BYOB, and Ceramicafe Provides the Cheese, Crackers—and Paint

Lindsay Smith is a big fan of wine, especially when the setting is fancy.

“My favorite wine experiences are at vineyards and wineries,” said Smith, a five-year employee of in Grossmont Center. “One time, I was going to the Wild Animal Park and there were lots of wineries around, so we just stopped.”

Now with Ceramicafe’s Wine and Cheese Night from 4 to 9 every Friday, she doesn’t have to travel so far.

It works like this: Bring your own bottle of wine and they’ll supply the cheese and crackers while you paint. They charge no fee for reservations. Pricing depends on the size of the piece you paint.

“Walk-ins are welcome, but we encourage people to make a reservation because it can get crowded,” Smith said.

If you go, ask Smith about the couch-surfers her parents let stay at the house.

“My parents had a wine-tasting and we had a Frenchman staying with us,” she said. “He had studied wine for a year, and so he was teaching us about it. His name was Laurent.”