We were lucky to catch up with Angie Cline recently and have shared our conversation below.

Angie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I get asked this question a lot, I really actually wanted to name our wine bar “Quintessential” but it was not available so we did a deep dive in brainstorming as to what our focus was for the wine bar. we wanted people to relax, reconnect, explore and experience a very different dining experience. my husband really wanted to keep a focus on Az craft beers and of course the sharable plates “Tapas” and a large collection of wines from boutique wineries from around the world that sell for on premise only, meaning they aren’t sold in markets or liquor stores. that people would otherwise never have an opportunity to try so it seemed simple that we wanted to Quench the thirst and hunger. So, Quench Taps and Tapas was born.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Cooking is definitely a form of art, from the pairing of flavors outside the mainstream to the plating of the foods. I have spent 30 plus years playing with food. I traveled for many years with work, not in the food industry but always took advantage of every place I went to absorb as much as I could from the local flavors. I talked to everyone I could when I found something I thought was original and amazing. some were open to sharing their passion for food, others not so much .I had been diagnosed with Gastroparesis in 2014, an inability to digest most foods, this forced me to learn a whole new way of cooking and clean cooking and several yrs later found I also was Celiac as I wasn’t getting better after the diagnosis and continued getting much sicker as the diet they put me on was foods that were easily digestible, like pastas, breads, wheat based cereals. I didn’t get into the food industry fully until 2018, I was still working but remotely, and my husband traveled for work also, a lot. so I decided I would start a catering company and just do smaller jobs in my community. I started with catering friends parties and it grew from there, I did this for a while and through 2021. Then as we all know everything changed, My husband was home for some time and he helped with the catering. when all of the restrictions were lifted his company had changed, they were bought out and the new management wanted him even more, they wanted him on the road 5-6 days a week. he didn’t want to travel that much and we didn’t want to be separated for that long. We decided to do a partial retirement and start a wine bar, In early spring of 2022 we purchased an existing pizzeria from a gentleman who wanted to retire and move home to Croatia. We went in with the intention of building a wine bar with a few Tapas, a charcuterie board, global wines and Az craft beer, something Jeff and I could run, we opened with a part time bartender and one person in the kitchen. within the first couple months we needed more help and needed to expand things. we ended up bringing in craft cocktails, something that wasn’t really available in the area, I also started with weekly specials and rotating flavors on things like our gourmet wings and flatbreads. We are dedicated to be a true craft kitchen we have deliveries of fresh foods twice a week, we spent countless hours researching and sampling to bring in the best quality available. we spend hours every day prepping the foods to be sold that day, in some cases running out even though we really try not too. Our focus is on healthy and clean eating, nothing processed or frozen with a lot of chemicals and preservatives. we offer an entire menu of foods that are gluten free and clean, and any dish that is served with bread has an option for GF bread, I make all Gf bread options in house. we have become very popular not only because we are GF but because people enjoy experiencing different foods whether they are Gf or not, and they feel good after eating, not bloated and sick. We have a menu with the popular items and a rotating specials menu that typically has 5-9 specials on any week, sometimes the specials make it to the final menu. I pride myself on using seasonal fruits, vegetables and seafood to bring in specials. I want guest who visit us to have an awakening dining experience, whether your their on a date, reconnecting with friends after 30 yrs, or just stopped by for a snack. I want to provide a flavor journey, reintroducing you to foods you thought you didn’t like or maybe never tried. It is one of the best compliments I could get when someone says, “I never liked this, until now” I want people to understand the passion my husband I put into Quench every single day, as he is the front of the house manager who helps manage flow and seating and supports our servers and bartenders, I run the pantry line in the back, which is charcuterie, desserts, salads, bruschetta, etc and have 2 fantastic chefs to help me and they run the “hot line’ ovens, fryers, grill, sauté. occasionally I love to get in the way and cook up a plate I created. We are still there every day and very much a part of the success along with our amazing staff that get to bring smiles and happy bellies to people every day.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We have a successful Q Club, an awards program for our loyal guests. they earn 1 point for every dollar spent and can redeem when they have 200 points for $20 off, we allow them to obtain as many points as they want but cannot redeem more than 40 at a time. there were some learning curves along the way. we also have an Q club email list, you receive an email once a week with any upcoming event and any new food and drink specials. We also post on Instagram and Facebook and have several thousand followers. This has created a loyal following of guests that will come in every time we post new food and drink specials as they know some can be very limited, If I get only one case of golden watermelon then when the special sells out thats it. Thats the fun part though.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

This has probably been one of the most challenging parts of the entire process, finding the right people is the most difficult and retaining those people. Its not all about the money but obviously very important. when you have fast food places that are designed for high schoolers an first time job opportunities starting people well above minimum wage that puts a real strain on startup independent business. We really try to hire people who also have a passion, and respectful ( thats a 2 way street) everyone needs a paycheck but you have to have a special something to work with a very demanding public. those people are rare and when you find them, you need to really get to know them. what are they looking for in a job, what makes them happy. I occasionally will do little things for our staff, maybe make special “family meal” after a long week, or bake some cookies for them all to take home to their families. Each person is an individual and its critical you treat them as such. what works for one person and makes them happy will no always work for the entire team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Quenchtaps.com
• Instagram: Quenchtaps
• Facebook: Quench taps and Tapas
• Yelp: Quench taps and Tapas