Serving the Local Community One Glass at a Time with Candace Viox

Julia: Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Connect the Knox. I’m Julia Hurley, your hostess with the mostest, connecting Knoxville to the nation. Today’s guest with us is one of my favorite local restaurateurs, Miss Candace Viox. I believe I’ve said that last name correctly. One of the most rare oppo—

Candace: It’s all good.

Julia: [laugh]. One of the most rare opportunities we have in Knoxville as a whole—and that includes all the way to the other side of North Knoxville, downtown—West Knoxville houses her restaurant, Water into Wine. But W2W I believe is a logo. It is a very cool logo. Lots to talk about in what you offer in the Farragut market because when your restaurant opened, it was huge for those of us who are winos not to have to drive all the way downtown to enjoy something. What you created has been amazing. So, I’m going to say, thank you for joining us today, Miss Candace.

Candace: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Julia: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your connection to Knoxville.

Candace: So, Water into Wine, I opened in 2016. And again, I share my story, just because I think it resonates with a lot of people. Unfortunately, my mom had died and it was sudden; there wasn’t an illness. And I was going through a divorce, I had four children, everything was just kind of crashing down at that moment in my life. And what do you do when you drop your kids off at CAK like a good little mommy, I went and I would sit at bars and I would drink and waller in my beer if you will, and cry and hate God, be mad at God, just be mad at the world.

And then I had that year. Then my dad ran off with the first lady at church that could do his laundry and make a casserole. And so, I’m sitting here and I’m having this moment and I went back to California—it’s where I’m from; it’s where I grew up—and realized that this wasn’t going to be the rest of my life. I was 38 years old and I had to get my big girl pants on and get my butt back to California—or to Knoxville from California to raise my family. And you know, it wasn’t the end of me.

And when I got back to Knoxville, I decided to go back to school. I asked myself, “What am I good at?” Well, I’m good at parties, I love wine. I grew up in Southern California and so my mom loved wine. And my mom said, “If Christ’s first miracle was turning water into wine, I can drink it.” So, that resonated with me.

And I just kind of decided, you know what? Girls don’t have a bar in Knoxville. We don’t have a place where we can hang out. There’s Hooters, there’s Twin Peaks, there’s Smoky Mountain Brewery for the beer guys, but there really wasn’t a place or a market for ladies who just want to hang out with their girlfriends or ladies that want to hang out with their book club, you know? So, I knew I wanted to make a different kind of place, so I went back to school at Pellissippi and learned everything that I could.

I did a stage with Deron Little over at Seasons.

Julia: Nice.

Candace: He taught me everything not to do. And—

Julia: [laugh]. He learned that lesson.

Candace: Yes he did. Yeah, it was awesome. He showed me all the mistakes that restaurateurs make. But I had a good business mind. I’d owned businesses before in my past. I just—I wanted to create something unique and cool, and at the time, there was only one other wine bar in Knoxville. There definitely was not a wine bar in Farragut. So, when I opened it—

Julia: What was that [crosstalk 00:03:45]?

Candace: I’m sorry?

Julia: What was the other one? I don’t even remember that.

Candace: It was Old City Wine Bar. It opened—

Julia: Oh, yeah [crosstalk 00:03:50].

Candace: Six months before I did. Yeah.

Julia: Yes. That’s right.

Candace: So, we knew that Knoxville needed it. But like you said, not a lot of people in West Area felt comfortable driving downtown and then driving home after you know two or even three glasses of wine. That’s not really safe. So, that was kind of the, “Where can I put a wine bar restaurant that the community would support and would be close?” And Farragut was just, it hit everything.

We were able to get close to the exit, we were able to get right to the walking trail. In fact, our shopping center is connected to the greenway. We’re surrounded by a lot of neighborhoods where people can walk and ride their bikes and bring their dogs and sit on the patio. So, God just kind of worked everything out; I just had to build it. And thank God I did because it’s been a huge success, with the support of Farragut and the Knoxville community.

Julia: Yeah. When you opened, I remember… I remember Old City Wine Bar because I lived in downtown at the time—

Candace: Yeah.

