My wife and I created, launched and managed a Wine Bar that doubled as a Coffee Bar by day, called Half Wine Bar Lounge. We managed a staff of fifteen bartenders, prep cooks, barista’s and hosts. It gave me the skill set to manage wildly different personality types. It also gave me a headache.

Half Wine Bar Lounge was a labor of love and a chance to take a breather from the advertising world. I often say that it was the greatest single creative thing I have done because it lasted more than :30 seconds and it was the best “focus group” I ever participated in. Half was a unique idea that was a little ahead of its time. But for my wife and I it came at an enormous time of personal discovery and personal growth. What started out as four empty walls ended up as a rich tapestry of found and new materials, rich colors, smells, tastes and a simple idea of having “Half bottles” be the star of a multi-tiered business under one roof. Half also included a “Lifestyle Shopping Lounge,” where customers could purchase useful and unique items late into the evening or very early in the day. Some customers would especially love that at 2 a.m. (and tipsy), they could buy a birthday card and gifts for someone’s party that very day. The backstory that is featured on this page shows the beginning, middle and end of the building of Half. There are many moments directly before and after that are lost to posterity but what will never be lost is that Half was this great experiement that was born of saying, “why not?” We sold Half after four good but hard years and amongst questions of unrealized potential. But there are many hundreds – if not – thousands of people, to this day, who look fondly upon Half as a great neighborhood Wine bar that upted the ante in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. We paved the way for something different. Those that came after us, or because of us, you know who you are. Half, was voted “Top 100 Bars in NYC” by TimeOut Magazine, February 2005 and 2006. We also appeared in the Zagat Bar Guide with very favorable ratings along with numerous glowing articles in New York Magazine, The Daily News and the New York Post, to name a few. Besides our stellar wine list, food and coffee, Half was also highly regarded for its interior design, layout and music. Max Jerome was also the project manager for Half during its year long build out phase. He went through a lot of aspirin.

I can’t take full credit for the stellar woodwork that adorned Half – the idea behind it, but not the flawless execution.

max jerome * art direction * branding * consulting * web design * maxyjster@gmail.com