Juicebox wine bar delivers ‘emotional and intimate’ experience in Shelburne Falls

Rachelle Crocker with Summer-Lou, 3, Alice Thompson with Marselle, 10 months, and Rachelle’s sister Roxanne Crocker with Siobhán, 15 months, in the Juicebox wine bar on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls.

Rachelle Crocker with Summer-Lou, 3, Alice Thompson with Marselle, 10 months, and Rachelle’s sister Roxanne Crocker with Siobhán, 15 months, in the Juicebox wine bar on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Rachelle Crocker with Summer-Lou, 3, Alice Thompson with Marselle, 10 months, and Rachelle’s sister Roxanne Crocker with Siobhán, 15 months, in the Juicebox wine bar on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls.

Rachelle Crocker with Summer-Lou, 3, Alice Thompson with Marselle, 10 months, and Rachelle’s sister Roxanne Crocker with Siobhán, 15 months, in the Juicebox wine bar on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

The Juicebox wine bar on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls.

The Juicebox wine bar on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By BELLA LEVAVI

Staff Writer

Published: 09-11-2023 11:46 AM

SHELBURNE FALLS — Three local moms are intent on bringing emotion and joy into eating and drinking in the village.

Rachelle Crocker, Alice Thompson and Roxanne Crocker worked together to turn the old Delicatesse restaurant into a wine bar called Juicebox that opened in April. With their newly acquired outdoor liquor license, the three owners are serving up small plates and glasses of wine.

The moms are hoping to create a full-body experience in their restaurant. “Eating is emotional and intimate,” Thompson said. “And wine makes it even more like that,” Rachelle Crocker added.

With her new baby in hand, Thompson explained she is reimagining food. Stirred by seasonal produce, she described feeding her child a strawberry during June for the first time.

“It was inspirational for me,” she said.

Thompson lives in Heath, Rachelle Crocker lives in Greenfield and Roxanne Crocker lives in Leverett. The trio decided to come together all as new moms to create a collaborative process in the small space at 8 Bridge St.

In the courtyard behind the business, visitors can drink wine and look out at the Bridge of Flowers crossing over the Deerfield River. During a recent interview, the owners’ three children ran around eating almond butter with their fingers and finding rocks in the planters lining the outdoor space.

The three had the idea of starting a natural wine bar together before the pandemic; it took them all having babies and needing to be less independent to make it happen. They explained they take turns running the business and watching the children.

“We alternate who is watching the kids and who is painting the ceiling,” Rachelle Crocker said.

They said giving birth has made them lose their selfhood, having to be completely devoted to taking care of a new person. Working a shift in the wine bar has given them a sense of engagement with the world they feel they have lost as new moms.

“I come in here and I am like, ‘Oh my god: the world,’” Roxanne Crocker said.

At the same time, working collaboratively gives them a sense of support and flexibility needed to pull off a business like this.

“We are really a different model than the food industry we were raised in. We don’t want to push each other so hard,” Rachelle Crocker said, noting how the three women can cover for each other at any given time.

With backgrounds in the food industry, they decided to do something a little different and take on wine, something they all love.

“Wine is food’s sexy younger sister,” Thompson said.

They hope to host a pop-up wine dinner in the future, but for now they’re keeping their menu and wine offerings small. The owners also have more going on than just the wine bar.

The sisters, Rachelle Crocker and Roxanne Crocker, have run a catering business based out of a farmstead in Leverett for nearly a decade. They cater events and host pop-up dinners.

Also in the space on Mondays through Wednesdays is the sandwich and salad restaurant Lunch Box. This is the daytime offering of the same business. Lunch Box has a similar food philosophy, inspired by seasonal vegetables.

Thompson, before the pandemic, ran the restaurant Delicatesse in the same location for more than five years. Delicatesse was a Jewish deli serving up bagels, but with a new baby, Thompson decided to turn the space into a collaborative project.

The three owners explained there is a lot of snobbery around wine, but you won’t find that at their venue. They advise new wine lovers to not be intimidated and to explore new flavors.

“Drink what you want and treat it like it’s personal,” Thompson said.

Juicebox is open Thursday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the relationship between Juicebox and its lunchtime offerings.