Weekender: Natural wine bar celebrating its birthday with two weeks of events
Huddersfield’s only dedicated natural wine shop and bar has announced a two-week run of events to celebrate its first birthday.
Opening in the run up to Christmas 2018, Kwas was founded by Ola Dabrowska, an artist with a deep understanding of wine which passed along from her grandfather in her native Poland and Duncan Sime, events manager of local beer institutions Magic Rock and ex-DIY record label boss.
Kwas is the result of the couple combining their love of natural wines, outsider art, vegan food, music and communal drinking and dining experiences.
The shop and bar’s first birthday celebrations will kick off on 2 December with a rare and special supper club collaboration between Kwas and the Michelin guide featured Moorcock Inn which will be taking over the kitchen and creating an ambitious communal vegan meal.
Following this supper club, Kwas will host ‘Natural Wine: A Movement?’ a night of conversation with panellists including Pete Martin (Weekday Wines), Jonny Sture (Reserve Wines), Bobby Fischel (Bunch Wines) and Ola Dabrowska (Kwas) as well as a night of Christmas Wine Tasting on 5 December, A Celebration of Huddersfield Music featuring Phil Steadman & The Spectacles, Scratchy The Lion & Lauren Roe on Wednesday 11 December and finally the big first birthday party on Saturday 14 December.
After opening in its owners’ beloved Huddersfield rather than the slightly safer bets of Leeds or Manchester, Kwas now sits at the heart of a thriving and growing independent food and drink scene in the town, joining the likes of Magic Rock Tap, Arcade Coffee & Food, Café Mandalay and The Parish.
Twelve months in, Dabrowska and Sime have relished the opportunity to explain the burgeoning natural wine movement to their customers and welcome anyone curious about natural wines to come to the shop and have a chat.
More information on the events can be found here. And tickets for the Moorcock Inn supper club can be purchased here.
Dabrowska said: “Let’s celebrate real! The more fakeness and insincerity in our world, the more we strive for simplicity and honesty to keep the balance, and this involves any crafts, art, food and wine.”
Alisdair Brooke-Taylor, of The Moorcock Inn, said: “We are excited to be invited to come and cook a vegan banquet with Ola and Dunk at Kwas, they have been great supporters of our little pub.
“We share many similarities in ethos, a laid-back approach and taste in wine and cannot wait to collaborate with them on 2 December to celebrate all of the achievements of their first 12 month with regulars and friends.”
