A Grape Resiliency
“Being a wine enthusiast means you care more about quality than quantity.”
~ Jean-Claude Carrière
As Spring starts to find its way to the Midwest, restaurants everywhere begin to prepare for outdoor dining, vibrant crowds, and the clink of glasses followed by a chorus of “cheers.” Many of these same restaurants are still recovering from the pandemic as they welcome back guests and look for ways to bring in new patrons. They rely on industry publications, such as Eater, to highlight their unique offerings and introduce or re-introduce themselves to their local neighborhood. Once such unique place is J9 Wine Bar, owned by Sonya Mlodzek, which she founded as a tribute to her family.
J9 Wine Bar was named after Sonya’s sister, Jeanine, affectionately known by her family as J9. Although Sonya’s sister and parents have passed on, their legacy continues in the eclectic cozy aesthetic created throughout the multi-faceted and recently expanded restaurant. Sonya grew up in the coach house that her stepfather bought in 1975 behind the restaurant and watched her corner of Lincoln Park shift over the years to the lively—and must safer—neighborhood it is now. In 2016, she received notice that the people renting the building in front of her coach house would not be renewing their lease. While lunching at Stella Barra, she jokingly told a friend that she planned to open a wine bar. She had always wanted to create the type of place that she would want to frequent, where people could come to connect with friends, to converse about life, and to explore different cultures through wine.
In 2019, as J9 Wine Bar grew in popularity, its 50-person capacity left them turning away guests. In what was an unexpected opportunity to expand, Sonya bought the 100-year-old building next door. 2020 threw a curve ball with a global pandemic that disrupted life for everyone. However, J9 was not just another restaurant, this was a legacy to Sonya’s roots, childhood, and beloved family. Her only option was to continue with renovations and to meet strict COVID-guidelines so she could reopen in September 2021.
The success of the restaurant is not in the welcome you feel when you take in the décor, but in its ability to break with tradition and adapt—to a changing wine scene, guests’ palates, and economic uncertainty. The same is true for higher education—if we ever hope to break with tradition and serve underserved students, we, too, need to be adaptable.
Primary Focus: When most people hear ‘wine bar,’ they might be wary about the variety offered by the food menu and optional pairings. J9 keeps it simple. They know that not everyone enjoys drinking multiple glasses of wine, so they also offer a limited selection of familiar cocktails and beers too. Most importantly, they want J9 to be a place that includes everyone, and their strength and point of view is very much guided by a love of unique wine made in countries lesser known for their varietals, or, better yet, made by lesser known women-wine makers. In addition to its impressive and unique wine program, J9 Wine Bar only offers a limited charcuterie and cheese selection, created with the same precision given to its wine program. J9 does not offer anything that distracts from its passion and focus—wine.
Students, like wine enthusiasts, can get overwhelmed with options, especially when they do not understand the benefits of attending one institution over another, pursuing one major over another, or determining whether courses they have already completed will transfer. Although there can be benefits to having options or varying pathways to achieve a singular goal, the abundance of choices can cause students to avoid making decisions, or worse, to delay pursuing their educational dreams at all. Often, instead of expanding in areas of strength, institutions create programs in disciplines where they lack expertise, requiring resources to be stretched across a variety of mediocre programs. Students should know why they are choosing to attend an institution and clearly understand its benefits before they enroll. Sometimes, breaking with tradition means creating clear pathways with unobstructed views of the finish line to provide more opportunities for academic achievement.
Every Mood: Generally, ‘wine’ and ‘snob’ tend to go together. It is worse when you pair the word ‘wine’ with ‘bar’. Now, we have a place that was designed to be approachable but have made it pretentious. This is not the case at J9 Wine Bar. Sonya created the restaurant with specific design selections that represented her personality, infusing parts of her childhood and family throughout the establishment. When you walk into the original J9 Wine Bar, patrons are greeted by velvet bar stools and chairs in jewel tone colors that draw you into a cozy atmosphere. Hanging on the walls, guests see dried grape vines from vineyards Sonya visits in Sonoma County and Napa Valley. The art on the walls serves a dual purpose—giving the rooms both changeable aesthetics and noise-absorption (canvases are stuffed with sound dampening material to avoid excess chatter when the restaurant is filled to capacity). Pieces of antique furniture are tucked throughout the space providing a level of warmth and intrigue. Everything at J9 is intentional, from the family who inspired it, to the rotating wine menu, to the art that hangs on the wall. Everything is approachable and designed with the guests’ comfort and tastes in mind.
Students often struggle with fitting into an academic environment, both in-person and online. They may not have been strong students in high school, they may not have been in a formal educational setting in years, or they may just feel alone as they juggle personal and professional responsibilities. These students look around and have a hard time finding other people like them. Institutions need to create spaces for these students, and all students, to feel safe, heard, and protected. A big part of students’ success depends on how well they connect with faculty and their peers, but it also hinges on having an environment where there is freedom to make mistakes, form opinions, and engage in debate without judgment. Sometimes, students just need someone to pick up the phone one more time to offer encouragement. Sometimes, it can be as simple as sending out an email to acknowledge accomplishments or offer extended office hours, just one more time. Sometimes breaking with tradition means that we thoughtfully set the table for the students, not the other way around.
Intentional: In talking with Sonya, it’s clear that the success of the J9 Wine Bar is in the attention to detail. Wine is personal and subjective. Food that guests have eaten before coming to J9 or personal palates can change the tasting notes, and no two wine experiences are ever the same. J9 hires people who are just as passionate about the wine they serve and act as gentle guides. The staff are trained to provide their own perspectives on wine. J9 Wine Bar creates a safe space where novices and experts alike can sit side by side and enjoy the story that each grape tells.
Students deserve an institution that is intentionally designed with a single purpose, to see them succeed. People from various backgrounds should be able to enter without fear of judgment or desertion and receive the support that they need to achieve their educational goals. If a process or a policy does not contribute to this single purpose, it should be revised, reviewed, or discarded. Every faculty and staff member should understand the students they serve and should feel the responsibility to identify opportunities to support them through their learning journey. Collectively, institutional faculty and staff must find ways to anticipate student needs and offer effective solutions to support and promote student outcomes. Sometimes, breaking with tradition means abandoning superfluous pursuits and focusing on what can truly make a difference.
Both higher education institutions and restaurants need the same things to survive: they need to understand who they serve, they need unique and legitimate offerings, and they need the determination to succeed. For restaurants, this is exhibited through quality food and drinks in comfortable dining environments. For higher education institutions, it is similar—quality programs, delivered in safe environments, that allow students to succeed. Often times, the challenge is breaking from tradition and adapting to reality.
