by John LaFollette
‘Ville Voice Eats Correspondent

If NuLu needs one thing to solidify its status as the Louisville district that’s become the hippest, the fastest, it’s a wine bar.  If it needs two things, it’s a wine bar-art gallery combo.

Louisville businessman and wine connoisseur Mike Schnell has found what seems like a perfect place for one—in the old Hausman Jeep dealership building on East Market Street—and has begun work to open as soon as next spring.

Schnell, who says he’s long wanted to open up a place like this, is close to beginning renovation and addition work on the two-story structure, located at the northern corner of Market and Campbell.

The plans call for a wine bar and restaurant on the first floor, as well as a large patio area, complete with outdoor fireplaces.  The art gallery will be on the second floor, with doors leading to a green-roof terrace that will be built above the first floor patio.  (Schnell’s contracting firm specializes in, among other things, building green-roofs.)

Both floors will feature creative seating arrangements that, Schnell hopes, will make for a less-structured, more pleasant night out.  “We’re trying to create a wine, art, and dining experience,” Schnell said.  “There won’t be that pressure to sit, eat, get up, and leave.”

The restaurant—to be called Crush on Market—will feature a large wine bar (Schnell’s goal is around 75 different wines) and light fare dishes and tapas, with an emphasis on great wine pairings.  The wide variety of wines will be stored in a giant wine cellar, which will also be used as a private dining option.

Next door to the restaurant will be a retail wine shop called Cask 55, which Schnell described as “the complete wine store.”  He said it will feature a large inventory of wines that are harder to find, as well as a regular schedule of wine tastings, pairings, and cooking classes.

The inspiration for the restaurant/wine bar/art gallery fusion came from Schnell’s visits to New York and California, where Schnell said proprietors have been blending wine with art and dining themes for quite some time.

Pointing to the area’s increasingly diverse interests, Schnell thinks the same kind of model can work in NuLu, and plans on featuring local as well as national artists in his gallery.