We Walk into a Wine Bar

The Tasting Room, Fresno, California
Over the last couple of years, we’ve heard people speak passionately about their love or disdain for dive bars. This week, we visited a place that may be the aesthetic opposite of a dive bar: a wine tasting room.

Your mental picture of a dive bar is probably dark and perhaps a bit dirty, with people of questionable repute at the bar and around the dimly lit tables. “Tasting room” conjures images of elegance and refinement (and maybe reminds you of episodes of Frasier rather than Cheers). Dive bars suggest “come as you are;” a tasting room might seem a little snooty.

“Snooty” would be the word to describe a number of winery tasting rooms I’ve visited, but it’s not the adjective to describe The Tasting Room in Fresno. It is a clean, well lighted place, but it’s also casual. Several groups of people were seated at high or low tables around the room, and there was room for us at the bar. Quotes on the wall celebrated wine, some of the decorations were made with corks, and lots of bottles (mostly full) were on shelves around the room and behind the bar. There was also a TV playing the last minutes of an NBA game (Sacramento Kings vs Miami Heat), and as in any good bar, the bartender was quick to take our order.

Recently we’ve been to a number of breweries (and as we’ve often mentioned, we are not beer fans) where we usually try to decide which brew sounds least unappealing rather than hoping to find something we actually like) must decide which brew sounds the least unappealing rather than hoping something we like. But at The Tasting Room, Mindy was happy with her options, because she actually likes wine.

Even more exciting, it was fondue night! Cheese fondue was an option, but we’d eaten dinner. Instead, we ordered chocolate fondue with marshmallows, shortbread, apples, bananas, grapes, and strawberries for dipping. Mindy said we should have had red wine with it, but we’d already ordered white wines -- a Pinot Grigio for me (it was the cheapest option) and a Riesling for Mindy.

While the bartender, Melissa, asked questions about our project of bar blogging, Mike, the man at the bar next to Mindy, joined in the conversation. We told about our year of traveling and highlights from visits to both bars and churches. Mike and Melissa told us about The Tasting Room (and Mike told some stories about his recent visit to bars in Alabama and Atlanta).

We learned that The Tasting Room is around eight years old, but has had several different owners. Mike had been friends with previous owners of the bar. In fact, he had tasted every wines they served, and he even had a key to the place. He said that If he wanted a bottle when The Tasting Room was closed, he’d let himself in, find the bottle he wanted, and leave money on the counter. When those friends sold the bar, Mike quit coming.

“When they sold, it was like I lost a part of me.” But the other day, he came across one of his friends' old business cards while cleaning his desk and decided to visit again. The place had been an important part of his life and memories rushed through his mind when he came through the doors. In the course of our conversation, we asked the questions we always try to ask at bars: what makes a good bar and whether you go or not, what makes a good church.

“Wine is my passion. I love what it represents,” Mike said. “Look at us. We’re sharing this experience over wine. We can talk.” As for what makes for a good church, he said, “Probably the same thing you find here. You find people you can connect with. At a bar or church, it’s the same thing.”

We asked Melissa the same two questions. She wanted to know if she should answer for a wine bar or a normal bar. As it turned out, her answers worked for either. “It’s about who’s your customer base. You get nice people.” She added that when you’re working with people who enjoy wine. “It makes life easier.”

She’s been a bartender for a number of years, and she likes this place better than some of her previous experiences. She worked the opening shift at a downtown bar (at 6:00 am). “People would get out of jail in the morning and come in for a drink.”

I asked about church, and she said she hadn’t been to church for a long time. She last went when she was eighteen, eight years ago. She left because she didn’t like the strict rules based on she wasn’t sure what. “Churches need to be welcoming,” she said, in opposition to what she had experienced. She said she’s still looking now for a religion to believe in. She has a small son, but doesn’t want to force a faith on him. She said she’d let him decide what to believe when he grows up, though she may allow him to be baptized, since that's what her family will probably want.

Once again, we found what we’re looking for in a bar: a chance to talk with pleasant people. If this involves drinks we genuinely like, all the better. Plus chocolate? Who could ask for anything more?

We Walk into a Pub

Groggs Traditional Irish Pub, Clovis, California
I guess I was feeling groggy. We’d looked up a number of bars, but we headed out Thursday without being really set on where we’d go. I’d suggested a dive, but when we saw the crowd hanging around outside, we decided we weren’t in the mood for that divey of a dive.

