Dancing Fox named top small business

Dancing Fox has been named the Lodi District Chamber’s Small Business of the Year and will be honored during the Chamber’s annual meeting and awards dinner next Thursday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Wine & Roses.

The Dancing Fox is a small family-run winery that also serves as a restaurant, bakery, and most recently a brewery. The Downtown business is owned and operated by Gregg and Colleen Lewis, along with their three adult sons Dustin, Jared and Gabriel.

Gregg was born in the heart of Los Angeles, in Compton, and later moved out to Orange County in Southern California as a teenager. Colleen was born and raised in Santa Cruz, where from a young age she grew her love for baking.

In 1983 Gregg married Colleen, and in 1984 they decided to move out to the country and ended up finding a beautiful vineyard that was for sale in the Clements area. While they didn’t know too much about grape growing, that was the start of their journey into learning the wine and grape growing business.

The conception of The Dancing Fox began when Gregg wanted to open a winery on the Clements property, but Colleen wanted to have a bakery, and they compromised and found property in Lodi that fit the ability to do both.

In 2007, they both fell in love with the property that is now known as The Dancing Fox, and they were ready for business in May of 2009. While not in the original business plan, The Dancing Fox morphed into the booming restaurant it is today, as Gregg and Colleen have worked hard to develop the business.

While winemaking is what Gregg is passionate about, his wife loves baking artisan breads. The Dancing Fox is truly a family venture as the Lewis’ eldest son Dustin is the general manager of the restaurant, their youngest son Gabriel helps with many aspects of the business, and their middle son Jared is the brew master of the brewery, which has done very well for the restaurant.

Along with Lewis family, there will be additional awards given at the dinner, including the award to Mike Georguson as Outstanding Citizen of the Year. Purchase tickets by calling The Lodi Chamber at 209-367-7840, ext. 100 or 102, or by visiting our website at lodichamber.com.