A new day is dawning for Utah diners today - the first day when restaurants can take down the "Zion Curtain" that separates patrons from the alcohol preparation.

Some restaurateurs - like Shawn Boyle at Faustina (pictured above) - celebrated by ceremonially removing the glass partitions from their counters.

Others are leaving them up, in part because they are part of their establishment's architecture or esthetics.

The bad news comes for new restaurants: After today, anyone building a new restaurant must have an alcohol-prep area - completely out of view of customers - built into the floor plans.

It's a double-standard that sets up different rules for new restaurants and old ones. But what would Utah liquor laws be without unfair and arbitrary rules?

(Photo: Paul Fraughton/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws

Explain this one to the LDS Church leadership: An ad for Popov brand vodka managed to get itself on the front page of Monday's Deseret News.

In a photo accompanying Amy Joi O'Donoghue's story about biologists repopulating grouse to Antelope Island, a photo shows Utah state wildlife biologist Jolene Hatch releasing two of the birds from a cardboard box. The box, at one point in its life, carried the aforementioned brand of vodka.

Score one for pervasive marketing.

Labels: alcohol, Deseret News, LDS

This last session, the Utah Legislature at long last dragged the state's liquor laws into the 21st century - by lifting the rules on private clubs and allowing existing restaurants to tear down the "Zion Curtain" separating drink preparation from patrons.

Now an online petition by Utah beer lovers is asking the Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (the DABC) to bring the state's liquor stores out of the days of the horse and buggy - by installing refrigeration units.

On the consumer-advocacy web site Tribute to Beer, co-founder Ross Metzger has written an online petition asking DABC to install the coolers because "consumers are tired of paying a premium in Utah for beer that has gone bad!"

Many "heavy beers" go bad from being stored in hot warehouses and room-temperature stores. The petition concludes that refrigeration units in liquor stores will give fans of craft-brewed beer "an opportunity to get good beer from the channels that have been given to them, and stop allowing the UDABC to promote illegal transportation and consumption of out-of-state beer."

(HT: Ted McDonough, City Weekly)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws

It's official - Gov. Jon Huntsman signed the massive revision of Utah's liquor laws on Monday, in a ceremony at the New Yorker restaurant/bar that was notable for a lack of alcohol being served.

As of July 1 - just three months and a day from now - Utah will be not quite so weird when it comes to getting a drink. The byzantine "private club" rules will be abolished (except for clubs that want to keep them), the "Zion Curtain" that separates restaurants from the liquor will come down (although, in the law's idiotic two-steps-forward, one-step-back fashion, new restaurants will have the alcohol preparation will be moved to a hidden room), and anyone who looks under 35 will have their driver's license electronically scanned before entering a bar.

So start the countdown: 92 days until we have (comparative) freedom to drink in Utah!

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, Jon Huntsman, Utah Legislature

So how did Utah's cultural landscape fare after the Utah Legislature finished its work Thursday night?

The big news is that the massive rewrite of the state's liquor laws - which eliminates the "private club" regulations and lets existing restaurants take down the "Zion Curtain" - passed both houses and is heading to Gov. Jon Huntsman's desk. In spite of the more annoying parts of the bill (like requiring a separate area for drink-mixing in new restaurants), the overall effect helps drag Utah's liquor laws into the 21st century.

On the other hand, a bill that would have allowed bars and restaurants to sell draft beer that exceeds the notorious 3.2 percent alcohol level was left hanging in the Utah Senate.

Video-game sellers may have to be more careful to ID their customers. A bill - written by disbarred Florida lawyer and anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson - headed to Huntsman's desk would increase the fines for retailers who sell M-rated video games to minors.

And Hollywood productions will have more reason to come to Utah. The Legislature is kicking up the state's motion picture incentive to 20 percent (for up to $500,000).

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, movies, Utah Legislature, videogames

Rachel Maddow, on her MSNBC show Tuesday, took a swing at an impossible task: Explaining Utah's liquor laws to the nation.

She ran through some of the stranger aspects of Utah's alcohol policy over the years - private clubs, mini-bottles, etc. - before describing Monday's announcement that the Utah Legislature is doing away with the private club law, but adding a few other wrinkles.

Maddow enlisted the aid of Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's former mayor, to go over the new bill. Anderson praised Gov. Jon Huntsman's efforts to bring Utah's liquor laws into the 20th century (almost into the 21st century), but also remarked on how a big step forward - like eliminating the private clubs - doesn't come without a small step backward.

Maddow talked about that step backward - how new restaurants will have to mix drinks in a separate room, away from patrons' view - by quoting (blush) my Culture Vulture column. Here's the whole clip:

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, Jon Huntsman, Rocky Anderson, Utah Legislature

Legislators trumpeting their grand compromise over updating Utah's liquor laws were particularly proud of the idea that the "Zion Curtain" - the glass partition in restaurants that divides alcohol preparation from the diners (like this one at the Stella Grill) - will soon be a thing of the past.

