You Can Once Again Drink Booze in a Rooftop Igloo (and More Updates)

Welcome back to Morning Briefing, an almost-daily round-up of mini news bites to kick off the day.

Bundle Up

The rooftop igloos at the Envoy Hotel’s Lookout Rooftop and Bar (70 Sleeper St., Seaport District, Boston) have reopened for the season and will remain open through April 16, 2018. The six igloos (yes, they’re heated) are open Wednesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and are available to walk-ins, although they can be rented ahead of time in two-hour increments for private events of up to 10 people; call (617) 530-1538. Drinkers are provided with fleece blankets, and each igloo can be illuminated at the press of a button to summon a cocktail server. The rooftop includes drink service, no food, but hungry customers can head downstairs to Outlook Kitchen and Bar to eat.

Worthless Liquor Licenses

Last month, the Globe took a deep dive into Cambridge’s giant mess of a liquor license system that has forced some restaurant owners to pay six figures for licenses while others got them for free — which means that those who are retiring or otherwise closing their businesses now are not being left with the investment they thought they’d have since no one wants to buy a license when there are free ones available. Over the weekend, Cambridge Day zoomed in on one particular owner, Bonney Bouley, who recently shuttered longtime music venue T.T. the Bear’s in Central Square. Bouley’s lawyer hoped to get the License Commission to buy back Bouley’s liquor license as a consequence of having “created illegal regulations that manipulated the market for liquor licenses, outside the scope of its legal authority.” The License Commission said no.

Food Trucks Are Still a Thing

In happier Cambridge news, albeit a few years behind the times, Cambridge is finally starting up a pilot program to fill Central and Kendall squares, Cambridgeport, and North Point Park with food trucks next year, reports Scout Cambridge. The city currently has just three trucks that are able to operate on public land, although there are a number of others that park on private property, such as at Harvard University. The food truck season will run from April to October. Applications for the 2018 program closed at the end of November, and the lineup will be announced in March.

Latke Alert

With Hanukkah fast approaching (the first night is Tuesday, December 12), Kara Baskin attempted to round up some of the city’s best potato latke options for Jewish Boston, starting by focusing on frozen ones from supermarkets, but good ones were pretty hard to find. Instead, she recommends going to Inna’s Kitchen at Boston Public Market, Mamaleh’s, or Michael’s Deli.

Got a news tip for the Eater Boston team? Email boston@eater.com.