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All The Fun With None Of The Buzz, The Story Behind Montana's Only Non-alcoholic Bar

Hold My Bar is a fascinating blend of contradictions. It's a bar that observes Dry January all year, serving zero-proof and non-alcoholic drinks. But it's not just any bar — it's a 1976 horse trailer transformed into a prohibition-era oasis. And despite its modest Instagram following, Hold My Bar has a dedicated fan base that travels to farmers markets in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell for a taste of its refreshing concoctions.

Since February, Hold My Bar, Montana's first non-alcoholic bar, has been a hub of community activity. From its vintage horse trailer, uniquely named beverages like "The Witch Doctor" and "Magical Rose Margarita" are served al fresco, both in the Flathead Valley during weekday markets as well as at pop-up locations across the state. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Uriah Rosenzweig and Mary Cortesi don't just mix drinks — they create a fun and memorable experience, engaging customers in personalized conversations about their days.

From the very beginning, friendly, personable service has been a central tenet of the Hold My Bar philosophy. A quick scroll through the Instagram feed unearths their first-ever event in Kalispell, Frosty the Brewfest. The annual food and brewery festival helped establish Hold My Bar's presence and gave a sense of what it was like to navigate a drinking culture in the food and drink scene.

Hold My Bar's presence extends beyond the valley, in Billings and Butte in particular — both cities welcoming the establishment with open arms. This year, the bar did an event in Butte for April 20, "Munchies on Main." Event organizers of Butte Pride took notice and invited Hold My Bar to cater for them in July. The event was a success. Their special "Pride Punch" sold out.

It would seem that Hold My Bar has been a Montana staple for a long time, but its origins span back to 2022, when it was the brainchild of the founder, co-owner, and tattooed bartender Uriah Rosenzweig.

For Rosenzweig, 2022 was a turbulent year. At that time, he was a lifty at Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort and made a poor decision while drinking on the job that eventually led to his termination and cost him his ski pass. He had built a community donning an alter-ego persona named "Jerry Senderson" who would deliver humorous snow reports during his shift. When news broke that he had been fired, his supportive followers — who were familiar with, and fans of, his ski-related Instagram posts — rallied behind him to start a GoFundMe campaign, which raised enough for him to get an all-season pass.

Originally from California, Rosenzweig has called Montana his home since 2018. After receiving the outpouring of support, he decided his next job would be at Montana Taphouse, where he could interact with people, just as he had engaged with his followers on Instagram at the ski resort. He drank before and after his shift but then decided to consider ditching alcohol. A decade ago, he was sober for 18 months, which gave him the confidence that he could beat an alcohol addiction — he had gone to rehab for methamphetamine use in the past and was motivated by communal support to quit drinking.

Fast-forward a little, and the year continued to prove pivotal and life-changing, full of firsts and contradictions. By the end of it, an oxymoron occurred: Rosenzweig decided to go cold turkey on alcohol and was voted the third-best bartender in Whitefish.

"I got beat by two ladies, so I like to say that I was the best male bartender," he said. "I quit drinking in August of 2022. I was about two weeks sober and some friends and I went down to Missoula to a concert at Kettlehouse. And we went to a couple of breweries, and there were really no good non-alcoholic options, not even non-alcoholic beer at a brewery."

Frustrated by the lack of options, Rosenzweig started googling where he could go that wasn't a bar or a coffee shop. In a Beacon interview at Ceres, drinking a Matcha Colada from Ceres Bakery, he said, "If you don't drink coffee, where else is there really to go? There are bars and coffee shops. That's kind of it."

What Rosenzweig speaks to is partly due to the ongoing decline of so-called "third places" in America, the social infrastructure that facilitates social interactions and builds community. Public places like libraries and parks are prime examples of such places, but so too are small businesses like cafes and bars. And though the definition of a third place varies, the general definition is that they are defined by how ordinary they are: simple, unassuming places to "hang out" and meet new people.

