At Gracie's with Kelsie Gaffey
The founder of Gracie’s Wine Room reflects on taking a leap, building a business with feeling and the art of bringing people together.
There is an easy confidence to Kelsie Gaffey. When we met her at her Gracie’s Wine Room this week, she moved between founder, host and bartender with warmth and humour. There was focaccia and pasta for the crew between takes, and when the lid of her cocktail shaker became firmly stuck mid-Tommy’s Margarita, she simply laughed and carried on.
It felt fitting for someone who is open about learning as she goes.
Kelsie left a career in marketing and events to open Gracie’s, entering hospitality without a traditional background and making a few mistakes along the way, admitting with a self-deprecating laugh that she forget to roster on staff for opening day. Rather than hiding the less polished parts of the journey, she chose to share them online, hoping her experience might offer something useful to other aspiring entrepreneurs.
My favourite part of service is when everyone walks in at once and everyone's just having a good time, and it's always late
Her strength lies less in having every answer and more in knowing exactly how she wants a space to feel, then surrounding herself with a team who can bring that feeling to life.
For Kelsie, the best measure of success is simple: looking around Gracie’s and seeing groups of people laughing, eating, drinking and settling in together.
It is the kind of hospitality she prefers herself, too. Given the choice, she will take a Sunday wine over a Friday-night cocktail and her approach to hosting is to keep things relaxed, inviting and informal.
Refined home entertaining designs that add an elevated touch to hosting.
That relaxed approach extends to entertaining at home. Good food, beautiful glassware and serving pieces, a table that feels considered without being too styled, and plenty to share. The details matter, but never at the expense of ease.
As Gracie’s continues to grow, Kelsie is thinking about what comes next while holding onto the feeling that was there from the beginning: creating somewhere people genuinely want to spend time.
A good drink helps. But really, it is about everything that happens around it.