Not so fast, though. As I detail in today's Culture Vulture column (in the ink-and-print edition of The Salt Lake Tribune), the "Zion Curtain" isn't going away. It's growing up - and like any growing kid, it's getting its own room.

Under the proposed new law, new restaurants would have to remove alcohol preparation from the dining area entirely. A separate room for mixology would have to be included in the floor plans before a booze-serving restaurant could even be built. (Existing restaurants would be grandfathered in, but would have an incentive - $30,000 in credit at the state's liquor store - to retrofit in two years.)

The legislators are concerned that children in restaurants may see the drink mixing and get curious about the pretty-colored drinks. Alas, these legislators seem to think hiding stuff from children will make the kids less interested - when any parent will tell you the opposite is true.

(Photo: Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws

The Utah Legislature is saying goodbye to Utah's ridiculous "private club" law.

Gov. Jon Huntsman and leaders of the Utah Legislature today announced they have hammered out a major revision to the state's oddball liquor laws. The two biggest changes: An end to the fig-leaf that only "private clubs" could sell hard liquor, and that restaurants can remove the glass partition - the so-called "Zion Curtain" - that hides the booze from the bar patrons. (Here's the bill in full.)

"This bill tears down the walls," declared Sen. John L. Valentine, R-Provo, who has been in the lead on liquor issues in this year's legislative session.

But where one wall falls, another is going up. New restaurants will be required to build in a separate room for alcohol preparation, unseen by the patrons. Existing restaurants don't have to remodel their bars, but if they do they can get $30,000 in credit at the state liquor store.

In exchange for the loosening of restrictions on the soon-to-be-former "private clubs," legislators got tougher DUI laws - including a law that would, if you are arrested on a second DUI with a suspended license, make you forfeit your car.

These tougher DUI regulations were championed by Rep. Christopher Herrod, R-Provo, who compared it to the European approach to stopping drunk driving.

"In Europe, they have the culture that they drink heavily, but they do not drive," said Herrod (pictured). "That's the culture I want to bring to Utah."

Herrod's words brought a chuckle to the assembled legislators, lobbyists and journalists at today's press conference. Herrod blushed a bit, smiled sheepishly and explained that he wants Utah to adopt the European attitude toward drunk drivers, not drinking in general.

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, politics, Utah Legislature

The Utah Legislature delights in teasing us, holding out hope that some progressive bit of legislation might make it through to becoming a law - only to pull it away, like Lucy Van Pelt's football just before Charlie Brown is about to kick it.

So the news Monday that the House Business and Labor Committee voted 8-5 to approve HB347, which would put an end to Utah's idiotic system of "private clubs" selling hard liquor, should be met with a bit of hope and a whole lot of skepticism.

For one thing, the anti-alcohol crusaders aren't going to stop fighting - and their allies could easily block the bill on the House floor or in the Senate. For another, the idea that club memberships would be replaced by electronic scanners that read your driver's licence (and then store the information for a week) borders on the Orwellian.

The move has the backing of Gov. Jon Huntsman, who on his recent trip to D.C. became quite the media star - appearing on MSNBC to talk about his fellow Republicans' resistance to President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, dissing GOP congressional leaders to both The Washington Times and Politico. (Between these remarks and his recent endorsement of civil unions for gay couples, Huntsman soon may become more popular outside the Utah Republican Party than in it.)

Apparently being a reasonable-sounding Republican is sort of like a talking dog - so unusual it's newsworthy.

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, Jon Huntsman, politics, Utah Legislature

If you had to choose the dumbest aspect of Utah's liquor laws (I know, so many options), the idea of putting up a barrier to block restaurant patrons' view of the bar is a strong contender.

So what does Senate President Michael Waddoups (R-14th Century) want to do? He wants to make the barrier, the so-called "Zion Curtain," more impermeable.

According to this Deseret News account, the Utah Senate's Administrative Rules Committee will consider the possibility of adding rules to prevent minors in restaurants from seeing alcoholic beverages prepared.

Said Waddoups:

"Restaurants are turning into bars. It's making it look attractive. Kids see it and wonder what they're missing. I think we need to be a little more strict."

Yeah, because nothing stops childhood curiosity like hiding something from the little buggers. You start mixing drinks in the back room, and kids will think there's a mini-Hogwarts back there. Then they'll really wonder what they're missing, Senator.

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws

Don't count out Utah private clubs - and their annoying and antiquated rules of membership fees and wink-wink sponsorships - just yet.

Despite efforts by Gov. Jon Huntsman and the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control to reform the rules, Republicans in the Utah Senate want to keep the idiotic laws exactly as they are.

"Unless we find something better that protects our children and protects us from drunken drivers, we want no change in private club memberships," Senate President-elect Michael Waddoups told the Tribune's Dawn House. "Someday we may find a better solution, but it hasn't even been suggested at this point."

The problem is Utah's liquor laws don't protect children and motorists. They just irritate those who drink and remind them they are an oppressed minority in this predominantly Mormon state.