For Rosenzweig, a people person and enthused bartender, not having a third place that suited his new lifestyle was disappointing. He knew that he wasn't alone. According to a 2023 Gallup survey, 38% of adults abstain from alcohol completely. "Sober bars," non-judgmental spaces serving zero-proof spirits and drinks, were popping up all over America for sober and sober-curious folks seeking alternatives to drinking alcohol, but who missed the ambiance of a bar or a cocktail lounge.

So, Rosenzweig set out to make his own space.

Uriah Rosenzweig of Hold My Bar, a mobile non-alcoholic beverage business at the Columbia Falls Community Market, makes a cocktail on July 18, 2024. Hunter D'AntuonoFlathead Beacon

At first, he tried brewing his own non-alcoholic beer but quickly realized how difficult that was. Turns out, the process to proof and liberate alcohol was not only extremely difficult — or, in Rosenzweig's words, "impossible" — the process was very, very expensive. For example, he discovered that to make zero-proof bourbon, an actual bourbon is distilled and then reverse-distilled so that the alcohol is removed. But since he was already down the rabbit hole, Rosenzweig explored his options even further, outsourcing dealcoholized wine and a breadth of alcoholic alternatives available through distributors.

To the uninitiated non-alcoholic, it can be confusing to the palate: the beverage doesn't contain alcohol, but it tastes like it does. When Hold My Bar won best beverage at the 2024 Flathead Food Truck Festival for their zero-proof bourbon and amaretto, "God Not My Father," the judges could not believe it was liquor-free. Thanks to an alcohol liberation technique, the notes were still present without the signature alcoholic burn.

The alcohol can also be liberated in wine after the fermentation process. What drinkers will taste, however, is the remaining fermentation, which mimics the flavor of wine. "When people say, 'Well, isn't this grape juice?' Well no, because they're actually making the wine," Rosenzweig said.

Now, Hold My Bar carries dealcoholized spirits and wines, along with canned adaptogen and botanical drinks. Shimmering cocktails like "The Witch Doctor" produce sensations similar to the experience of being buzzed or intoxicated. A common ingredient used in these spirits is kava, a South Pacific plant that can relax the body and function as a mood enhancer. Hold My Bar carries about 50 different types of non-alcoholic beers in total.

"Hold My Punch," a drink featuring grenadine, pineapple coconut juice, and zero-proof rum infused with butterfly pea flower from Hold My Bar, a mobile non-alcoholic beverage business at the Columbia Falls Community Market on July 18, 2024. Hunter D'AntuonoFlathead Beacon "Magical Rose Margarita," a drink featuring zero-proof tequila, orange juice, agave, lime juice, rose syrup and rose buds, from Hold My Bar, a mobile non-alcoholic beverage business at the Columbia Falls Community Market on July 18, 2024. Hunter D'AntuonoFlathead Beacon

The non-liquor liquor establishment has come a long way since its humble 2022 beginnings. Soon, they will be carrying a zero-proof alcohol called "Lupujus," which is made at Imagine Nation, a Missoula brewery that manufactures all its beer in Montana.

"I have the most non-alcoholic beer in the state. I know that for a fact. And I run out of a little horse trailer," Rosenzweig said.

In the future, Rosenzweig and Cortesi want to add to the Hold My Bar experience, hosting yard games like cornhole for people to hang out and play or, more ambitiously, a brick-and-mortar location to host events with live music and karaoke.

Of course, some patrons stick around, while others might not. Whatever they choose to do, Rosenzweig and Cortesi feel lucky to play a role in their everyday lives.

"For me, it's not about how we are doing, but who we are connecting with," Rosenzweig said. Whether it's just one person or a hundred people, Rosenzweig and Cortesi are always happy to welcome back all stripes of clientele, from loyal Instagram followers to patrons discovering the bar for the first time.

For now, Hold My Bar continues to provide their services as labors of love.

Some menu items of Hold My Bar, a mobile non-alcoholic beverage business at the Columbia Falls Community Market on July 18, 2024. Hunter D'AntuonoFlathead Beacon

"We're here to create an experience from us to the drinks to the environment," Rosenzweig said. "We are connected with the community, and we love the community. I think that comes out of our service and in our trailer itself."

