They ‘fell in love with Boise.’ Now they’ll open a new Hyde Park food-and-drink spot
In its various iterations, this Hyde Park bungalow has been a stopping place for everything from antiques and gifts to coffee and energy drinks.
Next? It will be Boise’s latest wine tasting room.
Kludt-Williams Family Winery will open soon in the familiar blue building at 1611 N. 13th St., according to owners Ben and April Williams. The couple owns Washington-based Lake Chelan Winery and Wapato Point Cellars, plus a hard cider brand, Gold Cider.
Kludt-Williams Family Winery has a Meridian production facility, but “we do most of our production in Washington,” Ben Williams said. “That’s where we’ve been growing fruit for a long time. Over 25 years. So Hyde Park is going to be a tasting room for the winery.”
If all goes according to plan, the North End wine destination will start pouring reds and whites within weeks. All that’s left is getting an occupancy permit granted by the city, he said: “It could be next month. It could be November.”
A family business, the tasting room will be run by the couple’s son, Steven. The Williamses — who grew up in eastern Washington — have two other children, Alexis and Benjamin, attending college in Boise.
“We kind of fell in love with Boise probably three years ago,” Ben Williams explained, “when our daughter was looking at school here.”
The couple, who now split time between Idaho and Washington, saw the opportunity to bring more than two decades of wine-industry experience to a different market.
“We’re pretty excited about Hyde Park,” April Williams said. “It just seems like it’s a great, friendly, fun, vibrant community. And we want to be a part of it.”
Kludt-Williams Family Winery will serve by the bottle and glass, plus offer hard cider and, probably, beer.
The restaurant component mostly will be light fare easily paired with wine, such as cheese plates and charcuterie. But there also will be options such as macaroni and cheese, “and then a few sandwiches to round things out,” April Williams said. “So that people can stop in and enjoy — they can make it lunch. We’re planning on being open every day.”
The tasting room will have seating for at least 20 inside and that many, or more, on an outdoor patio.
Live music will be part of the equation, too.
“Hyde Park’s got so many things going for it,” April Williams said. “Just wandering around in the evening, there’s a lot of cute little restaurants and bars. … But one thing it feels like it might be missing is a little bit of live music.”
The goal at Kludt-Williams Family Winery, the Williamses said, is to welcome all types of Boiseans in a laid-back atmosphere.
A small gift shop also is planned inside.
“We want to be the most approachable wine establishment around,” Ben Williams said. “We’ve found over the years that wine can be intimidating for a lot of people. We don’t want that. We want to be super comfortable and approachable. But really high quality.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 4:00 AM.