From Farm to Glass

By: Nightclub and Bar

Jon Smith has owned the small wine shop Cork & Bottle in New Orleans for nearly seven years. After the dry cleaners next door didn’t reopen post-Hurricane Katrina, he bought the space and added an adjoining wine bar called Clever.

The two spaces aim to take the snobbery out of wine shopping and sipping, and Smith, with help from bartender Kimberly Patton-Bragg, offers patrons organic wines and cocktails with interesting elements such as port, Lillet and fresh infusions of fruit.

The real twist? Some ingredients come from the parking lot.Each Thursday, Smith heads up a community farmers’ market in the parking lot outside Cork & Bottle and Clever. From mushroom growers to sweets bakers, area farmers and merchants attract crowds. Shoppers then stop in, have a wine tasting and buy locally grown produce.

Click to Here Continue Reading This Post