LIC-2024-10 : New Common Victualler Application - Peppino's Italian Market

Transcript (~10 min @ 1:20)

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▶ 1:09 Mark Garipay: Okay. Um, with the unanimous consent, seeing no objections, I will close public comment portion of the meeting with unanimous consent. Tonight, we have one license before us that requires a vote. It is licensed 2024 dash 10 New Common Vicular application Pinos Italian Market. Uh, at this time, I will entertain a motion to suspend the rules so we can hear from the applicant.

▶ 1:38 Robb Stewart: Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to suspend rules 37 B.

▶ 1:43 Mark Garipay: Second. Motion to suspend Rule 37 B was made by Vice Chair Stewart, seconded by Council Ro on discussion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Um, the rules are now suspended. Um, if I'd like to invite the applicants up to, uh, to speak, this is a portion where, um, just if you can explain a little bit about your business, your hours, uh, what, uh, you're gonna be doing. He's got a

▶ 2:11 Speaker 2: Lot to explain. Not,

▶ 2:13 Speaker 3: I'm not good at public speaking, so I have to have something prepared. That's

▶ 2:16 Mark Garipay: Fine. Some of the, some of the questions, uh, some of the councils may have questions after, but Yep, absolutely. I'll turn the floor over to

▶ 2:21 Speaker 3: You. All right, thank you. Well, you know, thank you for the introduction. I'm Selena Nai, so my husband Bernard on na. And as you know, we're here to introduce our new business Pinos Italian market. Uh, Pinos in a sentence is, our plan is to have a new old world market where you can shop, as well as grab a bite to eat record. Um, we found the location near the corner of Franklin and Maine over a year ago. It's been a long process, and we are very excited to be here today. So, thank you. Um, so to tell you a little bit about the business, like I said, this, we're gonna have a, a retail start, a real retail part, and then a deli part. So, uh, we plan on the retail end, we plan on selling variety of Italian specialties. We've partnered with vendors who will be importing directly from Italy. Um, we're gonna stock our shelves with items such as olive oils, pastas, vinegar, olives, sauces, Italian cookies, crackers. We'll have both high end items and not so high end items as well. Um, everything from truffle oil to Tara's to Nutella. Um, on the deli side, of course, we'll have all sorts of cheeses and meats from Italy, um, pecorino Romano to mozzarella, provolone and Italian, and American cold cuts as well. Um, we wanna make it, uh, like a one stop shopping for patrons who are coming in to, you know, maybe throw together a quick dinner. So we plan on selling small amount of fresh produce and some other convenience items as well, such as condiments, flour, rice, milk, eggs, so you can kind of throw a dinner together. Um, on the other side, we also gonna have prepared foods. Um, so since we have all these amazing ingredients at our disposal and we both like to cook, um, we're gonna be serving prepared foods to eat on the premises or bring home. Uh, we have seating for about eight to nine people. Um, we are planning on a slow start, so we're not gonna open all at once. Uh, no bells and whistles. We wanna be able to establish some routines, some structure, a good team, um, before we get too busy, hopefully. Um, so the first phase, we're just gonna have cold sandwiches, freshly made deli sandwiches, and the menu's already up on the website. Um, and then the second phase, we'll have more prepared foods such as prepackaged. Um, so we make it on premises, prepackaged them, and then, you know, ready to, for them to bring home and heat up. So like, chicken parmesan, eggplant parm, all those Italian specialties. We also wanna offer a lot of these in gluten free form whenever possible, because I know there's a, a need for that in the community. And then the, the third phase, once we're all established, we'd like to, um, do some catering as well.

▶ 5:12 Speaker 3: Um, then also just, you know, one of the key ingredients that we think for a good Italian market is its character. So although new, we really want to create the feeling that we've been there forever. Um, my husband and his family and their traditions bring the authenticity. Their family's from Aino, Italy. And my mother-in-law's an amazing cook. And while she's not officially on the payroll, I think she's gonna be in there a lot. Um, so we, we modeled the interior ourselves, um, and we can't wait to stock the shelves with and create an authentic, charming looking market. We want it to be a real neighborhood place as well. Um, you know, that location has, you know, it's not as busy as Central Main Street at all. So something, you know, we wanna cater to the parents who are walking their children to Franklin in the morning. Um, maybe Eric's barbershop customers can come in for a bite to eat after they get their hair cut. And then, um, when you're done getting your nails done at Gloss, come on over, grab some dinner for the family. Um, also just, you know, some of you know us, but we are Mel Rosie, and we've been here for almost 17 years now. We have four children, uh, from nine to 16. So we already have a lot of ties within the community. And so far it's, it's, um, I've gotten a lot of good feedback. Um, everyone's been really supportive so far, so we look forward to your feedback as well. And I think you mentioned, go ahead. I've Got the coffees Coffee. Oh, coffees. I didn't breakfast sandwiches.