So as Mindy read the names of a few bars we’d considered, I thought the name “Groggs” sounded the most amusing. I hoped there would be a proprietor named “Grogg” who would greet visitors saying, “I, Grogg. Place mine. You drink.”

(Spoiler: that was not the case.)

One of the other draws was that Groggs was an Irish pub that served naan -- because nothing says Irish like Indian flatbread.

We arrived to discover it was in the same neighborhood as another bar we'd visited recently. As we approached the entrance, we could hear men talking enthusiastically at an outside table. We walked through the smoking area where they were sitting; inside, a few people were sitting at the far end of the bar, but it didn’t seem to be a particularly busy night.

The boar’s head on the wall was surrounded by other fine kitsch, some of it Irish related. A side room had dart boards with electronic scoring, and a group down the bar got a box of darts.

Josiah the bartender asked for our orders, and we both said we needed to think about it for a minute. We always mean to decide what to order before we get to the bar so we won’t stand at the bar stammering, but we never manage it. Mindy decided on cranberry and vodka; I went with rum and coke. Josiah offered us a food menu, and though we were tempted by the naan and hummus, we ordered The Onion Tower.

While we waited for our onion rings, the men at the other end of the bar started laughing. Josiah was bopping along with the music while he got change, and one of the men said, “That’s why I come here, brother, the personality."

Mindy asked Josiah and Becky, who was serving, how the night was for them. Becky told us that the dinner rush had been much more busy than they'd expected, with pleasant customers.

“They were polite. I like polite people.” She said she hoped a couple of the new people would become regulars. She said they lived nearby and were happy they could walk or Uber home. She was happy because she wouldn’t need to argue with those guests if they stayed late in the evening. “I like people like that.”

I noticed Becky was getting ready to leave, and I asked if she would mind taking a moment to answer our questions about bars and churches. When we asked what makes for a good bar, she asked whether we wanted an answer from the customer or staff prospective.

We said staff.

She answered, “Good customers; nice, fun, cool.” Becky wore a sweatshirt from a bar in Florida where she’d worked for ten years, “It was family.”

As for what makes for a good church, Becky said she wasn’t a church-goer, but when she’d visited Europe a couple years ago, she loved the art and history she’d found in the churches and great cathedrals she visited.

Mindy asked Josiah our questions. He said a good bar had a friendly staff. He doesn’t like it too loud, and “an abundance of regulars makes it fun.” Josiah said he knows the regulars at Groggs by first and last names, and he thinks that’s important.

At church, Josiah said he likes good music, and also that “a church is nothing without a community of regulars.” He said he appreciates “a good church leader who will speak to you and also lead by example.” They talked for awhile about local churches; he's attended several churches in the area over the years, and he and his wife got to know each other partly because he gave her a ride to church.

The woman sitting next to me asked what I was writing in my notebook. I handed her a card and introduced myself and Mindy. She didn’t respond with mention her name, but she began asking questions about our project. I told her about our 2016 trip to visit a church and a bar in every state and she asked about that as well. She asked what the point of it all was.

Eventually, I got around to asking her our usual questions. She said a good bar has good beer and friendly staff. A good church should have a good pastor (by which I think she meant a good preacher).

She asked where I thought she was coming from, but I’ve learned better than to answer a question like that. She said she was a believer, but she didn’t seem happy with the Church in the Valley. The teachings and programs were directed toward young families. “They have programs for college students and young careers, but at 34, I’m not young. If I was a divorcee, they would have more programs directed toward me.” But for a single woman, not so much.

On top of that, she considers herself an introvert, and churches in the area are directed toward extroverts. People were expected to stand and sing loud and during greeting time shake hands and perhaps hug.

I asked if she might prefer going to an Episcopal contemplative service, but she said she’d have problems with that. I asked if it was because of the theology and she said, “That would be the word for it.” It was interesting that she said she doesn’t mind being sociable in a bar, but she prefers to be left to herself in a church.

Though she never gave her name, I asked if she was okay with my posting what she said, and she was fine with that as long as her identity wasn't clear. I was happy to comply, because as I said, I was feeling groggy that evening. But I can say quite clearly we enjoyed our time with the folks at Groggs.

We Walk into a Bar and Meet a Jerky Salesman

Miss Kitty’s Lounge, Clovis, California
We were puzzled by the man who came into the bar with a cooler in hand. Did he bring his own six pack? There was plenty of beer already at Miss Kitty’s Lounge; someone had written a little ode to hops on the chalkboard behind the bar: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, when life is a b**ch, beer is a must.” (The *s allow the more optimistic among our readers to think of life as a beach.)

