Today we’d like to introduce you to Corrie Scully and Renie Schoenkerman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Corrie and Renie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
MiddleBar began in the middle room of our shotgun style apartment. We wanted to build the worlds best library bar in the comfort of our own home. And so, instead of making that room a traditional dining room, we built a long narrow pub height table from beautiful redwood, which invited people to stand and engage. Cooking and cocktailing was just a hobby, a way to relax after work. MiddleBar was our space to gather with our loved ones for a chance to connect, relax, laugh, drink smoke, and listen to excellent music.. it was not a business. It did not become a business for years. Actually, it was our friends who named it MiddleBar—to differentiate it from the bar we’d built in the front room. It was a joke at first. We thought it was hilarious that they named it a place on Facebook and began checking in there. We would get calls about our hours of operation. Which was just hilarious to us. We had a speakeasy-style system wherein we’d leave a certain window open so when friends would come by they knew if the window was open they could kawkaw, and be let in and be served food and drink and our particular brand of hospitality. But at some point, we kept hearing “you guys should do this” so we started saying YES to various opportunities that came our way. We catered a friend’s party, and put out cards, and got gigs after that. We cocktail catered events, and even got calls to host people at our home.
We evolved from a food lab and blog, into catering and cocktail catering service, and then into a product line with our award winning Bloody Mary Mocktail, and now we are proud to be the first Farm to Table Jazz Bruncherie in Los Angeles! Our goal is to grow the MiddleBar Mary into co-packing, so we can supply larger venues in Inglewood like The Forum, LAX, and the new football stadium. But it all began as a hobby, a way to express our creative side outside of work. And now work is all we do. Ha! Burn on us.
A word about our Marys… we were both bartenders in our 20’s. And we’re always on the hunt for the worlds best bloody mary. When I met Corrie C2007, I knew the hunt was over, in many ways. I’d learned to make bloody marys while bartending in Chicago, which helped me hone my craft. Corrie, however, was getting her chops in New Orleans where drinking is really a whole other art form. So, she came to the table with an outstanding bloody mary that was not only better than mine but better than anyone. Really. Even before I got to it, it was special and spectacular. And poor Corrie was stuck making one drink at a time during brunches and football season. In fact, it was the Saints Superbowl season of 2009 where poor Corrie was in the kitchen the whole time, missed all the thrilling moments, it was really a bummer. (But she got to go to NoLa for the Superbowl which made up for it;) but it was during that blessed season that: a) Corrie got more practice than ever making the refined mary. B) we got smart the next year and decided to make a bigger batch. The bigger batch, btw, was about a liter, and we went through two or three per Sunday, so people started to really see the potential. And it was that push from our friends that led us to start selling gallon growlers of Mary the next season, and for a couple of years. During which time, we sent Corrie to the pickling academy and developed our Pickled Accoutrement. That launched our product line and our foray into farmers markets.
Has it been a smooth road?
Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster. You’re carving out your destiny. Gotta develop a strong stomach. The biggest struggles are cash flow, keeping enough energy coming in to sustain all the energy that’s needed to go out.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MiddleBar story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in craft mocktails including our award-winning MiddleBar Mary, and our Farm Fresh Cocktail line developed in the farmer’s markets of LA. MiddleBar evolved from our love of music, cooking, design, and hospitality. We’ve grown over the years from a food lab and blog to an underground private supper club, to a boutique cocktail catering service. We developed our product line at Farmers Markets around LA. And now we are totally delighted and honored to open the doors of our Farm to Table Jazz Bruncherie, MiddleBar on Market. We are proud to be a part of Inglewood, and host some of LA’s most talented artists, including but not limited to our Chef Jace and our resident Jazz Brunch band, Parlor Social. They pair down to a trio of killer musicians who tour with Beyonce, Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, to name a few. Our stage has hosted the drummer from Parliament!! Beyonce’s dancers!! And so many amazing singers, spoken word artists, guitarists, and even a few showrunners! We are very proud to be space for diverse Culture in Los Angeles.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We suspect that, with all that’s happening in the world, people’s drinking will increase, and the need to GATHER with your loved ones, RELAX, and ENJOY some precious time here on Earth will be even greater. And as we grow, we feel energized to be a part of the Good in the world. Always, need more good…
Contact Info:
- Address: 129 N. Market St Inglewood, CA 90301
- Website: www.middlebar.com
- Phone: 323-454-7577
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @middlebarla
- Facebook: MiddleBar
- Twitter: @middlebarla
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
