I find this interesting

This article was published this week in the Tribune. Just goes into more detail about the liquor licenses in Utah and what it's means for not only bars but restaurants too. 

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52047329-78/bar-bartenders-club-dojo.html.csp

Most new restaurants are seeking after a restaurant liquor license, AND a club license (bars and clubs have the same liquor licenses just FYI) they want both so they don't have to abide by the new law of hiding your bar tender while he/she mixes a drink. All existing restaurants are grandfathered in.

I guess that my mom will be happy to know that it urges Rich and me to have children... you know, so we can meet the population requirements and get more liquor licenses in Utah. :) 

Bar X Part 4: Liquor License

I wasn't planning on there being this many posts on Bar X, I thought I'd wrap it all up in part 4, but the  day we were able to get in line for a liquor license deserves it's own post. 

I'll just start out with this, it's not easy to get a license, and we learned a lot. 

Things you should know (you know, just in case you want to open a bar :))

- There is a long line to get a license (especially right now)

- The state only awards licenses once a month

- They usually only give out 1 - 3 a month and sometimes none at all

- In order to even GET IN LINE, you have to pass all inspections and be ready to open which means dump a lot of money into your new business and HOPE that you get a liquor license.

** A lot of people put a lot of hard work and money into a bar and can't afford to sit around waiting for a license. It's sad and so stupid because they end up never opening the bar they just put all that work into. Seriously we got so freaking lucky.

In November 2010 we were rushing to get everything done so we could be on the list that month. On the very last day that we could turn everything in inspectors came and went all day, telling us things that still needed to be done in order to pass. In all honesty we did the bare minimum, we NEEDED to get in line. And we did. We turned everything in literally the very last minute. I can't really explain to you how crazy it was that we got it all done and that we passed. The crew worked SO hard and did such an awesome job. It was funny because in weeks to come, everyone was redoing the crappy job we did just to pass inspections. We wanted everything to look perfect, and that's exactly what happened. 

Celebrating everyones hard work.

 Some of the crew there that day

These guys were also there everyday and working so hard.

(Yeah that's what the bar still looked like)

It was a good day :)

We were so happy. We went to the meeting and plead our case. (Really, you get up and tell the board why you deserve a liquor license) We didn't get a license that month, which we were ok with because we had some serious cosmetics to take care of. The next month there were more then 10 people in line for a liquor license, (again, we were so happy not to be at the end of that list. Just confirming how awesome it was that we worked so hard the previous month)  for most of the month of December there wasn't even one available. Towards the end of the month another bar gave up their liquor license, unfortunately it was because they had gone out of business. But we were awarded the license and opened Bar X on January 6, 2011.   

Sunday Evening June 19, 2011

FYI i'm not sure how I'm going to do all the catching up i've got to do. so there will be some recent post and some really old posts, i'm just going to keep going back and forth.

On Saturday we spent the day with the Noels and celebrated Fathers day with Howard. 

Sunday night Rich and I made dinner and ate with Carlos. Carlos and I gave Rich

the cutest card for fathers day.

We save all our wine corks, and on special occasions we write what we did

and the year and so forth. This cork says "fathers day 2011".

ps- the first time i ever saved a cork was when rich and I were in paris 2007. it's the oldest cork we have and i kept it in my make up bag for the longest time. so now it's cute and sparkly.  

I hope you all had a wonderful fathers day. Rich and I are sure lucky to have such a great example through his dad. We love him and all that he does for us and his whole family.
Happiest couple i know :)

Bar X Part 3: still under construction....

I have a million pictures of the bar from July 10th until now, this will be the last of the unfinished bar x pictures. I just had to get a few more on here. 

The top of the bar was redone but otherwise the exact same as before.

Our good friend Raph did most of the bar.

Lighting behind the bar

We can make it any color we want, it's pretty cool, they usually keep it the same 

unless it's a holiday or something 

Stain glass all lit up, and a closer look at one of the wagon wheel light fixtures.

Corner seating, one of my favorite places to sit. 

All of the bench seating was added.

I'm almost done with Bar X posts, I just have so many things I want to document. Hopefully only two more posts or so....

Bar X Part 2: Cocktails

There's a lot to learn and do when preparing to open a bar.

Rich and Duncan would work on the bar all day (whether it was construction or getting the administrative side of things in order) and then make cocktails at night.

These guys went to Seattle to train at a cocktail lounge called the Rob Roy. They learned so much about cocktails, had a wonderful time, and new exactly what they wanted to serve at the new bar x.

This is Rich and Dune at our place mixing cocktails and trying to get the recipes down to an exact Utah approved recipe. At the Rob Roy you can "free pour" your cocktails, but here in Utah you can only have your base liquor consist of 1.5 ounces, and then with the other "flavoring" liquors it can only be 2.5 total ounces of liquor. Most cocktails have more liquor then that so it took some time to get the cocktail tasting exactly how it should.