To check out Hold My Bar and stay up to date on their public events, their Instagram is @hold.My.Bar. For more information about bookings and general inquiries, email [email protected] or [email protected].

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Venture Capital In Silicon Valley And Beyond

While there are many excellent books about the engineers and entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, little had been written about the financiers who enable the moonshots. I aim to fill this gap with my latest book, The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future. Published in February 2022, The Power Law delivers a comprehensive account of venture investing in Silicon Valley, showing how the region's distinctive network-based social capital is nurtured by hyper-connected investors and exploring the full range of approaches: VCs, angel investors, incubators, and growth-equity funds. It also explains what other regions, notably China, have learned from the Valley's example, asks what sorts of innovation venture capitalists may support in the future, and addresses the critiques of the VC business, from the under-representation of women and minorities to the suspicion that venture capitalists back "blitz-scalers" that wreak excessive disruption. 

My account situates VC and angel investing in the context of the long-running debate on rival visions of capitalism. The tech finance of the Valley is a sort of anti-Wall Street version of finance: indifferent to Modern Portfolio Theory and quantitative models; long-termist rather than short-termist; involved rather than arms-length; immune to the accusation that financiers shuffle pieces of paper rather than funneling capital to the real economy. At a time when the short-comings of the "financialized" Anglo-American model of capitalism are widely debated, and when VC-backed "unicorns" are willing to defer public listings for longer than ever, Silicon Valley's financial model may offer part of an alternative solution to the age-old problem of how best to funnel capital from savers to productive companies. 

The Power Law has been nominated to the shortlist for the Financial Times 2022 Business Book of the Year. I remain active in public speaking, podcasts, television, and other forums discussing the role of venture capital in shaping modern capitalism. 

Sun Valley Eyes Large Village Revamp, With Future Hotel & Conference Expansion, Too

The Sun Valley Village first sprang up nearly 90 years ago, when the historic Sun Valley Lodge opened in time for the 1936 ski season. Now, preliminary plans are looking at what the next chapter of the area might look like as it heads towards its 100-year birthday.

The Sun Valley Company submitted a new master plan for the village to the City of Sun Valley. The Idaho Mountain Express first reported on the plan and noted it passed the commission on a 5-0 vote last week.

The plan is preliminary and provides a general idea of how the area, which includes the Lodge, skating rink, Sun Valley Inn, Opera House, retail buildings, parking lots, and other facilities, could evolve.

2005 plan shows a concept for the Sun Valley Village. The Sun Valley Lodge and ice rink are toward the bottom of the graphic in a grayed out color, with an envisioned new hotel and upgraded village to the north. Much of the plan hasn't come to fruition and other upgrades have taken place, instead. Plan: Via Sun Valley Co./Design Workshop

Older plans for the area dating to 2005 nodded to a gondola connecting the Village to Dollar and Bald Mountains and a new hotel in Sun Valley Village. That plan considered tearing down large swaths of the village and building a new hotel and promenade.

In a 2022 interview with BoiseDev, Sun Valley Resort General Manager Pete Sonntag said those older plans might not make as much sense two decades later.

"We think there's an opportunity to continue to enhance the product here in the village," Sonntag said. "For us, it's about how do you maintain the character and the heritage and what makes Sun Valley so unique. Nobody has a feel quite like the feel here. How do you modernize and update and not lose that?"

Sonntag said in 2022 that resort ownership, the Holding family, wanted to ensure that plans didn't create a "generic mountain town," and ensure that Sun Valley continued to differentiate. The 2024 master plan for the Sun Valley Village shows general areas where future improvements could be built. Site plan: Via Hart Howerton/RLB Architecture

"Continuous improvement is essential for Sun Valley Resort to maintain itspremier status," the master plan document notes. "We believe the concepts in this plan identify needed improvements (that) will invigorate the existingVillage, confirm areas for long-term expansion of our core businesses whilehonoring the unspoiled character and natural beauty that have long been themost cherished aspects of Sun Valley Village."

