanating from a couple of loud voices, or do they represent a recurring, systemic problem with the establishment?

The irony in all of this is that it is oftentimes these very business which have contributed towards the skyrocketing popularity of the neighborhood as both a commercial AND residential destination. We applaud the work of those in the community who seek to make it a more hospitable environment for residents and businesses alike, but this situation presents yet another example of the pitfalls that can arise when the majority of cooler-headed voices in the community are drowned out by a vocal minority seeking to mold the neighborhood into one of their own personal taste.