Julia: And then we moved back to Lenoir City. So, Lenoir City is my hometown. So, we lived in downtown Knoxville. I lived down there throughout college, and I left for a little while, and then came back and lived down there as an adult. Moved back to Lenoir City, and I was like, there’s no way to get wine. Every restaurant—God bless them; they try—

Candace: Right [laugh]—

Julia: But there’s no wine. There’s no wine.

Candace: You get four wines to choose from. That’s all you get.

Julia: Yes. Yes. Yes, and they’re not the best, you know? They try. They try. And when you opened, I was like, “Oh, my God, there’s actual wind here.” And your list, I was like, “There’s wine.” And then you change it with every season. I was like, “Oh, my God, there’s wine. There’s real wine. Someone has taken the time to understand a palette and pair it with things.”

And it’s an open space, and there’s, like, there’s couches, and it’s so comfortable, and you see people you know, every time you’re there, even if you’re just there really quickly. And—

Candace: Yeah.

Julia: I was so excited when you opened.

Candace: Thank you.

Julia: And I think everybody has been, you know? And you’ve continued to grow it and you’ve continued to add value to the area. And I’m pretty positive there’s no seats to be had in that place anymore [laugh].

Candace: Well, yeah. We are pretty much reservation only in the weekends now. But you know, expanding to the music scene, bringing in jazz, that was something that Farragut and Knoxvilleans wanted; they wanted live music, but I don’t have a stage. And so, I had to make sure that the musicians understood that they were part of the ambiance; they are not a concert. So, some places in Knoxville you go to, you can’t even talk. Like, you can’t even have a conversation because they’re so loud.

I wanted to make sure that conversations were the key element of Water into Wine. That’s why you don’t have TVs blaring in your face either. We don’t have TVs anywhere. Every once in a while, I might open one up if there’s a fun UT game or something, but I just—there’s so many other bars and places in Knoxville that have 18 TVs for you to look at. I want to be the place where that lady that just ended up having a miscarriage needs to sit with her girlfriends and her mom and cry and say, “Oh, my gosh, how am I going to get through this?” That’s the kind of place we want to be. The other stuff, absolutely you’ve got plenty of options in Knoxville to do that. But I wanted to be the relational lounge for you guys to share your stories. So, that was the whole reason.

Julia: You are definitely that. You are definitely that. Every woman that I know, wa—every woman, especially women, I’m like, “Hey, let’s go to Water into Wine.” In fact, I believe I walked in on one of your Bible studies on a Monday and you’re like, “I’m closed on Mondays. It’s Bible study.” And I was like, “Okay. I love that you’re doing that. Are you serving wine? Can I join?” [laugh].

Candace: [laugh]. Yes, everybody can join. It’s every Monday at noon. And again, I use the story, you know, I wear my faith on my sleeve, obviously you guys know that. But I tell people all the time, Christ told us to go into the world and to share the love of Jesus.

And I always want to make sure that if Jesus were to walk into my bar, number one, he would be embraced and hugged and loved on; he would be talked to while he was sitting at the bar. But you know, sometimes when we’re going through hard times, it’s real easy to get mad at God, and sometimes you just don’t want to go to church. You’re just not willing or ready yet to handle what it is that life has thrown your way. So, that’s why Water into Wine, I just decided to bring Jesus to the bar. And that’s what I’m trying to do.

Julia: Yeah, and I love that. It was one of the best and saddest moments at the same time for me when I walked in.

Candace: [laugh].

Julia: I was having a—I had scheduled a lunch with a lady that had just moved here from Chicago, and I was, “You have to go to this place. It’s the only place in Farragut you need to know.” And I walked in. You’re like, “We’re having a Bible study.” And I was like, “Yay.” Then I was like, “Oh, no.” [laugh]. [crosstalk 00:08:36]. Then that’s where we had lunch every day that week.

Candace: Awesome.

Julia: She could not get enough of that place. She’s there more than I am now. I’m like, “Okay. All right. All right.”

Candace: That’s great. That’s great. And I’m sure she checked out the bathroom. She checked out the bathroom, right?

Julia: Yes. Oh, we love your bathroom. We all love the quotes. And everything—

Candace: Good.

