Just when we all needed to drown our sorrows in orange soda, cocktails and fudgy things, the governor seeks to raise $121.5 million starting April 1 through a “fat tax” - by hitting the Bay State’s sweet tooth and eliminating the sales tax exemption on all candy, soda, sweetened beverages, and liquor.
To boost state revenues and head off additional budget cuts, Gov. Deval Patrick’s so-called “sin taxes” would include adding five-cent deposits to juice and water bottles, which would add $20 million to the state’s coffers; increasing the meals tax by 1 percentage point, to 6 percent; increasing the hotel tax by 1 percentage point, to 6.75 percent; eliminating the 5 percent tax exemption on sales of alcohol, soda, and candy; and adding bottle deposit fees to noncarbonated beverages like sports drinks, water, and juices. So far, he’s not touching doughnuts, bakery items and cookies. New Jersey and New York have a 6 to 7.5 percent sales tax on candy and soda.
Other tax hikes include Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) fees, and deleting a tax exemption for telecommunications companies. Republicans panned the budget for its tax increase proposals. Members of the Mass. Republican Party said the move would “strangle the economy … With unemployment nearly 7 percent and 17,000 people laid off last month, the absolute last thing we need is to increase taxes.”
So will a meals tax increase be met with an increase in restaurants’ empty seats? Will it just encourage people to decrease spending, to stop the weekend getaways or eating out one night a week? Local business owners weighed in.
“This is NOT the climate to increase taxes in our industry,” said Babak Bina, who owns Bin 26 Enoteca, Lala Rohk and the new Bina restaurant and market in downtown.
“I hope they won’t raise the tax,” said Lucia Ristorante’s manager Peter DiNardo. “From a business point of view, nobody’s too happy about it. I’m not sure what the best thing is to do.”
Liquor store owners already lose many to those who save money and can buy bottles without deposits over the border. Frank Anzalotti, executive director of the Massachusetts Package Store Association, said that consumers will just buy their alcohol in New Hampshire. But for neighborhood package stores, they don’t have that kind of customer.
Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits owner Gene Beraldi said his business would be able to take the tax hike, but he also thought about all the things he and other small business owners will now need to start collecting taxes. For example, many businesses may have to hire bookkeepers, he pointed out. He recently set up his computer, and now he’s aggravated that he’ll have to figure out a new system to compute the taxes.
“We’ll be fine,” Beraldi said. “I think this is how you help the community, to help the most amount of people, even if it costs me a few customers. But I’m probably one in 10 who feels this way. You’re taking a guy like me who doesn’t pay a sales tax, and now I have to set up my business for this. I guarantee most people don’t have bookkeepers but will need to hire one to do the sales tax. They didn’t give us much time. I just got a new computer, and now I have to redo it to calculate the taxes.”
Beraldi is also not looking forward to his sales going from, say, an easy $12.99 to $13.24 with tax. “That’s going to make a lot more change,” he pointed out.
Beraldi also wondered if the tax increase would mean having to hire more state workers, which could negate a lot of the money raised. “The biggest problem in the liquor business is you have money in hand,” he said. “They spend the money before they pay the sales tax, so there better be a new committee to hire to watch over this.”
Taxing candy? That’s going too far, said one Back Bay candy vendor, who wasn’t sure why his chocolate store needed to be included in the Sin Tax category.
“I can see the rationale behind the idea, even though it seems a little harsh to bunch us in with alcohol and tobacco, from the point of view as a health impediment,” said Teuscher Chocolates owner Stefan Bieri, who is predicting that the tobacco and liquor lobbyists will successfully work against the proposal. “A lot of our chocolates doesn’t contain a lot of sugars, so you choose your level of poison. We have anything from 37 percent cocoa to 99 percent cocoa in terms of chocolate bars.”
Bieri counter-proposed a hike in the gas tax. “It cuts down on road use and maintenance and pollution,” he said.

