Sittingpretty—Customers occupy comfortable seating areas one recent evening at The Elusive Grape at its new location.
BEACON PHOTO/JOE CREWS
After more than four months of sweat and toil, The Elusive Grape wine bar in DeLand has opened in a former flower shop two doors down from its home of more than 13 years.
“I am very happy to announce that we closed The Elusive Grape on Thursday April 28th at 9:30p.m. Then, on Friday April 29th, at 3:30 p.m., we reopened,” owner Bill Budzinski wrote in a newsletter emailed to customers. “Normally this wouldn’t be considered a big deal. You open, you work, you close and go home. The next day, repeat. This particular instance however, we closed, we moved to a new location, and then opened. The Elusive Grape is now located at 129 N. Woodland Blvd.!”
Budzinski admitted that some work remained when he moved, but at least the business that bills itself as “DeLand’s living room” is open in a space that’s nearly double the size of its former home.
“It’s one of the best buildings in town in a corner location with lots of windows,” he told The Beacon just days after opening in the new location.
The interior of what used to be Stetson Flower and Wedding Boutique has been completely remodeled, although Budzinski admitted he still wanted to improve the interior lighting and acoustics, among other things. Those items were being addressed in the days after he spoke to The Beacon.
“We had an incredible amount of help from customers and friends,” Budzinski said. “They all worked hard, but I especially want to thank Mike Flowers of Hontoon Outdoors for almost all of the interior renovations.”
In his newsletter to customers, Budzinski explained further.
“[Flowers’] craftsmanship and re-purposing of so many of the materials used in the remodel are what makes what we’ve done here so unique,” he wrote. “Almost all of the wood you will see, or have already seen, came from the shelving that used to hold shoes in the old Fountains store that occupied this location many years ago. The coloring, sizing, and texture bring an authentic feel to the whole space.“
In addition to more customer seating, the additional space permits The Elusive Grape’s “back of house” operations to have more elbowroom. That includes dedicated areas for putting together gift baskets, washing wine and beer glasses, and preparation of cheese platters.
“I plan on increasing the amount of cheese we’re going to offer, both retail and dine-in,” Budzinski said. “But we’re not going to become a restaurant.”
He said The Elusive Grape has great relationships with nearby restaurants, and his customers can order from their menus, have a staffer pick up the orders, and dine at the Grape.
“That’s going to continue,” Budzinski said.
The first major catered event in the Grape’s new home will be The Elusive Grape Uncorked, which will feature many of Budzinski’s suppliers from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 15. For more information, call 386-785-2467 or go to www.elusivegrape.com.
-Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com