Anyway, there was obviously no need for anyone to BYOB.

We observed a number of people enjoying the drinks at Miss Kitty’s that evening. A couple of guys were playing pool as they drank their beers. “Rack ‘em up” one gentleman said to the other.

“You rack ‘em up, Beach!” (I think that’s what he called him, I could be wrong. I’m having problems inserting the correct vowels today.) Couples were enjoying conversation at the tables. Five women at the bar were very much enjoying each other’s company and conversation amongst themselves and with others at the bar, as well as working on their dance moves (to such tunes as Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” and Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls”.)

From outside, the place looks quite dark, but the interior was well- lit. The wall has pictures of various starlets (Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor) and pinups (Bettie Page was the only one I recognized). The bar was mostly full, but there was an elegant purple couch along one wall and comfy chairs with little tables around the edges of the room.

We ordered our drinks at the bar. I made the boring choice of Angry Orchard, and Mindy went with Twisted Tea, which we’d never come across before. A guy at the bar asked about the tea and so we asked him our two questions. (Actually, there are three questions. We always talk about “What makes for a good bar?” and “What makes for a good church?” but we first asked, “What name would you like us to use in our post. You can lie about it.”)

He asked to borrow my notebook and pen. Here is what he wrote:

“Slavic Volochy” (I’m guessing that is not his real name.)

“Bar: Never ask for money up front.”

“Church: Stop using tax relief, you’re hurting the public. End Period”

After we thanked Slavic Volochy, Mindy and I took our drinks to a table on the other side of the room. When we were on our trip (visiting a bar and a church in every state), we spent a lot of time together, so we looked forward to spending time with people at the bar.Lately, we’ve been busy with conflicting work (and sleep) schedules, so during our bar time we enjoyed talking with each other. Frankly, right now, we enjoy talking with each other in a bar more than talking to strangers (which takes more energy).

As Mindy and I were talking, a man approached and the mystery of the cooler was solved. He said his name was Cliff, and he asked if we’d like to sample his homemade beef jerky. Mindy asked to try the teriyaki flavor. Cliff recently earned a license to sell the jerky he makes; he goes to various places, including bars, to sell it. He also mentioned going to other businesses, like realtors, where he has relationships.

We asked him our two questions, and for his bar answer, Cliff said, “I don’t like going into a dive.” And he doesn’t life “egotistical bartenders who have to show their authority” -- particularly those that deny beef jerky sales. We thought that maybe the best place to sell the jerky would be dives, since they are less likely to have food for sale, but that’s not how he seems to see it.

As for what makes for a good church, Cliff wants a church that preaches Biblical truth. He has a problem with some religions, it seems particularly Catholicism. “Mary doesn’t do anything for me. She was a good woman, and she’s in heaven, but she can’t help us. Priests can’t absolve us from sin.” He said he wants a church that preaches “the truth, even when it’s convicting and not what I want to hear.”

Bringing the two topics together he said, “The bars drove me back to going to church.” He talked about going to a karaoke bar and being disturbed by an attractive woman singing vile lyrics and being cheered on by men in the bar. “Sodom, meet Gomorrah” he said.

We did buy a bag of jerky.

Mindy realized she’d forgotten to include a tip when she paid for the drinks, so we went back to the bar to pay and chat for a bit with Petra the bartender. (Petra added a little heart when she signed her name on the whiteboard announcing who was tending bar that evening.)

I asked her about Miss Kitty’s. She said she’s been there two years, and what she likes about the place is her customers. She said they make each other welcome, they make newcomers welcome. “People can be themselves here.”

Like Cliff the nice jerky salesman and Slavic Volochy, we were happy to be ourselves there, because we like us. And beef jerky.

We Walk into Art

Tioga-Sequoia Beer Garden, Fresno, California
Last Thursday night, Tioga-Sequoia was participating in Fresno's monthly ArtHop (Tioga-Sequoia called their portion of the event "Arts and Hops"). Along with the craft beers at the bar and pizza available from a food truck, photographs from a local artist were available for sale.

In the spirit of the art hop, we decided to give you photographs from the event -- absolutely free! Enjoy.

This was not the art we were looking for

Proof we're over 21

We found the art!

Dean was happy about the Warriors win. And we appreciated the DJ, too

Hello, Connect 4. You must be a Fresno bar thing.

Beer and Root Beer

We hadn't known there was a brewery district. Now we do