QUESTION: Whatever happened to that guy from Boise who was next on the liquor license list? He said there were plans to put a bistro in the building where Kelly’s used to be on N. Fourth Street. What happened?

ANSWER: Nothing more than a slight change of geography.

The gentleman in question is a Boise attorney named Brian Donesley, and he did, in fact, beat the deadline to become proud owner of a full-service liquor license in Coeur d’Alene.

But there was a slight hiccup.

“The guy who owned that building on Fourth Street suddenly changed his mind and wouldn’t lease the place to me,” Donesley said. “I have a feeling he decided he wanted to do something else with the place — maybe in conjunction with something across the street.

“I don’t know what was in his mind, but I was surprised and disappointed. I really liked that location.”

Bowed but not beaten, Donesley went searching for a new place to park that valuable liquor license, and he almost landed in the water.

Stopping just short, at O’Shay’s Irish Pub & Eatery (314 Lake Coeur d’Alene Drive), Donesley discovered a neat little building adjacent to the main bar itself.

“There’s a long tradition of actual Irish pubs having a little private room called the ‘snug,’” Donesley said. “In this case, the building was part of O’Shay’s beer garden.”

Steve Saunders, the owner of O’Shay’s, was willing to work with Donesley, and now the smaller structure is called SNUG — a cozy little place with Irish whiskey for winter and outdoor tables for summer.

Saunders is managing SNUG for now, allowing Donesley to continue his Boise law practice without fear of what’s going on up north.

They are separate businesses, however. O’Shay’s has a beer and wine license, so they couldn’t be combined legally — even if that seemed like a profitable move.

“SNUG is really a cute little place, and when we build a customer base, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Donesley said.

“The problem is that we got started late. We opened on July 20, so a lot of the summer was gone before anyone knew we were there. Hopefully, we hang on for the winter and then attract some regulars as time goes by.”

Donesley does have faith in the SNUG experiment, but he’ll admit he’s hedging his bets.

“If the location proves too much of a hurdle, and a spot opens up in town that might be better suited for what I’d like to see, well, the liquor license can be moved,” he said.

“I love Coeur d’Alene and, at least in the business sense, I’m there to stay.”