Molly’s Cupcakes in downtown Naperville wants to add a new item to its menu — white, red and sparkling wine.
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Store owners James and Stephanie Jacobson are seeking a liquor license from the city that would allow them to sell wine from glasses dipped in chocolate, caramel and other dessert toppings to attract after-dinner customers Thursday through Sunday.
“Picture a chocolate cupcake and then let’s go ahead and pair that with a nice, bold cabernet with a dark chocolate rim,” Stephanie Jacobson told the Naperville Liquor Commission at its Aug. 5 meeting.
“Or maybe you’re more of a fruity, light person so maybe we go with a white chocolate raspberry cupcake with a prosecco and a white chocolate rim.”
Molly’s, located at 30 W. Jefferson Ave., has a full kitchen and also sells cakes, cookies, pies and other baked goods.
Because the idea’s unique and will be marketed as an after-dinner experience, they don’t envision their concept competing with Starbucks Reserve or other downtown restaurants and bars, the couple said.
“Part of the success of our model is the speed and efficiency of the ordering of these cupcakes,” James Jacobsen said.
“We don’t want to slow that down by offering anything other than wine and the specialty-dipped rimmed glasses. Serving liquor and mixed drinks, it’s going to take a lot more time to do that. We’re just not interested in a full (liquor) license.”
Liquor commissioners requested city staff to research the idea and return with license options to fit the proposal.
Part of the problem in determining what license might best fit stems from defining what constitutes a meal and the need to consider how liquor licenses reflect the changing times, commission members said.
“There’s always going to be new concepts. That’s what we’re here to see today,” Commissioner Scott Wehrli said. “What’s interesting to me about this is they’re asking for very limited scope of service, only basically weekends.”
Dana Davenport, who is new to the commission, said discussing how the sale of alcohol is starting to change would be helpful.
“Getting into some of the whys and the rationale could be good for newer commissioners like myself,” Davenport said. “What we’ve been through in a pandemic, how a lot of businesses are pivoting and just how we’ve grown, the licenses in many ways can be stale and speak to a time that may be different.”