TALK | business
Home Brews and Latin Flavors by Jacob D. Fuller
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TRIP BURNS
ississippi home brewers may ganization that successfully lobbied the state came from. They’ll know exactly what goes not have the law fully on their to raise the alcohol limits for beer in 2012 into the process of making their beer. side, but they now have a place from 5 percent by weight to 8 percent, or 10 While home-brew enthusiasts have to buy all the hops, barley, percent by volume. made up much of Brewhaha’s early business, yeast and equipment they need to create and In 2013, Raise Your Pints focus will the store is not just for experts. The store bottle their own beer. shift to getting a law allowing home brewing sells kits that include everything a first-time Mac Rusling, a former commercial on the books. brewer will need right up to the moment the airline pilot, opened Brewhaha Home“There’s just no clear definition of beer is bottled. brew Supply Company, a one-stop shop what’s gong on,” Rusling told the Jackson For beginners, Rusling suggests startfor all things home ing with ale. Lagers are brewing, Dec. 19 more difficult because in the Lefleur’s they require the beer Gallery Shopping to remain between 45 Center (4800 Iand 52 degrees during 55 N., Suite 17A, fermentation, he said, 601-362-0201, depending on the brew. brewhahasupply. Too warm, and the beer com). will develop less-thanBrewhaha is desirable tastes, and a no-frills kind of the yeast can even die; place. The beige too cold, and the beer walls to the left and won’t ferment. right of the entrance Ale, on the other are lined with 8hand, can ferment foot high shelves in a warmer enviCafé Olé owner Alex Sivira will soon bring a whole new Latin dining experience to stocked with ingreronment and allows Fondren, in the former home of Capitol Medical Supply. dients, recipe books for more fluctuation and equipment. On in temperature. the back wall sit two refrigerators filled with Free Press. “It needs to be cleared up.” Brewhaha is more than a makemore ingredients. Despite the murky legal water Brewha- your-own-beer store. It also offers evRusling has been brewing beer in his ha may be treading, Rusling said he has been erything customers need to make home since 1973, an action that’s not ex- pleased with business in the store’s first week. their own cheeses and even grow actly legal under Mississippi law. To legally He wasn’t surprised. He spent a year and half oyster mushrooms. “It’s easy, and it’s a lot of fun,” Rusling brew beer in the state, a person has to have a working on a business plan for the store be$1,000 permit from the Mississippi Depart- cause he believed the demand for it already said. “You can literally make any kind of ment of Revenue. The law, however, doesn’t existed in the area. cheese you want, if you’ve got the patience allow such permits for home brewers. That The demand comes largely from peo- to do it.” leaves home brewers facing possible fines ple who want to know where the ingredients if caught. in their food and drink come from. Though Taste of the Caribbean The legality of home brewing is a gray none of the ingredients he sells come from Alex Sivira has been in the restaurant area, Rusling said. He is a board member of local growers, brewers can buy the specific business for 30 years, serving all kinds of ethRaise Your Pints, a grassroots, non-profit or- ingredients they want and know where they nic cuisines from Mexican to Italian. Now
the Venezuela native is working to bring an affordable, fresh take on the food of his homeland and other Latin American cultures to Fondren with Café Olé. The restaurant will be located at 2800 N. State St. in the former home of Capitol Medical Supply. Sivira said Café Olé will bring a unique dining option to the city From the atmosphere to the food. “We not going to do anything Mexican, except the food part of it,” Sivira told the Jackson Free Press. “Our team theme will be more of a Caribbean, Latin theme. It’s no Mexican restaurant. It’s Latin cuisine, which includes Mexican.” Café Olé will serve Latin-inspired foods like tacos, tamales, empanadas, and Cuban sandwiches and soups. Sivira said all entrees will range from just under $5 to no more than $10 and will be served with chips and choice of salsa, guacamole or cheese dip. Sivira told the Jackson Free Press that most of the business will be carry-out orders, but that the restaurant will have also limited seating for dining in. Café Olé also will serve beer for patrons looking for some hops and barley to go with their tacos. Vegetarians need not worry when visiting Café Olé, either. Because all the food will be made to order, vegetarian alternatives will be available on all menu items. Sivira’s goal is to have Café Olé open in January or February. A crew is remodeling the interior of the building now. Sivira will have to get clearance on the building from the city before he can open the restaurant. Sivira, 59, has worked at T.G.I. Friday’s, Cerami’s, Panino’s in Jackson and Hattiesburg, and Alexander’s in Madison. Comment at www.jfp.ms. Email Jacob D. Fuller at jacob@jacksonfreepress.com.
KENYA HUDSON; TRIP BURNS
CITY RESPONDS TO WILLIAM BRIGHT by Jacob D. Fuller
January 2 - 8, 2013
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n the Nov. 28 interview with mayoral candidate and former Jackson Police Department officer William Bright (Vol. 11, Issue 12), the Jackson Free Press misquoted Bright in talking about the Jackson Police Department’s “DARK program.” The program he was referring to is the DART—or Direct Action Response Team—program. Bright said that JPD stopped the DART program when he was still an active officer. In response, Jackson Police Chief Rebecca Coleman told the JFP that JPD’s DART program, which began earlier in 2012, is still in effect, contrary to what Bright said. The program focuses officers in what Coleman called “known problem areas” as well as putting them on location at special events around the city. Coleman said JPD operates the DART program on a daily basis.
City Communications Director Chris Mims also provided information to the JFP that contradicted another of Bright’s assertions. Bright claimed that he had not seen the city use grants for youth programs. If he hasn’t seen them, it’s not because they aren’t there, Mims said. Under Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., the city received a $425,508 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to implement adult-supervised activities after school and during the summer in an effort to reduce youth crime. The city also received a $295,993 grant for a Youth Entrepreneurship Training Program that works alongside the Jackson Public Schools to introduce students to basic business skills. The city also received a $41,300 juvenile accountability block grant to introduce 25 at-risk youth in
Chief Rebecca Coleman, left, said Jackson Police are still operating the DART program, contrary to former JPD officer and mayoral candidate William Bright’s claims.
the Henley Young Juvenile Detention Center to video production and mass communications skills. It also provided case management and counseling services to young people in the facility.