Congrats to Mare Lewell!
I was so excited to sit down and talk to Peter Smit.
He’s an interesting man with a true love of this City and, ahem, wine. I took the little bit of knowledge and tried to impress him over our brief chat. I failed when I couldn’t pronounce “Pouilly-Fuissé” correctly.
Enjoy the interview and enter the giveaway!
——————
{ Peter Smit at the 2011 Live Life Uptown Awards… Photo by me }
Hi Peter!
Tell me about yourself and what you do!
Well, I am a person who tries to live every day to the fullest and believes that the glass is half full, instead of half empty…
I loved that you said: “Happinez is not about the wine”.
What is Happinez about?
Happinez is in many ways like all venues people come to when they go out for a night. In my opinion people go out to socialize first and foremost…therefore we have tried to make happinez a small, cozy and comfortable space, where people can chat, and meet other people. Wine certainly plays a role, it is seen around the world as a social drink and we are still the only wine bar in Saint John (although there are now a total of 4 wine bars in Atlantic Canada, since we opened in 2005).
{ Peter Smit at the 2011 Live Life Uptown Awards… 5th from the left }
{ Photo by Sean McGrath }
Happinez has won countless awards.
Why do you think your little bar is so popular?
It is rather unique, because it is so small and cozy (the comment we get most often is “oh, it is like my living room”), but it is not just that…you have to make all the components of a good bar business work (ambiance, product, price point, service and also market your venue well) and we have worked hard at this.
How did you end up in Saint John? Why do you stay?
Many years ago I worked for Hilton International, and came here in 1983 as the director of food and beverage for the opening of the Hilton Hotel and the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre . It was a great experience, the opening of a new hotel, we had a wonderful team, I learned a lot and we were very successful…
I also met Kendra Black here, we married and our daughter Danika was born here, and she became the main reason for staying in Saint John. Of course you get to know your community, make friends and learn what a wonderful place Saint John and it’s surroundings really is…
{ Happinez. Complete with the brand new wine glass shaped bike rack! }
You are so involved in the local community.
Tell me about your involvement!
It is special and rewarding to be involved in your community, and that also means that you give back to people who are less fortunate as well as to organizations that make a difference.
I serve on boards of various organizations and we give a lot of “treats” to organizations that are fundraising, as well as do wine tastings to raise funds for the same.
What is a typical day like for you?
Start the day with a half hour meditation, and after breakfast off to work (mostly things involving happinez, from cleaning happinez to picking up wine, bookkeeping, ect.), usually have lunch at the City Market or in one of the Uptown venues, and continue the day working. Usually three times a week, take a break for an hour long walk in the Uptown or at Irving Nature Park. Usually make dinner at home and do some more work and often spend time with my partner Kim.
What is your dream day?
Every day is a dream day…
{ The “Come a Little Closer” replica bench at Happinez }
Design is everywhere at Happinez…
…from the summer patio design by Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp to the replica “Come a Little Closer” bench.
Tell me about why you chose to go in this direction!
Love original ideas and am maybe influenced by lots of travelling and working all over the world before settling in Saint John. My home town of Amsterdam certainly has a lot of small cafe’s which were an inspiration for happinez. Judith Mackin certainly also deserves credit for helping with the design in happinez, we had a wonderful way of working together and getting things done.
Quite often you will have wine tastings at Happinez.
Tell me about that! How can people “sign up”?
Usually every month we have a wine tasting with a particular theme, sometimes country, region, grape variety…sometimes film (like Side Ways and Bottle Chock). Most of the times Craig Pinhey, sommelier and wine writer is our guide and these tastings are a lot of fun, very social and we sample a variety of wines fitting the theme and usually paired with some nibbles..
People who would be interested in attending such events could go to our website www.happinezwinebar.com and under “upcoming events”, check out the tastings or they could sign up on line for our monthly news letter…
{ Looking down on the deck designed by Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp of theACRE }
{ Photo from the Happinez Website }
A few Questions…
What book are you reading right now?
No books at the moment, it has been a while, all internet and magazines right now
What’s your favourite thing to do on a Saturday?
Meet up with friends for breakfast at Slockum and Ferry at the City Market, or at the Urban Deli and make it another great day…
What type of wine is on the go in your house right now?
Too many,
What’s next for Happinez?
Always on the go for keeping it happy and working on our next event “the wines of New Zealand” with Craig Pinhey (who just returned from there).
