We Walk into Christmas Caroling

Tree of Life Cafe and Bakery, Fresno, California
We walked into Tree of Life for Beer and Carols, but, as has been stated too many times in this blog, we don’t like beer. So Mindy ordered rosé and I ordered the same, since a new bottle was being opened. And opening that bottle was a challenge. The young woman behind the counter was new to the wine bottle opening process, and her manager (one of the owners, Steve Ocheltree) gave her step by step instructions for cutting away the foil and using the bottle opener. She was successful (cork free glasses are the mark of success).

Besides the beer challenge, you might have noticed us mentioning a time or two the challenge of distinguishing “bars” from “restaurants” for our purposes. I’ll admit straight out: Tree of Life is clearly a restaurant, but “Beer and Carols Night” is such a bar type of thing to do that we wanted to check it out. If it bothers you that a bar blog is focusing on a eating place rather than a drinking place, remember it’s Christmas and be of good cheer.

Though we chose to get wine, there was a sort of/kind of beer tap set up using a cooler, which seemed to be primarily used by the people of Woven Community, the church that sponsored the event. We considered buying something from the bakery (the cookies and breads looked good, even though we'd just eaten dinner at home), but when we were told that the church had cookies and chips available on one of the tables, we decided to try those first.

We sat at a table near other carolers, and Carolyn Ocheltree, the other owner of Tree of Life soon came over to greet us. We asked if she belonged to Woven Community; she told us that she didn’t but that they were considering attending; she seemed impressed by their Beer and Carols event.

Carolyn told us that she’d grown up in the Valley as a Seventh Day Adventist. That church encourages their membership to follow a well balanced vegetarian diet -- which was not exactly the norm in the Fresno area. Her dietary background instilled a sensitivity to people with different diets, and in their restaurant and catering, they make sure they can appeal to a variety of tastes.They not only serve gluten free bakery goods and vegan entrees, they also serve bacon and cinnamon rolls. (Seventh Day Adventists also refrain from drinking alcohol, but as mentioned above, the restaurant has beer and wine are available).

Tree of Life also celebrates the San Joaquin Valley and Fresno in particular. The walls are filled with photos and paintings of local farms and mountains, along with quotes from local literary hero, William Saroyan. Carolyn talked about how they loved to have tourists from far away places like Germany stop by on the way to Yosemite. After a meal at Tree of Life, the visitors leave knowing more about the area than they would have learned over a meal at a fast food franchise.

But wait! There’s more! Another element of Steve and Carolyn’s business is their goal to provide work for those who a recovering from addictions. More than half of their staff has gone through rehabilitation programs. Carolyn mentioned that one of the advantages of Tree of Life’s downtown location is that employees who don’t have a driver’s license or don’t have access to a car benefit from the downtown public transportation hub.

Since the carol singing hadn’t yet gotten started, we asked Carolyn the two questions we always ask at bars.When we asked her what she looked for in a good bar, the answer didn’t come quickly. “For me, it’s atmosphere and service. I’m an older white woman. So I want someplace quirky, where people will treat me nicely.” She also prefers quiet to a noisy place.

As for what makes for a good church, she said she’d like a place that is multicultural, with people with a variety of income levels and interests. She wants to be with “a loving, caring group of people.”

To us, the most impressive thing about Tree of Life was that many of the things Carolyn would like to see in a church are what she and her husband are providing through the restaurant (which was, for us on that night, also a bar).