▶ 6:47 Speaker 2: So we're also gonna have, uh, uh, they're called B Boy sandwiches. Uh, it's a method thing. And, uh, it's just a breakfast sandwich or on a sub roll and pan docent bread. Uh, we'll have those, uh, precooked in the morning and just put it in the warmer so you can come in. Um, there's plenty of parking from seven in the morning till 10, and then after that, the other businesses open up. So we should have a good flow of customers coming in, just grabbing a buck for sandwich already made. Um, and your coffees that, uh, I believe we're gonna go with, uh, new England coffee at the moment. Um, and, uh, I think that,

▶ 7:22 Speaker 3: And then hopefully I wanna get like an artisan coffee in there too. So some, there's a lot of like, local roasters, so we're looking into that as well.

▶ 7:30 Speaker 2: So through our time we'll figure this all out. So, um, but yeah, it's good.

▶ 7:37 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Uh, do any councilors have any questions or,

▶ 7:42 Speaker 4: That sounds great.

▶ 7:45 Speaker 5: I don't have a President, uh, merely I

▶ 7:47 Leila Migliorelli: Don't have a question, but it sounds really exciting and like such a, a much needed addition to our business community. So, um, I'm very hungry just listening to all of this, so I'm enthusiastically supportive of this business and can't wait for you all to open.

▶ 8:01 Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Do any other voting member

▶ 8:02 Mark Garipay: Council Reky? Why the

▶ 8:06 Speaker 2: Paps Papino? Ah, good question. Uh, Papino is, uh, my uncle's nickname in Italian. My Nna Giuseppe, when I go to Italy, his name is Giuseppe. When I go to Italy, she's always talking to my father. Papino, where's Papino? Where's Papino? So this name always stuck to me, and, you know, when we picked our children's names and anything that we do, we try to find a meaning to it. So, um, I threw it in there and they just right away just took that one right there. Pap pinos Good. So it's after my Uncle Joe. Nice. All right. Good luck. Thank you. Thank you.

▶ 8:39 Speaker 5: Councilor Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

▶ 8:41 Speaker 2: Thank you for being here. I agree. Sounds delicious. Um, one, one question. Do you have any plans now in the future to include alcohol within, uh, your sales? Um, yeah. We, we, we do, uh, plan on, once we get approved, we plan on doing that, which is kind of great. If we do get it, because it's on the other side of Melrose, a lot of people don't have to come into Melrose and create more traffic and whatnot. So what's great about that spot is that there's no one around us that will be similar to us. And, and if we have that, also, that would be very helpful for the neighborhood. Uh, and

▶ 9:18 Speaker 3: You need to have like a good kiai to go with some of the food. Yes. You know, there's

▶ 9:22 Speaker 2: A, a lot of which, which we have a lot of, uh, uh, vendors that will bring, uh, stuff from Italy with, which is the vino. And, uh, and then that would be really good. And then other type of laurs, uh, from Italy that you probably wouldn't get around here from your local, uh, liquor store. So, um, which are really great.

▶ 9:41 Robb Stewart: Okay. And are you in process right now with the Liquor commission or what?

▶ 9:45 Speaker 3: No, no. We, we wanna get, this is the ground first, but we do, we are thinking about it, definitely.

▶ 9:50 Speaker 2: I think this is the first phase that we have to do for us to apply for that license. Okay. Okay. Great. Well, Good luck. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

▶ 10:00 Speaker 6: Councilor Commiss. Thank you. You're welcome.

▶ 10:03 Manjula Karamcheti: Um, I'm the city councilor for Ward One, which your business will sort of abut. It's not technically ward one anymore with some changes, but, um, I just wanted to say that I just really enjoyed your presentation and just excited about how you're thinking about your business, but also building community. Um, and just some of the things that you're talking about, I think will be a really great resource for a lot of adults and families. And I'm sure my kids will be stopping by on their way to the high school for breakfast sandwiches. Um, but like, you're also right by the train station. So for people commuting, being able to come by after a long day of work and get something delicious and nutritious to eat, like, I'm just really appreciating your approach and I just wanted to let you know. Thank you. So thank you. Thank you.

▶ 10:53 Mark Garipay: Get that. Any other councilors want to speak or what's the will of the committee?

▶ 10:58 Speaker 2: Mr. Chair, I make a motion to recommend to the full council.

▶ 11:02 Mark Garipay: Second, we have a motion to recommend this to the full council by Vice Chair Stewart, seconded by Councilor Hamilton on discussion.

▶ 11:11 Mark Garipay: All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? This will be recommended to the full council, which our next meeting is March 11th. And you do not need to be here. Um, but, um, it's usually just, I don't see any issues where they're not going through. So, uh, best of luck. Thank you. And I'll see you soon at this. Uh, that concludes our business. I'll detain a motion to adjourn.