Friday, July 20, 2007

Cosi needs to clean up its act

Cosi suffered a temporary setback to its application for a bistro liquor license a couple of weeks ago, not because it is a generally dirty establishment, but because it had proposed a gigantic 700-square-foot outdoor cafe that would have occupied six precious parking spaces at the corner of Maple and Old Woodward.

Assuming the restaurant scales back its cafe proposal, it should be a shoo-in for a bistro license. We look forward to enjoying a glass of beer or wine with our pizza, or just sitting back with a cocktail around 10 on a weekend evening and watching passersby at Birmingham's busiest intersection.

But the restaurant has to clean up its act, and the city needs to make sure the agreement into which it enters with Cosi gives the city sufficient power to insure that the restaurant goes above and beyond basic health requirements for cleanliness. The outdoor cafe tables and sidewalk on which they sit are too often littered and filthy, as are the men's room and the floor of the main dining room.

Cosi, which serves decent salads, good sandwiches, great pizza and divine s'mores, is otherwise careless. It shows particularly in the lack of pride for its prime location, and was evidenced by the fact that not a single employee showed up for its important liquor license hearing before the Planning Board.

Salvatore's and Elie's were represented not only by their owners or managers, but by Ron Rea, the talented local designer who was hired by each restaurant to revamp for the licensing. Cosi planned few changes, aside from its outdoor cafe proposal.

As the city takes more applications from potential licensees, it can't be certain they will have the committed owners and talented designers of Salvatore's and Elie's. It must therefore be especially vigilant about all aspects of the business's designs and operations. So far, the city has shown it cares greatly about the general size and shape of these bistros, and has paid particularly close attention to their outdoor cafes. But the details -- menus, interior finishes, cleanliness and more -- are what give a place character. There's a big difference between Streetside Seafood and Subway, both of which qualify in size and shape as bistros. The city needs to license bistros of rich character like Streetside, and then make sure they stay that way.