Sunday, October 31, 2010

An Eventful November

November is poised to be a most eventful month for us at Mercy.

On 2nd of the month, Town of Addison voters head to polls to decide, among other things, an amendment to the town charter related to the sale of beer and wine for off-premises consumption. A vote in favor of this amendment will allow Mercy to sell bottles of wine to our guests for off premise consumption.

On the 8th of the month, Mercy will roll out our fall/winter food menu. Notable additions are a "surf and turf" combination featuring our hand carved Filet Mignon and a choice of grilled shrimp or seared scallops. Yum !

On the 13th of the month, we bid a fond farewell to a longtime Mercy employee, Juan Velez. Juan has been with Mercy for over 6 years and is moving out of the area. We wish him the best in all of his future endeavors. Juan's good nature is infectious, so if you are able, stop in to bid him Bon Voyage.

On the 18th of the month, we welcome the acclaimed Dallas tribute band, Hard Nights Day. For the last several months, Mercy guests have enjoyed the acoustic version of their performance however at this event, the full band will be performing and we are really looking forward to this.

On the 25th of the month, my second favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Mercy will be closed for business.

Thank You are two of the most important words in the English language. So as we give thanks to celebrate this national holiday, we all at Mercy wish to thank our guests for their patronage and for being part of our family.

Mike Castagne
Operations Manager

Monday, October 25, 2010

A World Festival

Addison hosted a “World Festival” this weekend at Village on the Parkway. Unfortunately the tornado warning and torrential rains dampened Saturday but Sunday was beautiful and the people came in droves. An estimated 10,000 people showed up to sample food, drink and merchandise from around the world. Entertainment was everywhere and it was a great family day.

From the commerce perspective it was great exposure for the shops in Village on the Parkway. Mercy was open at noon and we had a brisk crowd, many of them first time visitors of Mercy. It was great to see new people excited about finding Mercy. This weekend substantiates how critical this center is for the future of Addison. This center needs more stores that will draw more people into it. A key piece of this puzzle will be decided next Tuesday on election day. Citizens of Addison will get to vote on allowing beer and wine to be sold for off premises consumption. If this new ordinance passes, it will allow a big, higher end grocery store, such as Whole Foods or Central Market to move in. The increase in traffic will be a boom to the center and to the tax base of Addison.

Addison has so much to offer. Large chain specialty grocery stores will not move to Addison without the ability to sell beer and wine. All surrounding cities have moved in this direction. Dallas has this before the voters as well and it is expected to pass. Addison needs to take a leadership role here to stay with the times. This decision will have an impact on its development for the next 10 years.

Please go and vote next Tuesday and vote YES for Proposition 1.

Glen Agritelley
Owner

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

It can’t come soon enough

November voting can’t come soon enough. With all of the political personal bashing candidates are doing it is hard to keep the issues in mind. There is one very important decision being put in front of the voters of Addison and Dallas this November. On the ballot, the decision to roll back the liquor blue laws, that were put in place after the turn of the century when prohibition was the rave of the day. The most confusing part is that there is no consistency within the state for who can sell liquor, beer and wine and who can’t. Several years ago Addison took a leadership role in allowing beer, wine and spirits to be sold in limited areas as well as being served in local restaurants. Addison has been a leader in attracting some fine restaurants to the area because of this leadership role.

Addison now faces another important decision. In a few weeks the voters will have a chance to modify the existing regulations and vote to allow beer and wine to be sold at retail elsewhere in the city beside from Inwood Road. It is our position at Mercy that we vote to allow this to happen. Our state liquor license allows us to sell wine by the bottle at retail however the local ordinance forbids this. It is a mere convenience to our guests who come in and try something and would like to take a bottle or two home. Right now we must send that guest somewhere else to find the wine or he might not be able to get it due to Mercy having an exclusive on that specific wine in our area.

Towns surrounding us all allow this convenience. Beer and wine are currently sold in grocery stores and convenience stores in our surrounding cities and towns and Dallas is about to vote for this in November as well. Should this pass in Dallas, as it appears there is huge support for this change, Addison will be the only town not allowing this convenience. The opponents state that crime will increase and more police will be needed because of the increase in liquor sales throughout the town. Experience proves this to just not be the case. One doesn’t have to look very far to see that crime has not increased in towns such as Plano or Grapevine simply because you can buy beer and wine in a grocery store.

There is a longer term economic development issue here as well. Addison is in dire need of a high end grocery stores such as Whole Foods or Central Market. None of these stores are willing to come into the town unless they can sell beer and wine. Nearly 10% of their sales are attributed to beer and wine in stores where they are allowed to sell it. This is a significant part of their business that they are not willing to give up. There is also the lingering threat that existing stores such as Tom Thumb and Sam’s Club may consider moving out if this doesn’t pass. For both chains, sales of beer and wine are significant where it can be sold.

Nowhere else in the country am I aware of the liquor laws as they currently are in Texas. Our state leads the country in putting people back to work as well as other key areas. Why should we have to live with liquor laws that have long out seen their day of effectiveness? This is an important issue of economic development and convenience for the residents of Addison and Dallas. We encourage you to overlook the personal bashing in this election that the media keeps streaming to us and look at important issues like this one that can affect our livelihoods and lives right here in Addison.

Mercy
Glen Agritelley, owner

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Screw It !

A customer remark about Mercy really caught my attention .... "a true wine bar that has screw top bottle caps is pretty degrading."

I am so sorry some people can be offended by it. It is an evolution that is occurring. Some of the reasoning behind using screw off bottle caps :

1: A decline in cork production could devastate cork forests, which house trees hundreds of years old and contain rare ecosystems that would disappear should cork production cease.

2. Wineries in Australia and New Zealand gravitate towards metal caps because importing cork is expensive.

3. The screw top has been praised because it does not carry the risk of cork taint. Cork taint occurs when a cork is contaminated by mold and spoils the wine it seals.

4. Modern packaging technology has introduced screw tops that can be calibrated to effectively seal wine. Cork is not essential to bottling wine, it's actually a remnant of the traditional winemaking process.


I am sad to see more bottles with the screw top enclosure .I always love opening a bottle of wine at the table the traditional way because it has a bit of charm and some showmanship.

I thank all wineries that actually use both enclosures: one for restaurant use and another one for retail purposes.

Cheers.

Vincent Havard
General Manager and Operating Partner