A few area hotel owners and managers expressed concern but not alarm at the proposed tax hike, as long as it went toward a good cause.
“I think this is a really difficult time for the commonwealth,” said Beacon Hill Bistro and Restaurant owner Peter Rait. “While I realize people are objecting to hotels and restaurants being singled out, I believe it’s up to us to make sure things like education won’t be suffering. We have to think about the long term, not the short term. I don’t think a 1 or 2 percent change in tax is going to change the level of clients we get, or change whether a person is going out for dinner.”
“Taxes are never something business people support, but I don’t think this is unreasonable,” said Liberty Hotel chief Richard Friedman. “I think it will have a minimal impact on business.”
His hotel only opened last year, so he couldn’t say if revenues were down compared to last year because of the economy. However, he proposed the governor should use some of those taxes that hotels raise toward tourism promotions.
“I think it’s the fair thing to do,” said Friedman. “More visitors are what the state so desperately needs, which will have a multiplier effect. But that takes more money. There’s no question tourism is off. Massachusetts has relatively low tourism funding, compared with other states. Each dollar of tourist promotion has a dramatic effect. They come, they buy stuff, they eat, they hire taxis, they go to retail stores, they hire people. There’s a huge domino effect.”
Boston hotels feeling the effects of the downturn are predicting fewer business travelers and tourists. PKF Consulting, a national hospitality data analysis firm, forecasts that revenue per available room locally will drop this year to $96.68, down 6.5 percent from 2008’s $103.45.
Paul Sacco, president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association (MLA), said 35 percent of the current hotel tax goes toward tourism, so if more taxes are raised by upping taxes, that’s more tourism dollars.
“We obviously support any money going to tourism from hotel taxes,” said Sacco. “But increasing that is not reasonable. If, in fact, the statewide tax is increased, the portion that will go into the tourism fund will proportionally increase.”
“The MLA would prefer any efforts to mitigate this crisis does not include occupancy tax increase,” said Sacco. “However, that said, we understand the commonwealth is in need of budgeted dollars, which will result in the pursuit of increased revenue, which will, in turn, increase occupancy taxes. “
But before that happens, not only should the state extensively research this tax increase; it should also look into taxing corporate and vacation rentals, which currently aren’t taxed for some reason, said Sacco. He’d also propose keeping a cap on local occupancy taxes, which can go as high as 4 percent if a town chooses to add a tax on top of the state occupancy taxes. “There’s your 5.7 percent tax, then there’s the local option tax that can go up to 4 percent, so in some areas it’s 9.7 percent,” said Sacco. “Our feeling is if there’s a tax increase, it should be on a statewide basis, and kept to a minimum.”

