The New York Times-20080127-Bone-Dry Days At the No-Beer Tavern

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Bone-Dry Days At the No-Beer Tavern

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BEER TABLE, a new specialty bar in Park Slope, was ready for business. Inside the tiny storefront space, a handwritten menu described a carefully curated selection of smoked lager, coriander-laced wheat beer and various obscure ales. Construction was complete, down to the long, wooden tables where Justin Philips, who owns the bar with his wife, Tricia, envisions his customers discussing the merits of a rich Schlenkerla Urbock versus a refreshing Reissdorf Kolsch in his version of a beertopia.

All that was missing was the beer.

For almost six months, the owners of Beer Table, on Seventh Avenue near 14th Street, have been trapped in liquor license limbo. The local community board endorsed the bar's application for a liquor license in July, but the application is still awaiting final approval by the State Liquor Authority.

Out of desperation, Mr. Philips has considered opening the bar to serve snacks and nonalcoholic drinks. But he can't bring himself to compromise his original vision.

I was going to do a root beer list for a while, but it's not Root Beer Table, said Mr. Philips, a former beer importer. Beer is central to the concept.

While the Philipses, both 29, try to remain optimistic about starting their first business, they already have lost a lot of sleep and, more important, money, so much that they say they are struggling to pay next month's rent.

Honestly, I think I have gone a little crazy, said Mr. Philips, a Texan transplant with a lanky frame and a soft brown beard who has started taking long walks in Prospect Park to blow off steam. This really does take a huge emotional toll.

A spokesman for the Liquor Authority, William Crowley, said that there is a two-year backlog in the area that includes New York City and that a six-month wait is not unusual. Still, Mr. Crowley said, it's longer than what we're trying to work for.

For now, Mr. Philips is supplementing his wife's salary as a teacher at St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf in Crown Heights by working as a salesman at a gourmet market across the street from the bar. Two weekends ago, the Philipses held a private beer and pizza tasting at the bar that attracted a mix of foodies and confessed beer geeks.

As soon as the name went up, it was like, 'Ooh, Beer Table!' said Jennifer Cuenot, a 30-year-old information technology manager from Park Slope, who came to the tasting with a friend and made new ones over a glass of Schneider Weisse and an impromptu game of Crazy Eights. We're both big beer drinkers, so we knew that we'd like it.

The drama is not over. But on Thursday the Philipses learned that they have been conditionally approved for a license by the Liquor Authority. They hope to open next Saturday.

[Illustration]PHOTO: Beer is central to the concept, Justin Philips, with his wife, Tricia, said of their new venture. (PHOTOGRAPH BY HIROKO MASUIKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)