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City Winery finally opens its doors

Legendary jazz impresario Fred Taylor (left) and City Winery CEO Michael Dorf.Chorale Miles

After repeated cancellations and postponements, City Winery finally opened its doors Monday night, giving a few hundred invited guests a look inside the music venue on Canal Street.

Addressing the crowd, City Winery CEO Michael Dorf didn’t say why it took so long to get the place open — the 300-capacity club/restaurant was originally slated to be in business by September — but he did say it was way more difficult to open the Boston location than he expected. (City Winery is also in New York, Chicago, Nashville, and Atlanta, and one is opening in D.C. in 2018.)

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The crowd mingling at Monday’s event included a few familiar faces, notably jazz impresario Fred Taylor; Julie Burros, Boston’s chief of arts and culture; Joyce Linehan, Mayor Marty Walsh’s chief of policy; former Del Fuegos drummer and founder of the Right Turn recovery center Woody Giessmann; guitarist Johnny A; rock ’n’ roll archivist David Bieber; MGMT manager Mark Kates; Red Sox organist Josh Kantor; singer-songwriters Hayley Thompson-King and Julie Rhodes; Berklee’s Ralph Jaccodine; attorney Howie Altholtz; and PR maven Lori Moretti.

We’re told the venue, which includes a main stage and dining space, a bar, and an in-house winemaking operation, got the permits necessary to host Monday’s party just a few hours before the doors were to open. The venue’s first performer, guitar ace Doyle Bramhall II, takes the stage Tuesday night. We’ll be curious to see if his girlfriend, actress Renée Zellweger, makes the scene.