Will Louis of Boston stay on Newbury Street? The store closed “for a break” last week, but is open again. Nobody’s saying at its corporate office, but chef Marc Orfaly pays it no mind. His Restaurant L is busy creating a constantly changing menu customized for shoppers.
“People get a financial forecast that’s like the weather,” Orfaly said. “It scares people to not go out. I think people are going to go out, but they are ordering things they are familiar with.”
At Pigalle, Orfaly creates familiar but challenging terrines of duck confit and foie gras and cassoulets. At Marco, he serves authentic, simple, and flavorful Italian cuisine, with house-cured meats and flavorful pastas, like orecchiette with homemade sausage and broccoli rape.
For the recently opened Restaurant L, which has its own entrance on the side of the Louis mansion, Orfaly designed its sleek and stylish look to match the streamlined lunch-crowd menu.
“I kinda got acclimated with the clientele and what they want in this economic climate,” said Orfaly. “As a chef you want to say, ‘This is my menu, this is what I want you to eat. At Pigalle, it’s chef-driven. Here, it’s more concept-driven. But here, it’s more of a straightforward menu. As a chef, I have plenty of room to do different things.”
That said, he’s making sandwiches and lunchtime meals such as chicken Milanese, and the burgers are selling pretty well, said Orfaly, who only has one menu for lunch and dinner. “It’s light and fast food, simple things,” he said. “It’s actually hard to nail a bowl of linguini, because you have to get it just right. Their expectations are high for lunch.”
A rotating menu of cheese and wine at a stand-up bar in the dining room was filled with the day’s choices of pecorino, stilton, and ashgout chevre, as chosen by bar manager Dennis Cargill. “That’s his playground,” said Orfaly. The cheese bar has no seats because that is a European style to match the background of many of Louis shoppers, he said.
Still, he’s playing around with different ideas. “I want to do a pig roast, Asian style,” he said.
Orfaly is known for his adventurous style, which was nurtured as a little kid when his first dish was oven-ready burritos. “I burned myself,” he said. But it didn’t stop him. “I realized that I was a masochist.” What better training for a budding chef?
He was a short-order cook at the Boston Sail Loft to finance his drum equipment while studying under the likes of noted jazz drummer Tony Campbell and others at Berklee School of Music. At some point, his two interests crossed paths, and he realized his career was headed more toward chicken drumsticks than the wooden kind. “They’re both very physical,” he said with a shrug.
He developed alongside chefs Todd English and Barbara Lynch in Boston and Joachim Splichal and Nancy Silverton in Los Angeles, and opened the French-driven Pigalle in 2000 with his wife, Foley, and his Italian concept, Marco, in the North End in 2005. Both earned plenty of recognition.
“My dream was to have a small mom-and-pop kind of place with really good food, great service, and reasonable prices,” Orfaly said.


Recipes:


Orfaly was talking to a friend at Matt Murphy’s when he decided to add duck to his Pigalle menu, and as a special at Restaurant L.
The half of a duckling is divided into two portions, which he prepares in different ways: confit and ham-style.
“Duck is a great menu item, and is one of my favorites to work with,” said Orfaly. “It is extremely versatile. You can use 100 percent of the animal -- skin for fat, carcass for stock, liver for foie gras, and its awesome neck has meat for ravioli.”
First take a Peking duck and remove breasts and legs. Preparation will take a few days.
Think that takes too long? “A true confit is an old school method,” said Orfaly. “Real confit you leave in fat a month, then reheat it to crisp it up.”
Leftover confit can make a great breakfast, too, said Orfaly, who recommends a duck hash, or served over a warm frisee salad with poached eggs.
For the ham version, he was inspired by an Irish brine used at Matt Murphy’s.
“I thought it might be fun to do a duck ham,” said Orfaly, who marinates the duck breast overnight in a brine of water, salt, ginger, vinegar, garlic, chili, and kefir lime leaves.


Duck Ham
Ingredients:
Peking duck legs
Salt
Pepper
crushed garlic
thyme
juniper

Preparation:
• Season flesh side of legs with salt, pepper, crushed garlic, thyme, and juniper and let marinate overnight.
• Score skin on duck breast, reserve all duck skin and render fat for confit legs. The bones can be reserved for stock or soup.
• Recrisp in non-stick pan, skin side down, until skin is crispy and heated through.

Confit Duck
Peking duck breasts
Salt
Rice wine vinegar
Garlic
Clove
Bay leaf
Lemongrass
Kefir leaf


Prepare brine for breast
• In hot water, dissolve salt, then add rice wine vinegar, garlic, clove, bay leaf, lemongrass, and kefir leaf.
• Place duck breast in brine up to 48 hours.
• When finished, let air dry, uncovered, overnight.
• Lay duck legs flat in a roasting pan, cover with duck fat or pork lard. Bake in a 200 degree oven for about 10 hours or tender. Let rest and slice.


