About a year ago, Chris and Allaire Swart took a splashy, entrepreneurial plunge. Diving into veritable vats of tasty wines and learning all they could about grapes, the couple opened Chateau Grand Rapids in the historic East Hills area of the bustling west Michigan city. Having been avid wine lovers who traveled to Europe for years, and loving the idea of experiential real estate development, the two recently opened their own boutique tasting room in a lovely neighborhood where you can find everything from cafes and boutiques to bookstores and quality eateries.
“Experiential means that it’s a place you interact with and relax and enjoy,” says Chris, who grew up in Riverview. “Many bars and restaurants are starting to come around to this. I think there was a need for this type of experience in Grand Rapids.” Prior to its rebirth as a tasting boutique, the space housed Books & Mortar, an independent bookstore that has now moved across the street.
The same Cherry Street neighborhood is also home to the Green Well restaurant, the farm-to-table Grove, Maru Sushi, and the Ritual wine store. “Seeing that there was an abundance of critical mass with excellent quality restaurants and wines, these are great neighbors to join. Here, there are enough things to enjoy, all in one spot,” Chris adds.
The entrepreneur admits he’s a recovering finance professional. “My career has (consisted of) finance roles for hospitality companies, and I also worked in investment banking in New York City,” he shares. He says his previous experience, including holding a finance role at Wynn resorts, has set him up for his newest venture.
The wine is the big draw at this cozy enclave. “We find, curate, and serve the best wines possible in Grand Rapids,” Chris says. The couple also sells bottles for folks to take home. “We have 400 bottles on our growing list and offer a different wine by the glass every week, so we can introduce our guests to new wines.”
What you won’t find is a stuffy atmosphere full of wine afficionados. “We’re not looking to intimidate or overwhelm the guest. All you need to bring is a love for or interest in discovering wines,” Chris says, adding that some of the crowd favorites include sparkling crémant, Beaujolais, and Barolo. “Allaire (who grew up in Grand Rapids) and I share a strong interest in high-quality experiences and social things to do outside of the home.” And, voila, Chateau Grand Rapids was born.
Nibbles between sips come in the way of an assortment of small plates. Patrons will find freshly cut cheese and charcuterie, sardines, caviar with crème fraiche on Spanish potato chips, and the popular pimento cheese spread from Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor. Also getting rave reviews is the couple’s whipped goat cheese, on top of which they drizzle chili-oil honey. “We’ll also have special nights, like an oyster night where we order in and shuck like 100 oysters,” Chris says.
For those who would rather imbibe on grains than grapes, there are always classic cocktails on the menu, as well as a few beers and non-alcoholic options.
As for his favorite, Chris goes right for a Beaujolais. “We always have that on the list and it’s from one of our favorite regions of France,” he notes. He says it’s not intentional to have mostly European wines on his list, but he does focus on minimal intervention and fruit that’s grown organically. Prices range from about $12 to $20 per glass.
As for Chateau’s style, the Swarts called on design firm Obata Noblin Office. With a contemporary vibe imbued with nostalgic French charm, the 1,100-square-foot space takes on quite a mood.
“Max Obata went to U-M when I was there. He was in the architecture program, and we had a mutual friend. I was searching for an architect who had an eye from outside Grand Rapids, so it wouldn’t look like other (local) spaces.” When the two met and looked over the building, which includes a lot of historical details, Obata, who has offices in California and New York City and has a home in northern Michigan, jumped at the chance. “He’s brilliant and a super hard worker,” Chris says.
Original materials, warm tones, and soft lighting are housed within the tan brick walls, and a traditional ornamental, white-painted gridded tin ceiling adorns the early 1900s building.
The age and character of the room have been preserved, and are complemented by classic French wooden bistro furnishings such as iconic bentwood chairs, a custom white oak bench that stretches the length of the primary dining room, and a wine glass shelf suspended from brass rods. The hanging shelf behaves much like a lighting element, as the illuminated fluted glass structure emanates a soft glow above the long marble bar, which helps emphasize the length of the room.
Emerald-green velvet lines the benches and offers contrast to the prevailing natural color scheme. The vivid green color continues to the back lounge, with its Venetian plaster and painted brick. The lounge also reveals the original concrete floor, which was ground down and refinished to create a warm terrazzo texture.
Chris says the building originally was known as the Boulevard House, an inn built in 1870. “The building to the left is three stories and even older; our space was an addition to that.”
Swart says you can’t go wrong visiting his neck of the woods, and his boutique wine-tasting emporium. “The area is beautifully romantic and has a small-town kind of feel. Just driving over here and hearing the bricks under your car tires on Cherry Street — I love that.”
Plan It!
Chateau Grand Rapids chateaugrandrapids.com