Julia: —in that place, I’m telling you. And you know this and I know you hear this all the time, and people who aren’t from here who listen to this—we have a lot of national listeners that listen to just kind of to keep up with Knoxville, what’s going on, I posted it in all the relocation pages, so people that are coming here know where they can go and kind of what the locals are offering—people from California are very specifically directed here because this is one of those places that is, in California, Oregon, Washington State, wine is life.

Candace: Yes.

Julia: You know? So, you move into a place where that’s not the case and you get used to it. I have a lot of Italian friends that would always bring me wine, and I sent my daughter to Italy on a summer trip, and she shipped back—and I’m just, I love it. And you offer such a culture experience, but in a comfortable space, a safe space.

Candace: Thank you.

Julia: A safe space.

Candace: Thank you, I appreciate that. Yes.

Julia: Yeah. We do too. We appreciate you. So, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome those, opening this business? And keeping it open. I mean, during Covid… I mean, you could have failed.

Candace: Absolutely.

Julia: I mean, what’s been going on with you?

Candace: Yeah, there’s so many challenges. So, I kind of remind people—and anybody can Google this, but you know, the net profit for an average restaurant is 3 to 8%, okay? So, even if a restaurant is doing a million dollars in sales, we don’t make any money. We do it because we love the community and we love the people. And so, I think that was kind of the—I think when people get in the restaurant business, either they’re chefs that—they’re are amazing chefs, but they don’t have good business sense, or they’re amazing business people, but they don’t have good hospitality customer sense.

So, when I first opened, I had this idea of what I wanted to do and what I wanted to serve and I created my kitchen based on that kind of ideal mindset, 2016. Within two years, Farragut and Knoxville said, “No, we want more,” or, “We want this,” or, “We don’t like this,” or, “Please change this,” or whatever. And if you’re not willing to remember that Knoxville pays our bills—so I tell my team all the time, you know, if somebody gives a suggestion or they want to come up with—you know, you guys should try this food item, or you guys should try this or that, please bring it to me. I’m a very active owner. I’m there every day.

Most of Knoxville knows I always sit at the bar. I’m always listening. I’m always watching because ultimately, I will fail if I don’t give Knoxville what they want, right? So, whether it be reviews that I have to personally attend to, I do. I am the general manager. I don’t have a team of, you know, big-wig hierarchy. No, it’s me, Steve. Rachel, Daniel, Chef Eric, you know?

I have 15 employees and they’re all part of my family. They come to my house, they come to my boat, they hang out with me, I listen to them. I meet with them every week. It’s a different, it’s a different small-business mindset. So, I think the only way that I was able to get through everything, staffing, changing the direction of my business, listening to everything, God—number one—discernment, being able to humble myself and hear what it was that you guys wanted and say, “You know what? I really had this idea for Water into Wine, but Knoxville is telling me that they like this idea better.”

And you know what I did? I changed my direction. And then I hired the team and the staff members, everybody on my team understands how important my community is to me. So, whether it be me donating to the Catholic Church and the Methodist Church and the Lutheran Church and the Baptist Church, I don’t care. Jesus is everywhere.

So, if there’s a need in our community, whether it be a food pantry, or a volunteer ministry, or a [unintelligible 00:13:02] event, I’m in. I give donations to—of wine for gift baskets, for golf tournaments, you name it. So, I love being God’s ATM. So, I think, you know, that was the only reason I was able to survive Covid, I was able to survive some of the critiques in Knoxville—who is this California girl? Who does she think she is?

You know, I had to learn how to drive here. I keep telling all my California friends, “Stop blowing your horn. Be nice. Wave, wave at people, open the doors for your elders, you know? We’re really back in the south. You need to learn how to become more southern hospitality.” I had to learn all of that. And hopefully, I did. I hope so. Every once in a while someone still critiques me or criticizes me, but I’m a Christian. I’m used to it [laugh].

Julia: That’s life. That’s life. Everybody’s going to have an opinion.

Candace: Exactly.

Julia: [laugh]. Well, we’re glad that you came through the other end of that.

Candace: Thank you.

Julia: It wasn’t just your restaurant, but all the small owners in Knoxville, we were all very concerned. We didn’t down, per se, but it wasn’t as it was previously. So, for those two years, always focusing on the small business owners has been important, and we’re glad you made it through. So.

Candace: It’s so the only way. It’s the only way we did. We are very appreciative, yes.