Blot duck with paper towels, and then twist out the thigh and breast bones, which should come out cleanly. If not, recrisp and sear the meat until tender.
Place atop jasmine rice laced with coconut milk, and creamed Brussels sprouts, with a glass of Riesling or Gewürztraminer, or a really peppery Shiraz, said Orfaly.
Bartender Cargill recommended a Carr Royale, an Italian version of a Kir Royale with St. Germain, fresh grapefruit, Prosecco, which he concocted for the wedding of Howie Carr’s daughter, Cargill’s former co-worker .

A few local residents are in tune with fundraising, with the February 7 Calliope concert to benefit St. Francis House.
West End resident and Beacon Hill business owner Ivy A. Turner of Ivy Associates Inc. Real Estate, will play the cello in a concert to benefit the largest day shelter in New England. Turner will play a movement from the Piano Trio by Boston composer Amy Beach. “This is my first time playing with Calliope,” said Turner.
Other members from the Back Bay and Beacon Hill area participating in this concert include Lillian Enright, Edith Walker, Christina Liu and Marianne Staniunas.
Calliope is a nonprofit volunteer music organization serving the Boston community. Membership includes about 28 singers, more than 20 instrumentalists, and several nonperforming members.
"’Celebrating Women, Celebrating Men" is the theme for this concert, mirroring the work that St. Francis House does - helping men and women get back on their feet so they can make a contribution to their world, their community,” said Music Director Julia O'Toole. “This is the first concert Calliope is holding as a benefit for St. Francis House.”
Each year, Calliope chooses one non-music organization in Boston and the surrounding area for which to do a benefit concert. The program selected for that benefit concert reflects the mission or philosophy of the organization chosen. “The program celebrates men and women who have made great contributions to our world, including writers, composers, performing artists, and sacred and secular figures that are particularly inspirational,” said O’Toole. Featured artists include Mozart, Lewis Carroll, Marian Anderson, Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Venus, Emily Dickinson, Virgin Mary, Amy Beach and Louis Armstrong.
A Bose Sound System will be raffled off at the concert, which is at 7:30 p.m. at Old West Church at 131 Cambridge St. Individual tickets, $35 general admission; $25 (students, seniors); $40 premium seating.
The nonprofit, nonsectarian St. Francis House provides food, clothing, daytime shelter, legal help, job skills, housing placement and medical and rehabilitation services for more than 800 men and women every day.
“Last year, we did a benefit for the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, and the program featured Vaughan Williams' ‘Dona Nobis Pacem,’ based on the writings of Walt Whitman, and other similar pieces,” she said.

Sending the wrong message

The proposal to raise the restaurant tax by 1 percent is sending the wrong message at the wrong time. People have cut back dramatically on discretionary spending, in this case, dining out. Last week, in the Wall Street Journal, an article appeared that focused on the number of high profile restaurants from coast to coast that have closed due to loss of business.
Everyone is feeling the effects of this recession, and it will only get worse. Cities are just now grappling with desperate solutions to close the gap in local aid cuts for the current fiscal year while preparing for more drastic cuts in municipal services next year. The carrot for raising the meals tax that Governor Patrick is holding out is that cities and towns can also tax restaurant receipts by an additional 1 percent.
From the state level to the city level, the way that services are delivered must be re-thought. Simply to say that we must pay more taxes isn’t the answer. The Boston Globe has started to question the $72 million that is being spent for busing children to various schools in Boston. In Los Angeles, busing no longer occurs, not only to save money but also to give parents more access to their children’s education. Think of the difficulty using public transportation for a parent who lives in Roxbury to get to East Boston to meet with the child’s teacher.
This is one example of possible savings that should be considered. There are many more ways to run efficiently, if people seriously want to start talking about that 800-pound elephant of waste sitting on the steps of the State House or City Hall.
In our lifetime, we have never seen this fiscal situation. When solid institutions like Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers cease to exist and Merrill Lynch and Bank of America can lose $50 billion of value in a quarter, there is something wrong. All this is happening while the federal government is pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy.
The old ways of just raising taxes to fund government is no longer the right way. We say to Governor Patrick, “We can do better.”