Byob

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Voters in "dry" Ocean City on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to permit consumption of alcohol by patrons in local restaurants, which would have been a first in the Jersey Shore resort's 125-year history. About 3,200 of the 4,600 people who voted - more than the number who showed up in the November election here - said no to a ballot question that sought to permit the practice called BYOB, ending the town's ban on bringing beer and wine to eateries.

OCEAN CITY - Proponents of allowing customers to bring their own bottle of wine or beer to restaurants in this historically alcohol-free Jersey Shore resort delivered a petition containing 583 signatures to the city clerk on Thursday afternoon that, if certified, would mean a question would be placed on the November ballot about whether to allow such imbibing in public. BYOB, and the sale of alcohol of any kind, has never been allowed in this Cape May County town, founded in 1879 as a Methodist camp meeting resort by the Lake brothers.

Robert W. Patterson is editor of the public-policy journal Family in America, and started vacationing in Ocean City, N.J. with his parents and grandparents in the 1960s Twenty-six years ago, Ocean City voters succumbed to merchants' demands to repeal the town's century-long restraints on Sunday commerce. Residents who valued the "founding principles" of America's Greatest Family Resort feared that the 1986 referendum would lead to rethinking the town's other signature ordinance: no sales or public consumption of alcoholic beverages.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Local voters will likely decide May 8 whether diners will be allowed to bring their own beer or wine to restaurants in parts of "America's Greatest Family Resort" beginning this summer. City Clerk Linda MacIntyre confirmed Tuesday that proponents of allowing restaurant patrons to "Bring Your Own Bottle" (BYOB) had garnered enough signatures - 351, or 10 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the last general election - to have a binding referendum on the question on the next general-election ballot.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Voters in this traditionally "dry" Cape May County resort will have their say Tuesday on a ballot question that could allow diners to bring their own bottles to local restaurants within days. For weeks, supporters and opponents of allowing customers to tote wine or beer into Ocean City eateries have offered their perspectives in an onslaught of public discussions, door-to-door visits, letters to the editor, and news releases. The Ocean City Restaurant Association began a campaign last year to overturn rules that prohibit BYOB service.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Less than two weeks remain for proponents to gather support for posing a November ballot question that could turn this famously dry Shore town into a haven for fans of BYOB restaurants. If they can't gather 747 signatures from local voters by Aug. 3 to call for a referendum, the issue will recede, as it has several times before. If they are successful, the battle over whether to allow diners to bring their own beer and wine to eating establishments could shift into higher gear as foes campaign to preserve the town's family-first brand.

If some members of the Pennsylvania Senate have their way, you won't be able to "brown bag" a bottle of your favorite wine or six-pack of beer when you go for a meal to the new restaurant in the neighborhood that doesn't yet have a liquor license. Their proposal is to outlaw the practice of allowing diners to BYOB (bring your own bottle) at any restaurant that isn't licensed to sell the stuff on its own. Obviously it means a lot to these senators. Certainly, it must be on a par with lowering auto insurance rates, cleaning up the state court system and adequately funding public transportation.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — It had been a quiet victory celebration, with no popping of champagne corks or rousing cheers. Yet Andrew Fasy said he felt a little hung over Wednesday, the morning after residents of this Cape May County resort took a stand in a historic referendum against allowing alcohol to be consumed at local restaurants. The proposal, rejected by a more than 2-1 ratio, would have allowed diners to bring in their own bottles of beer or wine. "Essentially, nothing has changed here today ... and we're happy about that," said Fasy, chairman of the Committee to Preserve Ocean City, an anti-BYOB group formed after an association of restaurateurs collected enough signatures to have the question put on the general-election ballot.

