Café Nostalgica regained its liquor licence March 5 after a five-month dry run.
Ajà Besler, advocacy and communications coordinator for the Graduate Students’ Association (GSAÉD), said it is thanks to “months of hard work” by the GSAÉD and Café Nostalgica that the licence was regained, adding that nighttime programming should resume within the coming months.
The café lost its licence in early October after delays to renovations. It began renovations in March 2012 to make the building larger and more accessible, but fell behind schedule. An elevator technician strike in 2013 created an additional two-month delay, causing the temporary licence granted to the café by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario in May 2013 to expire.
Most sales come from food orders and profit was not severely affected, but the café faced problems meeting its financial obligations. It was reported Dec. 2 that the café owed a totalled $219,000 to various creditors, including the GSAÉD, and was seeking new management. However, it received its business licence in January and promoted chef David Breitenherdt to manager.
All night programming was cancelled due to the lack of a liquor licence.
“Our full weekly programming should be back on track by April, but we’ll be re-introducing our classics like open mics and jazz nights throughout the month, as well as some brand new ideas,” Besler said.
