Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Happy Holidaze
Pop-up cocktail party benefits area nonprofits
The duo behind some of Northwest Arkansas’ most popular dining and beverage establishments have announced an exciting holiday event. Hannah Withers and Ben Gitchel — owners of Leverett Lounge, founder and former owners of Little Bread Company and co-operators of Maxine’s — have revealed that they’ll be opening a “charitable holiday pop-up cocktail lounge” Nov. 21-Dec. 31 to coincide with Fayetteville’s Lights of the Ozarks.
“We’ve been to other cities where there has been this sort of thing,” says Withers of the origination of the concept. She says they were focused on making Holidaze “local-centric” and benefiting “all of these organizations that have causes we really believe in and who have been so supportive of what we’ve been doing.”
The lounge will donate 25% of each night’s bar profits to three organizations: KUAF 91.3, NWA Equality and Magdalene Serenity House. Each of the organizations will have two special event nights through the holiday season: NWA Equality will host Out and About Happy Hour on Dec. 5 and a Holidazzle Diva Drag show on Dec. 27; Magdalene Serenity House will host an egg nog competition on Dec. 19 and a women’s musical showcase on Dec. 28; and KUAF will host All Drinks Considered, a cocktail competition between KUAF operations manager Pete Hartman and KUAF “Ozarks at Large” host and creator Kyle Kellams and Friendsgiving Vinyl Night on Nov. 21.
“We’ll come up with some cocktails, and people will be able to vote for them,” says Kellams of the cocktail competition KUAF has planned. “Here’s the thing about a cocktail: I don’t know if I’m going to invent something new, or if I’ll come up with something that someone has already come up with, but I’m already thinking about mine.” Only one cocktail? “Hmm. Maybe I should have more than one so that if one is totally Drano I can come up with something else.”
Kellams says he might have an edge because the art of mixology is in his blood.
“My dad was a bartender,” he explains. “He always wanted to teach me how to mix drinks, but we never got around to it. He made very good Manhattans and margaritas. I know I can create something. But it reminds me of years ago, when I was invited to create a piece of art for a charity event, and it turned out horribly. You won’t get a lot of cocky boasting out of me. But I’m going to have fun trying — I’m not going for the ingredients you might normally think would be in a cocktail. I’m going to think outside the bottle. You know, there are a lot of over-thecounter moonshines that are available now.”
At 18 E. Center St. — the former Stage 18 space — Holidaze will be ideally located for those visiting the Fayetteville square for Lights of the Ozarks. Food will be provided by Michael Robertshaw and Meredith Butler’s Persephone on Wheels, a popular food truck that describes its menu as “fresh takes on Mediterranean street food.” The decor, true to its name, will be aggressively Christmasthemed.
“We reached out to everyone we could think of to collect Christmas things,” says Withers, who is no slouch when it comes to theming: Maxine’s — a Fayetteville tradition that landed on both the USA Today and
Esquire magazine’s list of Best Bars in America in 2019 — was decked out in a Beetlejuice theme for Halloween. “We’ve got a lot of brightly colored Christmas trees, a ton of the Christmas blow molds. I really think it’s going to be fun.”
Withers is quick to point out that a venture like this one takes a lot of teamwork, from the employees who will work throughout the holidays to Lynn Wade, the building owner, who Withers says “has been really gracious about allowing us to transform his space.”
“We love a good collaboration, whether it’s with musicians at Maxine’s who have never played together or local farmers providing food at Leverett Lounge — whatever we can do to highlight all of the cool things in our area. That’s what we live for.”