New owner of troubled club makes case for liquor license

LYNN – The owner of a Haitian restaurant that was once an infamous Lynn nightclub tried to shake the image of cocaine deals and drunken parties last night while making the case to renew the building’s liquor license.Midlher Cherubin said what remains of Raffi’s Place, a longtime nightclub that police believe was a hotspot for drug dealings and raucous parties , is nothing but bad memories.His establishment at 408 Summer St., which has been open since June as Paradise Restaurant, will be a new beginning for the neighborhood run more like a family-friendly restaurant, with monitored teen parties and earlier closing hours.But he needs to be able to sell alcohol to keep the bills afoot.”I understand your frustration,” he told about a dozen residents who live nearby at a meeting sponsored by Lynn Police. “At the end of the day, you guys have to trust me to see how I handle the license.”Cherubin knows he has his work cut out for him. The owner of Raffi’s Place, Rafael Guzman, was charged in April of last year for dealing cocaine, and police have responded to more than 150 calls since September of 2008 at the restaurant.”It’s like a bad person having surgery,” he said earlier at his restaurant while signing off on a shipment of a dozen red “just because” roses for his wife. “You change your heart, but everyone still thinks you’re a bad person.”Cherubin, who is also a landlord and lives nearby with his family on Church Street, said he himself doesn’t drink or smoke. But at only six months old, Paradise Restaurant is lagging behind on bills, and he needs to sell alcohol to keep customers coming in.He did say he would be willing to close the restaurant at about 11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and on the weekends he would close as early as midnight. He also recommended fencing in the parking lot to keep patrons from spilling out into the neighborhood.Serena Joshua, who lives down the block on Lowell Street, has escorted her teenage children to Paradise Restaurant for a teen party there and said she had no problems with the new establishment.But officer Rich Fucci cautioned that many a well-intentioned business owner has let a liquor license get out of hand.”Make no mistake, there’s a difference between drunk people and sober people,” he said. “No matter how well you run it, there’s going to be problems.”The Lynn License Commission is expected to hear the case after the holidays.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].