58 Main Street Shaping Up To Be Dessert Haven

In a downtown filled with places to eat dinner, 58 Main Street is posed to become Main Street's dessert capital. The Town Council approved both a liquor license for the four-month-old Silver Spoon Bakery and a victualing license for Lina Piccolina, which wants to open an ice cream shop on the first floor to pair with their consignment shop downstairs.

Silver Spoon owners Kelly and Scott Santos told Council members they needed a full liquor license to be able to serve wine and liqueurs to their patrons who come in for cupcakes and macaroons. Originally, they thought they could just apply for a wine-and-beer license but liqueurs required a full license. They said they had no intention of serving beer or hard liquor, but rather were looking to accommodate their customers.

Silver Spoon Bakery serves only cupcakes, macaroons and coffee right now. 

One resident, Carl Hoyer, spoke out against granting the new license, saying there were already enough liquor licenses in town and reminding the Council the shop in question was essentially a bakery.

Town Council members voted 4-1 in favor of the license. Councilman Brad Bishop cast the lone dissenting vote, noting there would be a temptation to sell more and more alcohol.

"I frankly don’t see the justification," he said.

Councilor Jeff Cianciolo said the application was a further sign of the town's ascendence as a dining hub and that that was a good thing. He noted the town received about a half million dollars in restaurant tax revenue. 

"Encouraging that … would be helpful," he said. "I don’t think it’s going to tear the fabric of East Greenwich apart."

Afterward, Kelly Santos said she was relieved. "They just don't know what we're going for," she said of the Council members with reservations. 

"We just want to serve maybe four liqueurs and three different wines," she said. "We don't have the space for anything more."

Later in the meeting, the Town Council approved a victualing license for Lina Piccolina owner Teresa Coletta, also of 58 Main Street. Lina Piccolina is a children's consignment clothing store on the basement level of the building but Coletta has leased a space on the first floor, right across from Silver Spoon, that she wants for a seasonal ice cream shop.

Coletta said she was hoping ice cream would draw in families who might then end up shopping at her store downstairs.

Councilors voted 5-0 in favor of the victualing license.