STOCKING STUFFER GIVEAWAY NUMBER 15 –
A $25 Gift Certificate to Happinez!You can win a gift certificate courtesy of Peter at Happinez Wine Bar!
What a lovely chance to kick back and enjoy (almost) an entire bottle of wine on the house. If that’s not up your alley, put the gift certificate in with your Christmas gift to a friend.
Here’s how to enter:
Leave a comment below telling me your favourite thing about Saint John! (1 Entry)
Want a few extra entries?
(3 more!)
+ Sign up for the Happinez Winebar Newsletter Here (1 Entry)
+ Like Happinez on Facebook and leave a note on their page! (1 Entry)
+ Share this giveaway on any form of social media! Leave me a link to where I can find it! (1 Entry)
For easy tweeting, click here:
Leave a separate comment for each entry!
Have your entries in by Wednesday, December 14th 2011 at NOON!
the people. the man i married is a born&raised saint johner. :)
also, love the uptown restaurants – great variety, and i’m glad to see so many are doing well.
& tweeted!
i love the heritage buildings.
My favorite thing about Saint John are the people and the brick. But mostly the people. :)
Signed up for the newsletter!
Liked on FB and left a note!
As a transplanted Newfoundlander, I would have to say the thing I like most about SJ is the people. I have met many great friends since moving here in 1999. Also liked and tweeted!
I love living, working, shopping and dining in uptown SJ!
Signed up for newsletter
tweeted :)
I love uptown saint john the most ! Very up and coming.
Signed up for the Newsletter
Liked and posted on facebook.
Shared giveaway on twitter — http://twitter.com/#!/heartoflife4you/status/146058665932234752
tweeted
liked & posted on fb
i love portland place. the people here are amazing neighbors. especially the griswolds, they crack me up but they’re really good people and good neighbors. people stop and say hello when they’re out on the street, walking their dogs or taking a stroll. the folks teased my dad something fierce when he was rebuilding my stone wall. at halloween, when all my friends seemed to bemoan the lack of kids, i had over 200. and in the summer, my niece and i can walk to the dairy queen for a tasty treat. this is a gem of a neighborhood, tucked in to our north end. ok, i can’t walk to the city market anymore or home from restaurants, but on the other hand i don’t miss the 4 flights of stairs with groceries i had when uptown. nope, i’m really glad i moved here. i love my house, and i love my ‘hood.
right now, this is without a doubt my most favourite part of saint john. :)
My fav thing about Saint John is the shops of uptown of course!
Tweeted!
I love walking around uptown SJ, love the great selection of food/restaurants, the shopping, the market, the music and art, the people and the sunsets over the harbour :)
The wonderful people! I feel like everytime i go out, or vist, SJers always welcome meback w open arms
My decision to move to Saint John was directly related to how I felt around the people I met in the city – warm & approachable folk!
My absolute favourite thing about Saint John is Saturday, mid-morning, walking uptown and stopping at the City Market, Silver Daisy, Urban Shoe, Je Suis Prest … I could go on and on. That’s more than one thing, I know :)
Signed up for the newsletter!
Shared this baby on my Twitter – god the Tweet button is so convenient!
I tweeted this contest.
I signed-up for the Happinez newsletter.
I love walking down Germain St every day to go to work and shop.
My two favourite things in Saint John are the Irving Nature Park and Happinez (especially in the summer with the patio!)
And tweeted:
https://twitter.com/#!/sunworshipper23/status/146653127293145088
Tweeted! One of my favourite places to relax and chat with friends.
favourite thing about Saint John is that its a c lose knit community. it doesn’t take hours to get to and from work and it’s forever changing!
The uptown evening life.
I’ve just subscribed to their newsletter!
Liked on facebook.
Shared on facebook.
Signed up for newsletter
Tweeted
Liked on Facebook and left a message!
The thing that I love most about Saint John is the way people support each other. This blog is prime example. People genuinely want each other to succeed and recognize that it all contributes to the growth of the City and surrounding areas. LOVE Happinez!
LOVE the ambiance and the inviting atmosphere! The staff are always so friendly too!
I tweeted on twitter as well :))
My favourite thing about Saint John is the honestly of its people and the fact that you can count on them telling you exactly what they think of you or your ideas, no matter what. It might come across as harsh at times, but I’ve come to love the probity that comes with it, and that this brutal honesty is always backed with good intentions and the selfless spirit every born-Maritimer is endowed with.