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Julia: Yeah, absolutely. So, what are your plans and dreams for the future of this brand? Are you going to stay in your location? Expand? What are your—what are your—what’s your future?

Candace: So, this is where I’m at, [sweetie 00:15:06] to tell you the truth. I’m coming up on 50 now, right? So, I’ve been doing this for oh, like I said, over eight years—if you look at school and everything, 10, 11 years in—and I love it. Like, I can’t even imagine what I would do next.

So, my options are, I’ve got everything branded, trademarked, and ready to go so I can franchise it. But I need to find the right woman that wants to own her own wine bar in her own community and share the love of Jesus with the [hurting 00:15:38] in her town and community. God hasn’t brought me that human, yet whether it be a wife, whether it be a widow, whether it be a young woman who wants to start her own wine bar, I have no idea, but I’m praying that God bring me that human and when that beautiful person walks in, I pray the Holy Spirit will—woo—and I’ll know this is my girl, this is where we’re going to go. So, I’m already licensed in all the states around me: Alabama, Georgia, North, South Carolina, Kentucky. I can put a Water into Wine anywhere that I want right now. So—

Julia: Love it.

Candace: —I am waiting for God to send that woman my way. And then if that doesn’t work out or if that’s not the way it’s supposed to go, then, you know, I’ll expand, I’ll stay and Farragut, I’ll sign another five-year lease and I’ll just keep loving my community till God says, “Well done my good and faithful servant,” and I’m done. And I make the joke to people all the time. When Noah was done building the boat, then he had to get on the boat. Then God had to bring all the animals on the boat. Then he had to sit on the boat for 39 days looking up to the sky saying, “When is this rain going to end, God? This really sucks.” And then God finally says, “Oh, the rain is going to die.”

But then he had to stay on the boat for another 300 days before the water receded, right? So, when God tells you to do something and it doesn’t make sense—he was the first conspiracy theorist, right—the whole community thought he was crazy because he said [unintelligible 00:17:07], right? But he did what God said, anyway. I built a bar. Some people think, “Ah, there’s no way you can be a Christian. You own a bar.”

And I’m like, “Eh, okay. Sure. Ask Noah how that worked out.” And then when you end up getting it all said and done, Noah was found drunk in the yard after he planted the vineyard. You know what? And so, I’m like, when God tells me I’m done, I’m going to be a Noah. I’m going to enjoy, and I hope to see everybody in heaven when I get there [laugh].

Julia: [crosstalk 00:17:33]. People ask me all the time, what I’m going to do when I retire one day. And so, there’s two options. I’m just—I’m never going to retire, right? When I own my brokerage, I’m going to be the mama bear of all the real estate agents in Knoxville and protect them for life and just die doing that. Or I’m going to make it big, I’m going to make my own wine in Italy, I’m going to, buzzed a little bit, spread the good word, and deliver breadsticks on my Vespa. That’s what we’re going to do [laugh].

Candace: Well, and again, you ask yourself, what is your purpose? I ask women this—and men—but any groups that I talk to, you what is your purpose? Why are you here? And then once you find your purpose, there is such a satisfaction and a peace about that, it’s easy to wake up in the morning. It’s easy to work 80-hour weeks, it’s easy to help people in your community.

When you find your niche and you find your purpose, the rest of it is no longer a job. It’s no longer work. So, the idea of not loving people and not having conversations and dialog with people, I can’t imagine what that would be like. So, I don’t know what’s next. Wherever God tells me to go I will say, “Yes, sir.”

Julia: I love it. I love that so much. So, in the local community, right—local meaning, I mean, Farragut, Lenoir City, Hardin Valley kind of all surround you really [and truly 00:18:56] and that’s your community. How has that local community impacted and changed you and changed your business? How have you changed them? Or how do you feel like you’ve changed them?

Candace: So, that’s kind of a two-part story. How I feel I’ve changed them, I have offered a destination for people to openly come and share their faith, their pain, what they’re going through in their life, their stories. And so, when I’ve talked to people that I’ve touched, maybe even years prior, we’ll—my husband and I’ll be out and they’ll say, “You prayed for me at your wine bar, and let me just tell you what has happened since then.” You know, it’s things like that. Because I have my Bible.

