Wine, Women, and Song

I haven't posted anything since we opened-- nearly a year. Things have been crazy and wonderful and terrible and tumultuous and fantastic. This year has been a whirlwind of emotions-- good and bad. Whatever people say about small business ownership is absolutely true. It is a rocky road full of bumps-- good thing that's my favorite ice cream. I just grab a big spoon and dig in!

Things that have happened this year:
 * We expanded our beer and wine menus. We applied for a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence; we will know if we got it in May. We now have 150 wines on our menu and have 50 by- the- glass wine choices. Our wine cellar is beautiful and actually pretty well organized. Jack just passed his introductory Master Court of Sommeliers Class, so he is very close to being a full-fledged wine connoisseur.
* We are having a new bar built to celebrate our new venture into winedom. After a long wait, we are finally going to get to see what it looks like this weekend. It is being built off site to avoid disrupting the flow of business here.
* Virginia Living readers voted us one of the top three Vegetarian Restaurants in the area. We were thrilled to be even mentioned, much less one of the top three within our first year of being open. 
* We bought a lot of new equipment-- including, but not limited to new refrigerators, more prep tables, AND a keg cooler with three, soon to be four, taps. 

* We lost a few employees that were a large part of our business plan and persevered. I spent more time in the kitchen than I had planned, but I discovered that I have a talent for food that I didn't know existed.We now have a menu that changes nightly. I have read a lot of cookbooks and watched a lot of videos that have taught me some skills that I was lacking. Apparently, the girl who couldn't boil water and used butter to fry bacon not so terribly long ago can actually cook.
* We have maintained our relationships with our local purveyors and have actually expanded the number of farmers that we work with. As we come into the growing season, we are really excited that we have a menu that reflects the wealth of agriculture this area has-- and reflects it on a basis that evolves as the season does.
* We continued to offer different entertainment options for our patrons-- from plays to poetry reading to book signings and music with locals and one Grammy award winning violinist, we have run the gamete of events that have graced our modest stage. We are so excited to continue to offer a variety of things that you just can't see anywhere else. My personal favorite night was when Kisihi Bashi from Of Montreal played with Wes Swing and Lola Mullen. It was packed and the music was transcendent. Some of my favorite evenings have occurred when the shows were over and the musicians just jammed with the friends and staff that were hanging out. I don't know many places were that type of fellowship is facilitated, but I am glad that we are one of them.

Well, that is an all too brief recap of the past year. New things, more growth, and a constant evolution. We like to think that as we grow, our customers and restaurant grow with us. It has been a long strange trip and I am excited for what the coming year has to offer. I look forward to continuing to offer our patrons and friends foods, beverages, and events that they cannot get anywhere else in the Valley.