So they practiced each and every drink until it was perfect, and I drank each and every drink to make sure it was perfect :)

The guy who is sitting down with his head turned away from the camera is Philip Trickey. He's a bar tender (ironically from SLC) who works at Rob Roy, Bar X flew Philip down to SLC to continue their training here. Philip came down one more time after this for the grand opening as a guest bar tender. It was awesome and he makes great cocktails... obviously. Actually one of his cocktails that he came up with was featured in the Salt Lake Tribune a few weeks ago. It's called Punch up at a Wedding

and it's delicious.

Here they are at Jeff's house making cocktails.

This is the Boston Sour

Mojito

Mint Julep

I have other pictures of cocktails but I was having a hard time loading them... I'll have to try again later.

I love those three cocktails but they aren't even some of my favorites. If you make it to bar x you should try the Corpse Reviver # 2, or the Whiskey Smash, or the Greyhound, or the Pimms Cup, Moscow Mule... I could go on.

All the drinks at Bar X are made with freshly squeezed juices: orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit and they also squeeze ginger root daily. It's part of the love that goes into these drinks.

Rich and Duncan worked so hard on the menu among pretty much everything else at Bar X They have really become cocktail nerds and I love it.

Bar X Part One: Before

July 10th 2010 one of the oldest bars in the slc was handed over to some new owners, 3 of those owners are in the picture below, all of which are looking in different directions. Super sexy if you ask me.

Bar X is one hell of a gem, however, I'm not sure we knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into.

it. was. dirty.

I don't have pictures, but imagine a 77 year old bar where most of those years (a good 74?) it was filled with smoke. cigarette smoke. There was tar caked onto all the walls, and the actual bar itself, we wore masks, gloves and eyewear. It was bad, and we found some pretty crazy stuff behind that 77 year old bar.

A few weeks into fixing up the bar some wise guy thought it'd be super cool to steal the "X" off the front of the bar. Luckily we were able to get an exact replica.

This is the back (north) end of the bar which is where the rear entrance is located, unfortunately it's locked during business hours. You can park in the back, you'll just have to walk around :)

The ladies bathroom is on the left side right by the exit, it has some great wallpaper that Richard's cousin designed, I'll have to take some pictures.

This wall is on the east side of the bar, and is easily one of my favorite parts of the whole place. We couldn't believe that the previous owners covered them completely up with Bud Light posters. We had to scrape tar out of the grooves and shine it up, we were amazed at how great it looked

Below is you looking at the north end of the bar, with the actual bar on the right side.

There are a lot of tools and stuff in this picture, the electrical and plumbing all had to be redone so it added some extra time we weren't planning on, but it was totally worth it and couldn't have gone better.

The lights below were kept the same as well, they're old wagon wheels and look awesome. We tried as much as possible to keep things the same.

Jeff is standing (but not looking towards) the mens bathroom, the door in the corner used be where the HVAC was, now it's a large walk in fridge.

This picture was used in the SL tribune.

Here's a picture of the bar and back bar. They're were mirrors along the back that were taken down (those Camel posters were behind the mirrors). The bar itself is still there, along with that stain glass you can see on the very left. The stain glass is another favorite of mine, the previous owners never used them, they have lights that were never turned on.

Richard is below by the way, and this picture was also used in the trib.

Below is another picture that the trib used (i'm just explaining why they look so much better then the other pictures :) ) You can see that the back bar is starting to take shape as well as the top of the bar.

If you ask Richard he'll run, jump, and slide down one side of the bar to the other and give you a drink while he's at it.

Don't ask me how he does it.

I'm kidding by the way, but that'd be awesome.

"I declare.....

... lesbians love each other too!"

That saying came from a long emotional New Years Eve night of me talking with Elisa and Amber about their upcoming wedding....

Instead of writing all the details I'll just let you know that the night ended with me declaring the fact that "lesbians love each other too" to the city of salt lake, over and over...

...and over.

and I meant, slash mean it dammit.

I don't have many pictures which makes me sad, so these will have to do, again, thanks to Richard's phone.

Elisa and Amber got married in Vancouver last year (almost to the date).

They fled to Canada because, if you didn't know, you can't marry someone of the same sex here in Utah. I know what you're thinking, "really? two people who are in love can't marry each other?" Yep, you nailed it....

Richard and I warned them that as soon as we crossed back over to the states we were going to citizens arrest them. They didn't care, they're so cute.

Here's Elisa and Kristine.

This was the view from E and A's hotel, it was beautiful, I couldn't believe how much I loved Vancouver. We had a wonderful time.

This was a good night.

Yummy dinner with yummy wine and the best company.

Elisa and Amber got married on the beach on a Sunday afternoon and it. was. so beautiful. If this doesn't look like love I don't know what does.

I wish I had more pictures of their weekend and the party they had back in Utah. Trust me when i say it was beautiful and a really good time.

Spring 2010

So we broke our camera....

this is what we've got from our phones in 2010, I guess it'll have to do...

it's as if Christmas 2009 never even happened :(

St Patrick's day 2010 at Elisa and Amber's house

Carlos and me working at the JMR Chalk Garden.

Carlos after he lost his balls, if this face doesn't say "how could you do this to me

mom?" I don't know what does. Breaks my heart.

I can't believe it's been a good year and a half since I've posted on this blog, I have a lot of catching up to do.