I carry it with me everywhere. People laugh because there will be times that I’m in conversation at the bar—yes, I am sipping a glass of wine—but I’ll hear something and I’ll grab my Bible, and before you know it, I’m starting to share scripture with them. So, that I think is what Water into Wine has been able to offer the community as far as that goes. Now, as far as my community goes, I look at… it’s not just Farragut. When I first started this, it was very Farragut. I was very Farragut focused.

Until I realized that Lenoir Ci—because I graduated from Lenoir City High School. In fact, I just went to my 30-year reunion at Lenoir City, and it was a blast. You could look on my Facebook and see all the pictures. It was so much fun. So, Lenoir City is my community because those are my friends that were nice to me.

And when that little girl from California showed up her senior year of high school in 1992, ’93 and had no idea, you know, why that boys had cars in the back of their—or boys had guns in the back of their car windows.

Julia: For hunting [season 00:21:01] [laugh].

Candace: Yeah. I didn’t know. I was just like, “Where did you move me to mom and dad?” Like, so, you know—so Lenoir City is my community. Whereas, you know, Hardin Valley, just watching how much that has grown and how many people have just been able to come into the Farragut area because of Turkey Creek.

And then I look at Choto to all of my friends who own their own businesses at Medi Spa. And then even going down into Knox County, which are friends that don’t live in Farragut, but their children go to Farragut Middle or Farragut High School and they need my restaurant to support their wrestling team or their daughter’s volleyball team or things like that. So, you know, where I thought community was within the little five-mile radius of my restaurant, now I have these amazing people Bearden and Holston Hills because there was a golf thing that I went and I sponsored there, and the whole lady group came to the restaurant to support me to say thank you. So, I mean it’s just been amazing how Knoxville and Knox County—I mean Mayor Jacobs, he is such a supporter for small business. He’s been to my restaurant several times just to check on me.

You know, our Farragut Mayor, Mayor Williams, it’s just a small town—even though we’re small, Knoxville is so large, people care. Like, they genuinely care. And so, the community is way larger than Farragut. I love my Farragut community, but God has just shown me that, I mean, there are thousands of people within a 20-mile radius. And that’s not even to say, all the people that come off the exit.

Julia: Right.

Candace: You would believe the people that I’m meeting that are traveling from Ohio River Valley down to Florida—or even New York—or as you, with your real estate agent, you wouldn’t believe the real estate agents that are bringing people from California, Washington State, Oregon, New York, Chicago, [crosstalk 00:23:08]—

Julia: It’s hard to find anywhere else.

Candace: Yeah. They’re all coming here.

Julia: [crosstalk 00:23:12] small town. There’s very few opportunities for people who have a restaurant that makes people from out of state feel at home. There’s very few. Very few.

Candace: Thank you. That’s the point. And again, we take the time to actually get to know you. That’s the difference. You’re not just a turn-seat in my restaurant; you are a relationship.

Julia: I love that. So, tell us—we’ve—I mean we’re so close to time [laugh]

Candace: [crosstalk 00:23:37].

Julia: I could talk to you for days. As I hope everybody wants to come and talk to you for days. So, tell everybody out there where you’re located, where they can find information on you, and what days you’re open and your hours.

Candace: Sure. So, I’m located at 607 North Campbell Station Road—[phone noise] and there goes my phone—it’s right off the Farragut exit there in the Walgreens shopping center, next to Mellow Mushroom. On Mondays, it’s 3 to 10 p.m., and it’s happy hour all night. And Tuesday through Saturday we’re open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. And Saturday night, we have jazz, we have local acoustic jazz duos that come so you guys can still talk. And Wednesday night, we have local Americana music 7 to 9, but again, it’s still low key and you guys can still enjoy your conversation. And yeah, we have chef’s specials every night. Chef Eric is always creating something amazing and you can see those on our Facebook page: Water into Wine.

Julia: I love that. We’re always fighting for the special, so we know we need to get there early so—

Candace: That’s right.

Julia: —so you don’t run out of specials. Those—I don’t know, your stuffed mushrooms however—

Candace: Yep—

Julia: [crosstalk 00:24:44].

Candace: —those are very popular. Yes.

