Stella Cafe finally got their liquor license! Last night I walked into my favorite coffee shop (1224 First Ave., across from SAM), and immediately noticed the liquor bottles and gigantic "Diller Hotel" sign behind the counter. Then I noticed the "Diller Room" sign in the First Ave. window, where a little orange pending liquor license sign has been taped up for what's seemed like an eternity.

The building used to be the Diller Hotel; the back room, known as the "Diller Room," was its lobby. I can't wait to have a cocktail in that 1930s-ambient little room, with its high-backed red booths, moody overhead lighting, and cavelike basement atmosphere.