Quick Hits: City Commission Sends 2 Bistro Requests to Planning Board

It was a night of new business plans and new processes at the Birmingham City Commission meeting Monday night as commissioners heard four pitches for two of the city's 2012 bistro licenses and recommended two of them for further review.

Social Kitchen, Market move on

After hearing plans from four applicants, commissioners voted — with some reticence — to send preliminary plans for Social Kitchen and Market to the city's Planning Board.

Bistros are defined as having seasonal sidewalk seating, a full-service kitchen and no more than 65 seats.

Under the city's 2007 bistro ordinance, only two bistro licenses are approved each year. Monday's prescreening was part of a new bistro approval process the city is testing for the 2012 licenses, shaped this summer and fall after complaints that the former process relied too much on a first-come, first-served process.

The new process involves a prescreening by the City Commission, which then recommends up to two applicants for a full site plan review by the planning board, which then passes it back to City Commission for final approval.

The majority of commissioners were strongly in favor of Social Kitchen, a proposal from Cutting Edge Cuisine founder Zack Sklar featuring "out-of-the-box cuisine" and a combination of alleyway and rooftop dining at 225 E. Maple Rd.

Commissioners also voted to pass along Market, a casual Mediterrean-themed bistro to be located on North Old Woodward Avenue in the former Root and Sprout location at 474 N. Woodward Ave. The plans were presented by managers Kristin and Joe Bongiovianni.

Commissioners Stuart Sherman and Rackeline Hoff voted against the motion, noting they were disappointed in the five bistro applicants — including one from , whose representatives did not show up to the meeting. The point of the bistro ordinance was to encourage development throughout the city, and none of the applicants presented plans in the Rail District or Triangle District.

Toddler swings, landscaping OK'd

Commissioners approved various purchases Monday night, including:

• $48,155: A contract for various trees and plants for the fall 2011 planting season was awarded to Agroscaping Inc.
• $7,360: Toddler swings for from GameTme
• $11,170: A contract for irrigation renovations along Woodward Avenue was awarded to Marc Dutton Irrigation Inc.
• $9,901: A contract for wall and window restorations at was awarded to Turner Restoration LLC.

Stay tuned to Patch for a full report on the two bistros reccomended by the City Commission.