* Butchers and fishmongers from Whole Foods Markets are going blade to blade in a national slice-and-dice contest that has its local qualifying event at 10 a.m. April 25 at the Plymouth Meeting store (500 W. Germantown Pike, 610-832-0010). Ten butchers and 10 fishmongers will compete, one each from 10 area stores, in several categories. Finalists will head to a regional event May 23 in Virginia Beach. The final smackdown will be held in September in Portland, Ore. * Hail to the Chefs, benefiting the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Scholarship, will be held 6-9 p.m. April 29 at the Knowlton Mansion (8001 Verree Road)

Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello have developed a mini-empire in the Loft District near Broad and Callowhill Streets. They are approaching the 10th anniversary of the industrial-chic Cafe Lift , in a former police-hat manufacturing plant at 428 N. 13th St., and the fifth anniversary of Prohibition Taproom , a bar in a former shot-and-a-beer a half-block north at 13th and Buttonwood. New this week is Bufad , a wood-fired BYOB pizzeria at 13th and Spring Garden Streets (215-238-9311)

* Just in time for holiday gifting, Mount Airy's Geechee Girl Rice Café (6825 Germantown Ave., 215-843-8113, GeecheeGirl.com ) has issued the Geechee Girl 2013 Recipe Calendar, featuring easy-to-follow recipes by the BYOB chef/owner Valerie Erwin, with photos by Debbie Lerman. Snag one for $20 at the restaurant. * Suited for holiday gifts and entertaining is the 13-ingredient tapenade made by Respond Inc., a 45-year-old nonprofit that provides services, including job training, in and around Camden.

Three Starr veterans have created a modest-priced BYOB about five minutes from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge in the cute town of Riverton. District 611 (710 Broad St., Riverton, 856-829-1552) partners Brian Baglin (a former general manager at Pod), Catherine Piotrowski (a former general manager at Continental in Old City), and executive chef David Perini (also from Continental) in airy, rustic quarters where the dining room features a wood-burning pizza oven, a polished concrete floor, a "living wall" of plants tucked into niches in the barn-wood walls, and a window to a climate-controlled pizza room where dough is made.

Le Bec Fin may have maintained the 20th-century salon atmosphere in its new incarnation, but it is bringing 21st-century technology into the dining room. Starting Friday, waiters will pass leather-bound iPads to each patron. Several Philly-area restaurants, including Osteria , Tashan , and Caffe Aldo Lamberti , offer wine lists on iPads, but Le Bec Fin is believed to be the first white-tablecloth restaurant in the region to go entirely paperless. (The downstairs lounge, Chez Georges , eventually will go to iPads, too.)

Moon Krapugthong, who owns Chabaa Thai in Manayunk, is going the Japanese route with a second BYOB opening Friday just down the street. For Yanako (4255 Main St., 267-297-8151), she enlisted a team of designers that included new graduates of Philadelphia University architecture program. One of them, Jun Suh, is segueing into the general manager's role. Smashing job: The former boutique now has a two-story skylight. Birdcagelike light fixtures hang from the ceiling over a terra-cotta overhang.

Early crowds are finding ambition in Lansdowne at the gorgeous NoBL , a Mediterranean BYOB that opened last week in a long-ago hardware store at 24 N. Lansdowne Ave. (484-461-2689) It's a block off Baltimore Avenue — north, to be exact — which explains "NoBL. " It's the crew from the nearby Sycamore — owner Stephen Wagner and chef Sam Jacobson, who turns out such small plates as moussaka, mussels, pappardelle with chicken livers; grilled octopus; grilled artichokes; and 10-inch grilled pizzas.

Andrew Fasy is chairman of the Committee to Preserve Ocean City On Tuesday, Ocean City residents voted overwhelmingly to reject a Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) ordinance that would have allowed beer, wine, and malt beverages to be brought to local restaurants. The proposal was a classic case of substantial risk far outweighing a very limited and very dubious reward. Ocean City is one of the most successful destinations along the Jersey Shore because of its long-standing reputation as "America's Greatest Family Resort.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — It had been a quiet victory celebration, with no popping of champagne corks or rousing cheers. Yet Andrew Fasy said he felt a little hung over Wednesday, the morning after residents of this Cape May County resort took a stand in a historic referendum against allowing alcohol to be consumed at local restaurants. The proposal, rejected by a more than 2-1 ratio, would have allowed diners to bring in their own bottles of beer or wine. "Essentially, nothing has changed here today ... and we're happy about that," said Fasy, chairman of the Committee to Preserve Ocean City, an anti-BYOB group formed after an association of restaurateurs collected enough signatures to have the question put on the general-election ballot.