Prominent restaurant temporally closed down after being exposed for selling soda products
Nannaras X
October 12th YC 120
The “Itsu" restaurant in the commerce district of Hoiyori has been temporarily shut down after Myrskytuuli Regiment officers discovered the establishment was distributing Quafe and other soda products to patrons.
“Itsu” is a restaurant that aims to deliver an authentic Raata dining experience found during the high-period of the Raata Empire, with the exception of some modern security measures and utilities to ensure a sanitary environment. Colonists visiting Itsu could enjoy staple meals of Raata cuisine in an atmosphere that came right out of a time capsule, complete with live performances from geisha entertainers.
However as the Regiment has found out, this experience is sullied by the sales of carbonated soda beverages such as Quafe, Starsi and Fizzal. To those readers unaware Quafe, and similar beverages, are all considered illegal in Hoiyori. This decision was made by the Ohrion Board of Health and Wellbeing after deeming soft drinks to be a “Cocktail of chemicals with no redeeming nutritional value”. This is due to research linking soft drinks as a leading cause of obesity (which comes with its own problems of high blood-pressure, potential heart disease, and an increased chance of cancer), type-2 diabetes, cavities, and devastating effects to tooth enamel.
The Regiment discovered this due to one unfortunate mixup with orders. The scene goes a little something like this; the Itsu is packed during the evening, as soon as a table was made vacant it was occupied within a minute. Many of the customers had just got off their shift and were looking to blow off steam and catch the live musical performance from Tetsune Susato and Raasa Kemonen. Among the patrons were three off duty Regiment officers who ordered a pot of Tenal green tea. At Itsu, its it’s common practice that when you order drinks you get a freshly made pot of that tea from a section in the kitchen entirely devoted to preparing teapots. The officers patiently wait until their pot arrives, they pour a round of drinks, have a toast to each other and drink. As soon as the liquid hits the tongue of one officer, he spits it out while the other two recoil in shock. One officer takes another sip, then another and informs his comrades that they were drinking Quafe.
Being served Quafe was immediately reported, on duty officers reported to the scene and confronted the evening manager with the recovered evidence of the Quafe-filled teapot in hand. The manager thankfully came clean right away and cooperated when faced with imposing representatives of Hoiyori’s law enforcement. and revealed that he’s been acting as a distributor for soda. Demanding more information, the officers were led to the freezer where they found six barrels filled with Quafe (two of which were diet), three of Starsi, and two of a brand named Fizzal.
According to the manger the plan went like this. Regulars that frequent the restaurant and seemed to be on the level were let in on some secret items they could order that aren’t listed in the menu. The onitseru special if you wanted Quafe and the shinomeister special if you wanted Starsi. Waiters and waitresses were told to go along with this, but never order it themselves (if they tried, they were simply denied). The order would then be handed off to the tea-crafter in the back and they would wait around the time it would take to boil enough water for a pot before filling up one of the desired soda. The idea was to drink this illegal substance in plain sight. Unfortunately in this scenario, the Quafe filled pot was mislabeled and sent to the table with the Regiment officers.
Patrons were told to finish up their meals and depart as quickly as possible and anyone on the waiting list was promptly told by Regiment officers to return home. Tetsune Susato and Raasa Kemonen’s performance was also cut short to drive home the point that the place was closing several hours early. Staff were rounded up and questioned about having knowledge of the soft drink sales, while both the manager and tea-crafter were escorted out though a back door with confiscated soda barrels in tow. It appears all the employees were in the dark about what was going on and were all let go. The manager however is being questioned further about who supplied him with the soft drinks. The manager continues to be cooperative, claiming that he was manipulated into doing it. While he was quick to come clean, he is still looking at serving time for being involved with distributing a banned substance, although the sentence will be merciful in note of his cooperation.
The Itsu is planned to reopen soon after the Regiment can safely say that none of the current employees are tied to the soda distribution. ZANIE would like to remind everyone that it is greatly appreciated to report any suspicious dealings in Hoiyori to your nearest Regiment official to investigate.
ZANIE will monitor this situation for any developments.