Krista and Robby French have put equal emphasis on the tasting and listening experience to create a welcoming vibe in their new Stylus Wine and Vinyl Bar.
"We've been talking about this probably for the past five years because we wanted to start working for ourselves instead of working for other people," says Krista, who's a sommelier and oversaw the wine program at Syringa Japanese Cafe & Sushi Bar and its sister business, Midtown Bluebird, as well as for Vicino Pizza, Tony's on the Lake and Beverly's at the Coeur d'Alene Resort.
Robby is a vinyl collector and musician, so the couple asked themselves, Krista says, "What can we do that we can bring both of what we love together?"
In late 2019 and into early 2020, the Frenchs traveled to Europe looking for inspiration, backpacking their way through 14 countries. In an Amsterdam vinyl bar called BR020, for example, they picked up an idea for what would become a featured plant wall at Stylus incorporating Robby's drum cymbals.
Other inspirations for Stylus originated closer to home.
"I love green," says Krista, whose family had a green couch when she was growing up, much like the tufted green velvet three-seater at Stylus. The piece matches avocado green velour curtains framing large windows in the newly constructed building on Fourth Street, just above Appleway Avenue.
Overall, Stylus' vibe is midcentury modern, with pale wood floors, black acrylic shell seating and a black ceiling, plus brass accents in funky chandeliers, the barstools, and potted plants. It's similar to how their home looks, Krista explains.
"On our days off we would play records, and make dinner and drink wine, and that was kind of our date night," says Krista, who wanted to re-create that feel, "like people are coming to our house to hang out," with Stylus.
All ages are welcome at Stylus.
"There are people who are 21, and there are people who are 80 coming in here," Krista says.
On a recent Sunday, for example, a family of six is sampling Stylus' brunch menu, which features lighter bites such as a ham and brie croissant ($10) and Caesar salad with bacon ($12), plus mimosas ($11) with choice of orange, grapefruit or mango juice.
Krista says the parents had been to Stylus previously and returned with their kids. One of their sons was jazzed about sharing his Billy Joel record, which Robby plays, perhaps recognizing something of himself in the young music fan.
"It's nice for people to bring in their records," says Robby, who started "Wax Wednesday," using a corresponding social media hashtag. Bring in an album on Wednesdays and if it's played (he won't play records that might damage the turntable, says Krista), patrons get $1 off their first draft beer or $2 off their first glass of wine.
Otherwise, all music comes from Robby's collection of more than 3,000 albums, neatly organized by genre on shelves behind the bar and flanking equally full shelves of wine bottles.
"We usually start off the day with jazz, maybe a little classical, and folk, country and just kind of grow from there," says Robby, who's been collecting records since he was 4.
His first album? The original cast of Sesame Street. The musician later earned a bachelor's from New York City's American Musical and Dramatic Academy and has appeared locally on stage at Spokane Civic Theatre, in addition to performing music.
"I used to listen to my dad's copy of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars from 1956," Robby adds, noting how that and Glenn Miller Orchestra's big band sound inspired his early interest in music.
Robby also designed the sound system at Stylus, pairing two large, wall-mounted Klipsch Forte III speakers with two Technics turntables and a McIntosh receiver.
"We get a lot of audiophiles coming in and as soon as they see that [receiver] they kind of geek out," says Robby, who's also started a record club at the bar. For $25 per month, participants get a surprise album like Jeff Buckley's Grace or David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust.
Robby also hopes to add a singer-songwriter series later this year, emulating Japanese listening bars where the audience is encouraged to engage with the music... versus each other.
"Being a musician and playing all over town [for] 16 years — that was my other job; still is my other job — I really wanted to give a place for single or duo acts to play their songs and have a roomful of people listen," he says.
The couple wants to create community through music, says Krista, who's also doing that through Stylus' food and wine offerings.
Local products include DOMA coffee in the affogato ($6). MAK Bread baguettes are served with butter and salt ($10; add $1.50 for Nutella or jam), with butter and ham and called jambon buerre ($12), or as an accompaniment to any number of cheese plates ($6-$8) or charcuterie, like the brown sugar and garlic smoked duck breast ($8).
Some of the menu items playfully reference music, like the Grateful Dead Sundae ($8) with French vanilla ice cream, caramel, strawberry sauce, fresh fruit and Cap'n Crunch's berry cereal. Mixed nuts with rosemary called Deez Nuts ($8) reference both an Australian punk band and a Dr. Dre song.
Krista credits her mother with letting her make one thing a week from a cookbook she received at age 4. She now makes her own crème fraiche for the Boujee Chips ($8), for example, adding chive oil and tobiko caviar to the chip dip.
Her real passion, however, is wine.
"I was working at the [now closed] Wine Cellar when I realized that wine was more than going to Safeway and buying a cheap bottle of wine," she says.
Now, she's obsessed with wine, "not just because it's delicious to drink and gives you a buzz, but it's geology, geography, history [and], when you read about it, it's about the world."
Stylus' wine list of between 120 and 140 bottles focuses on Pacific Northwest and European wines by the glass and bottle at a range of price points and catering to any palate and experience level of wine drinker, including the absolute novice.
"So for me that's the most fun is to introduce people to things," Krista says, adding, "This is going to sound so cheesy, but I believe in hospitality."
Her job as a sommelier, after all, is to make people feel at home. ♦
Stylus Wine and Vinyl Bar • 2605 N. Fourth St., Suite 105, Coeur d'Alene • Open Wed-Sat noon-10 pm, Sun 11 am-4 pm • facebook.com/styluswineandvinylbar • 208-601-6602
