Eat, Drink & Be Merry

Dancing Fox Winery, Bakery, and Eatery

Once upon a time, as the story goes, a man tended his vineyards full of winegrapes, and his beautiful wife could be found baking bread in kitchens far and wide. The man, Gregg Lewis, had been growing grapes for wineries all over California, and wife Colleen had been baking delicious breads at the San Francisco Baking Institute, but neither had something they could call their own. So began The Dancing Fox in Lodi.

"I had always had it in my mind that I wanted to be a baker," says Colleen Lewis, "and Gregg has been a long-time grape grower and always had this vision of opening a winery. Our vineyards are up in Clements; it's beautiful but really remote. We wanted to start a business together close to town, so we decided to go ahead and find a space where we could make wine and bread."

It started as simple as that in May 2009, with wine and bread. Now two years later, The Dancing Fox is a full-scale restaurant with hearty soups and sandwiches, wood-fired pizzas and breads, morning brunch, and piping hot artisan pastries-all made on-site from only the freshest, most local ingredients possible. The couple's three sons are also on-board, as well as nieces, a dedicated pastry chef, and a family of staff that have turned The Dancing Fox into one of Lodi's most satisfying comfort food spots.

According to the Lewises, the eatery hearkens back to "a time when friends would gather at the local pub to warm themselves next to the fire and enjoy food, drink, and conversation." Instead of remodeling the old building that houses The Dancing Fox, the couple restored the historic elements of the space, preserving the original brick, exposing the wood beams spanning the ceilings, and keeping the footprint for all the original windows. The name is from Lewis family folklore-stories the couple used to tell their boys about foxes happily enjoying the vineyard's winegrapes and dancing through the rows of vines.

Colleen's breads are all baked in her custom-made, wood-fired oven from Spain. She also recently added a flour mill, stone grinding her own whole-grain organic wheat flour, and using natural local yeast whenever possible. Favorite breads like ciabatta and multigrain are always on the menu, in addition to a new bread each week. Past selections have included garlic and asiago sourdough, cranberry walnut, and wine-infused pear. Pastry Chef Mike Osborn is responsible for the enviable sweets spread, ranging from sugar-dusted morning buns to bread pudding with seasonal fresh fruit, and Chef Jeff Reiswig is largely credited with the menu.

"We just really wanted to do everything from scratch and use natural products," says Colleen. "Like in our pastries we only use real butter and olive oil. Everything is made here on-site. Handmade and quality really do taste better."

The Dancing Fox is just as much an urban winery, with close to fifteen different varieties of whites, reds, rosés, and sparkling wines made from Lodi grapes, the majority grown in the Lewis' hundred-acre Clements vineyard. The tasting menu changes weekly, usually about six to seven wines at any given time-two whites and the rest reds-with storybook names like Rip Van Cab, Rumplestilt Zin, and Red Prince Cabernet Franc. Wine tastings are available anytime in The Dancing Fox's dedicated tasting room on-site, but winemaker Gregg Lewis pours on weekends.

"I never really anticipated that it would be a complete family operation," says Colleen. "Our kids work here, our family, our friends' kids. It's a very tight-knit group, and it makes for a relaxed and cozy atmosphere. We have a friend whose young daughter doesn't like eating out, but loves to come here because she says it feels like her own kitchen."

If you go: Dancing Fox Winery, Bakery, and Eatery, 203 School St., Lodi, (209) 366-2634, www.dancingfoxwinery.com