Well hello there! I’m Brie and I’m your new bar host, taking over the evening hours at XCHC. We’re now open 7:30am till late, Monday - Friday.
Open Source Bar. Photo by Jade Cavalcante.
Chef Aleisha has designed us a pretty mean bar menu that we’ll start serving at 5pm. You can always count on a seasonal soup with garlic bread, a quesadilla of the day with salad, and a pick your pickle / choose your cheese plate that comes with Aleisha’s pickled creations matched with cheese from the Cheesemongers. It's a choose your own adventure plate! As long as your adventure is cheese and pickles....
A couple days ago we launched our extended hours with Open Source Bar, a party where I opened up 12 bottles of wine for tastings in order to let you choose a couple new glass pours. While there were some wines that were more polarising, these two were loved by everyone who tried them.
Le Temps des Cerises…La peur du rouge (Fear of the Red)
Chardonnay/Clairette blend from the south of France, but you’ve never had Chard like this before. Farmed organically, made with no oak influence and no added sulphites. This wine has freshness and minerality, with hints of orange, apricot, and oriental spice.
Jamsheed…Harem Ma Petite Francine
Single vineyard Cabernet Franc from the Yarra Valley in Australia made from low yields with concentrated fruit, a wild ferment and little intervention in the winery. It’s unfined, unfiltered, 100% carbonic and 100% whole bunch press.
If you need a translation from winegeek to English - Fear of the Red is so pretty it almost made Aleisha and I shed a tear when we first sniffed it. And the Jamsheed is super fruity and smashable, get into it!
Jamsheed Cab Franc and Fear of the Red Chardonnay/Clairette
If you didn’t get a chance to try them at Open Source Bar, I’ve got a deal going on wine flights that includes these two as well as one of our local wines from either 3rd Man in Waipara or Ardnow Block in Waitaki. We’ve also got a fridge full of craft beers and are featuring a couple cocktails.
My passion is wine - I’ve spent time working in winery tasting rooms in Waipara, I’m studying wine, and I love to drink it. So you can expect to see some pretty interesting wines coming through, many in styles that you may never have had before!
XCHC is now open 7:30am to late, Monday - Friday
But the magic of XCHC is not in one person’s creative passion, this place is at its best when everyone is coming together and sharing their passions. So I’m opening it up to you - what do you want XCHC to be now that we’re open in the evenings? Are you a chef that wants to trial some experimental menus? (There’s already talk of a multi-course taco degustation, stay tuned). Are you a social enterprise that wants to share your story through food? Are you a brewer or winemaker that doesn’t have a local premise but wants to show Christchurch what you’ve got? We’ve got a commercial kitchen, a liquor license, and heaps of space - I can’t wait to support you in whatever you’re keen to do with it!
xx Brie