Council bans Bottega from hosting DJ night with So Solid Crew member

Police in the UK have stopped Prosecco brand Bottega from hosting an “oldskool” music event at its restaurant and bar in Birmingham, claiming it would have turned the venue into a nightclub.

Bottega had planned to hire out its venue at Arena Birmingham on 12 June for an event hosted by local promoter Return of Certified Oldskool (R.O.C.O), where all guests were to be dressed in white and a special appearance from Romeo of UK garage group So Solid Crew fame.

But the night was blockaded by a Birmingham city council licensing sub committee which ruled the night would end too late and descend into disorder.

The committee rules the Italian restaurant and Prosecco bar was an unsuitable venue for a garage night, following objections raised by West Midlands Police last month.

PC Abdool Rohomon said in a council document that the police force had been “very very strict” in granting the Bottega bar’s original license earlier this year due to its location.

Bottega’s license allows for 20 customers to be consuming alcohol until 2am, and does not include entertainment.

However, the R.O.C.O. night would have ended at 4:30am, welcoming 250 guests to the bar.

Rohomon said Bottega’s business plan “was a restaurant, it was not a vertical drinking establishment or nightclub,” reports Birmingham Live.

“If it had ever been you would have heard about it because we would have objected to it.”

The bar, serving fizz and Mediterranean small plates, opened last month and is one of many new bars from the Prosecco brand which have cropped up in the UK in the past year.

Addressing the committee, the restaurant’s director, Evelyn Armstrong, said the promoters had put on similar events in neighbouring venues without issue, and argued that the venue’s landlord, NEC Group, had not only signed off on the event but also offered to provide security.

“We are not intending to be a nightclub and have no intentions of ever becoming one,” she said.

“This is a one-of event that we’ve agreed to with this particular promoter because I know them personally.”

A spokesperson for Bottega declined to give db further comment.