Vine Street Café reopens this week and hosts a vintage barware pop-up where you can shop for unique Valentine’s Day gifts. Featuring Bearcat Lounge barware, the pop-up takes place in the VSC Market, set up for shopping and complimentary cocktail tastings.
Stop by on Saturday, February 12 between 3 and 6 PM to meet Gretchen Webb, proprietor of Bearcat Lounge barware. After that, the pop-up will be open during regular market hours, 3 to 8 PM, through Monday, February 14 for last-minute Valentine’s Day shopping.
You’ll find what you need to stock a home bar such as refurbished bar carts, jiggers, cocktail shakers, mixing glasses, swizzle sticks, juicers, serving trays, glassware, ice buckets, bar tools, and more. Bearcat also offers cocktail scented soy candles such as Mimosa and Lavender and Mint Mojito.
What great ideas for unique Valentine’s Day gifts!
In addition to the pop-up, throughout the weekend Vine Street Café offers Valentine-themed specials including desserts like Baked Alaska and Chocolate Bombs.
About Bearcat Lounge vintage barware
Webb, a friend of VSC owners Terry and Lisa Harwood, says Bearcat Lounge grew out of the pandemic shutdown. To overcome doldrums, she and her husband decided to craft a different cocktail every evening.
This seemingly simple goal launched an ambitious undertaking, she said in a recent email. To mix cocktails properly, “you’ll need multiple simple syrup flavors, shrubs, and bitters, plus the correct glassware, shakers, mixing glasses, ice cube molds, garnishes, specific brands of base spirits, and a variety of enhancement liqueurs.”
In nightly cocktail research, Webb discovered gathering the ingredients was easy; finding unique vintage barware was not.
“It may seem frivolous to have specific glasses for each type of cocktail,” she said. “However, when you’re trying to recreate that chill, sexy cocktail club vibe at home, the barware becomes extremely important.”
With Bearcat as a tradename — it’s 1920s slang for a free-spirited woman — Webb turned her love of all things vintage into a business curating and selling collections of vintage barware.
“I search high and low for antique merchandise that spans the decades,” she said.
The Bearcat Lounge collection includes pieces from the ’20s through the early ’90s. Webb researches each item and provides the history and provenance — the backstory being part of the charm of one-of-a-kind finds.
Bearcat Lounge also offers in-home consultations, personal shopping, and party planning services, and can collaborate with other businesses. Find out more on Webb’s Esty site. Below is a recipe Webb provided for Cupid’s Arrow, one of the cocktails you can sample during the VSC Market pop-up this weekend.
Cupid’s Arrow
Bar tools
- Cocktail shaker with strainer
- Measured/stepped jigger
- Coupe glass
Ingredients
- 1 oz. botanical gin (preferably St. George brand)
- 1/2 oz. raspberry simple syrup (see recipe below)
- 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ice
- Prosecco or Champagne
- 2-inch rosemary sprig
- raspberry
Directions
- Measure and pour the gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice into the cocktail shaker
- Add a handful of ice
- Cover and shake for 15 seconds
- Strain into the coupe glass
- Top with Prosecco or Champagne
- Garnish with the raspberry pushed onto the end of the rosemary sprig (this is Cupid’s Arrow)
Raspberry Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- Handful of raspberries
Directions
- Boil water and sugar for 5 min
- Add raspberries and boil for another 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes
- Strain into glass heat-resistant container
Store it in your refrigerator, and the raspberry simple syrup should be good for up to 2 weeks, Webb said.
For information about Vine Street Café, or to book a reservation, visit www.vinestreetcafe.com.