Sometimes, the laws cooked up by Utah's control-freak legislators do more harm than good.

Take, for example, this year's legislation to ban flavored malt beverages - a k a "alcopops" - from Utah's supermarkets. The idea was to keep underage customers from sneaking a six-pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade past an unsuspecting grocery clerk (something that could not happen, since the scanners at checkout flag alcohol purchases, no matter how well disguised the product).

Did the law keep these "cheerleader beers" out of young drinkers' hands? No. Here's what happened: Instead of having an older brother or frat brother go to Albertson's to buy 3.2 drinks, that older person now goes into a state liquor store and buys "alcopops" with a 5 percent alcoholic content - thus ensuring the drinker gets drunk faster.

Here's the early clue that "protecting children" wasn't really the drive for the "alcopops" ban: When the law went into effect in October, supermarkets had to destroy their remaining inventory - while the state liquor stores were allowed to sell off what they had in stock.

When the Utah Legislature starts talking about "protecting children," they really mean they're protecting the state's monopoly on liquor sales.

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, LDS, politics

Bad news, bluenoses - the rest of the country is starting to figure out that Utah isn't as monolithic as advertised.

From The Birmingham (Ala.) News comes this news flash that not all Utahns are Mormons.

This, according to the article, is good news to New Orleans bars and restaurants, expecting an influx of Utahns for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 - when the Utah Utes face the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

To quote from the article:

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Mormons made up 62 percent of the state's population in 2004, a figure that is shrinking. In Salt Lake City, where the university is located, it is less than 50 percent.

Private drinking clubs dot Salt Lake City, and there are plenty of non-Mormons to frequent them. Figure some of the same people will enjoy New Orleans' bars.

A note to Alabama residents: Many of these "private drinking clubs" also have indoor plumbing, and most have planks covering the dirt floors. Y'all come visit sometime.

Labels: alcohol, LDS

Thursday night's episode of "The Office," titled "Moroccan Christmas," took a strange turn when Meredith (Kate Flannery) got drunk at the Dunder Mifflin Christmas party - and Michael (Steve Carell) decided to turn it into an intervention:

MICHAEL (reading off a list): Meredith, have you ever used alcohol to alter your mood or deliberately change your state of mind?

MEREDITH: Sure.

MICHAEL: Do you sometimes have a drink to celebrate a special occasion or mark a holiday?

MEREDITH: Obviously.

MICHAEL: Have you ever, under the influence of alcohol, questioned the teachings of the Mormon Church?

OSCAR: Where did you get this?

MICHAEL: I got it on a web site. That's not important.

It starts at the 8:45 mark. Enjoy!

Labels: alcohol, LDS, television

For years, it was illegal to advertise hard liquor in Utah.

Bars couldn't even hang a "Budweiser" sign in the window. Port o' Call had the word "Ghosts" in its sign, because it couldn't use the word "spirits."

A convenience store on North Temple for years displayed a large sign that read "Cold Beer Nuts" (though the word "Nuts" was in much smaller print) on one side, and "Cold Bee? - Welcome to Utah" on the other. The store kept a case of Beer Nuts and a small plush-toy bee in the freezer, lest it be accused of false advertising.

The law against liquor ads was struck down by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001, following a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a similar Rhode Island law.

Now, quietly, the state of Utah has taken the position of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

As the Tribune's Dawn House reports today, the state has started running ads - one of them in last week's Salt Lake City Weekly - touting discounts at the state's liquor stores.

The ads "have been long overdue in coming," said City Weekly Publisher Jim Rizzi.

(Photo: Paul Fraughton/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, City Weekly

It's only three days until Repeal Day - so everyone prepare to hoist a drink in celebration.

Repeal Day marks the 75th anniversary of the day the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified - ending Prohibition and again allowing the sale of alcohol.

Here's the punchline: The 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment, the one that put the repeal over the top, was tee-totalling Utah.

The place of the Prohibition movement in Utah's history is a fascinating one. Thanks to Prohibition, the state government now holds an iron-fisted monopoly over liquor sales in Utah. But, in the drive to repeal Prohibition, the anti-alcohol leadership of the LDS Church proved itself not always in control of the will of Utah voters.

Read all about it in this story in today's ink-and-paper Tribune.


(Photo: Utah Liquor Company store window, 1914, by Harry Shipler, courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society)

Labels: alcohol, alcohol laws, LDS

What do you get if you mix Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Cointreau and pink grapefruit juice?

At the Icon Bar (pictured) at The Casino at The Empire, a swank gambling and nightlife establishment in London's Leicester Square, that mixture (according to this item in the British paper Metro) is called a Robert Redford.

Why call the drink a Robert Redford? Is it ruggedly handsome? A bit weathered? Environmentally conscious? Blonde on top?

At 9 pounds a pop (about $16 in American money), Redford himself better be serving it.

Labels: alcohol, Robert Redford