Julia: The best. The best. I would say the best in Knoxville, hands down, period. The best.

Candace: Thank you.

Julia: All right. So, fire round. Outside of your own restaurant food, where do you go? What are your top three places?

Candace: A Dopo is my number one. Let’s see, gosh, number two and number three… I really—my backyard—I do a lot of cooking—and Big Kahuna Wings. That’s where we do our group of friends—

Julia: Their sauces are outstanding.

Candace: Yeah. So, yeah. I stay in town. I stay around [laugh].

Julia: Yeah. Same. Same. If travel too far, I’m like, “Well, I’m out of my comfort zone here.” So, [laugh]. Where’s your favorite grocery store? Where do you get your groceries?

Candace: Ingles if I’m [sous vide-ing 00:25:33], and grilling my backyard. They have an amazing butcher shop. They can cut any meat for me that I like. And then Kroger’s right around the corner from my house, so that’s my in-and-out on the way to the boat.

Julia: Very nice. When you have people visit from out of state, where’s the first place you take them that you think is, like, the best-kept secret Knoxville has ever had?

Candace: Um, that just happened actually. I met my birth family. That’s another story, but I’m adopted.

Julia: Oh, [crosstalk 00:26:01].

Candace: Yeah, I’m adopted and I found my birth father’s family. My birth father passed away, but now I got these really cool uncles and a really cool brother. So, they were just here in Knoxville two weeks ago. And I took them to Market Square. I wanted them to see. We had Stock & Barrel. I wanted them to have a great burger and walk around and just kind of see the fountains and the kids playing. So yeah, Market Square was where I took them.

Julia: What’s your favorite so far [year-to-date 00:26:30], like, 50 years in best East Tennessee memory? What is your recollection of your best memory of East Tennessee?

Candace: Um, probably when I first moved here at—that was in ’92, ’93—first one was when I went and I watched Boomsday.

Julia: Oh, I miss Boomsday so much.

Candace: I know. That, to me, was like the closest thing I’d had back to California in a very long time was the waterfall of a, you know, those amazing fireworks into the water. We used to have that at Dana Point in California on the beach. So, I grew up with fireworks over the water. And when I saw Boomsday, that’s when I was like, “Wow, this place is really cool.” So, I wish we could bring that back.

Julia: I wish we could bring it back, too. I remember, for years they said, “We’re going to bring it back.” And then they’d bring it back. And next year, “We’re not going to have it.” “We’re going to bring it back.” And then they really stopped it, and I was like, well… and then they had music in the square. I can’t really remember what it was called. That was when I was in college. [crosstalk 00:27:29] square. And they used to have [unintelligible 00:27:31] out there. So, Thurs—Sundown in the City, it was on Thursday nights.

Candace: Yep. Sundown in the City.

Julia: [crosstalk 00:27:37].

Candace: Yeah, I remember that one too. Yeah, that was great. There’d be three or four different concerts going on. So yeah, I wish I would bring some of those cool things back. There was some good times.

Julia: There was some good times. Well, you have great, “Concerts”—and I’ll put that in quotations—at your place, too. It’s very hard to find tempered, good jazz music where you can also have a conversation, and again, a great glass of wine [laugh].

Candace: Thank you. Well, you only have 80 to choose from, girl. 80 to choose from.

Julia: I know. I know. And they’re seasonal so they change. It’s always [an option 00:28:05].

Candace: They do.

Julia: Always exciting. There’s always something new to try, which is appreciated. And your time today has been appreciated. I’m sure that you need to get back to your location, but we do very much appreciate you taking time for us and tell us a little bit about Water into Wine. And Farragut listeners, if you are off the Campbell Station Road exit, traveling through Knoxville, want to create or experience something that Knoxville is a rarity of, this place is the place to be. That’s Water into Wine.

You can find them on Instagram and Facebook or just go to their website. Please stop by, please support local businesses when you’re on your way through. Thank you very much, Miss Candice, for being a part of our show today.

Candace: No problem.

Julia: Listeners, thank you for joining us for another episode of Connect the Knox. Bye.

Julia: Thank you for tuning into the show. Make sure to like and subscribe, leave a five-star review on your podcast player of choice, and if you would like information on moving to Knoxville, send me a private message. As always, this is Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.