Timeline, phases Drawing shows changes to the existing Pete Lane's Mountain Sports building in Sun Valley. Rendering: Via Hart Howerton/RLB Architecture

While the plan doesn't nail down specific site plans or details, it does provide general guidance on where Sun Valley could go in the future. Instead of tearing down a large swath of the village and building a new hotel in the parking lot, it nods toward maintaining much of the existing footprint.

"The scope of improvements identified in the Master Plan extends 15-20 years or more," Sun Valley told BoiseDev in a statement.

The plan breaks down into two phases. The first would rework the architecture of some of the existing buildings in the village and update the landscaping. It would also make changes to access to people in vehicles and on foot or bike, and improve the area around the Olympic-sized pools and tennis/pickleball courts. Village Station Pizza replaced Bald Mountain Pizza in the Sun Valley village. Photo: Don Day/BoiseDev file

Later, the Sun Valley Inn could be expanded, as well as additional convention and meeting space and possible new lodging options near the Inn in an area where older employee housing was torn down in 2017.

"The first projects will be exterior enhancements to existing village buildings. More substantial renovations are identified for Pete Lane's, the Boiler Room, the Opera House, and most other Village buildings," the Sun Valley statement to BoiseDev said. "The Village Parking Lot and the Olympic Pool and Tennis complex are also identified for improvements, but no specific target dates have been established."

The planning document discusses three distinct eras in the resort's evolution: the early years under Union Pacific's ownership, ownership under Bill Janss from 1964 to 1977, and Holdings' ownership over the past nearly 50 years.

A number of buildings in the Village popped up in the Janss era, including Pete Lane's retail building, as well as the retail building anchored by the Kondeteori and others.

Updating the village A drawing shows how the Sun Valley Village could be revamped. This view is of the village buildings from the current parking lot. Rendering: Via Hart Howerton/RLB Architecture

Those are areas where the plan indicates Sun Valley will focus early on in the planning timeframe.

"The scale of these mid-century era buildings is less suited to a pedestrian-oriented village experience than the original 1930s village and are not as suited to contemporary retail needs," the report notes. "More recent renovations and additions, such as Village Station, the Konditorei, and the Lodge Spa, have assimilated more successfully, as they take cues from the Lodge's Mountain style, the Tyrolean style, and maintain the scale of the original village buildings and Lodge."

The plan says updated concepts would improve the way people enter the village and "reinvigorate older facilities."

"While guiding future improvements, the plan is conceptual in nature, and provides flexibility as needs arise," the application notes. "It is understood that details associated with specific improvements will be worked out through design review and development applications."

Drawing shows possible updates to the Sun Valley Opera House. Rendering: Via Hart Howerton/RLB Architecture

The plan's conceptual drawings show an update to the 1937 Sun Valley Opera House, which serves as a movie theater and performing arts space. The conceptual drawings also show architectural updates to the Janss-era Rec Center building attached to the Opera House.

Nearby, renderings show a remodel of the existing Pete Lane's Mountain Sports building, with a new pitched-roof style that resembles the Sun Valley Inn. The strip of buildings that includes the Boiler Room, Kondetori, EJ Kids The Toy Store, and other shops that sit between the parking lot and village pathway is shown with a total revamp featuring larger windows that evoke both the Sun Valley Inn and some of the new mountain lodges built in recent years.

A traffic study attached to the plan digs into more specifics, including the possibility of as much as 11,600 square feet of sit-down restaurants, a small supermarket, and space for possible new clothing and drug stores.

More beds for heads

In a series of renovations, Sun Valley Company revamped the Sun Valley Lodge and Sun Valley Inn. Those projects enlarged and reconfigured most of the guest rooms in the two hotels, actually decreasing guest capacity.

But the plan has an eye on future lodging growth.

"Future development may include expanded lodging at the northeast portion of the plan area and at the existing Sun Valley Inn," the report said. "This document identifies… longer-term items (hotel/lodging, conference facilities, back of house, road reconfiguration) where land use is assigned to specific locations, but for practical reasons, less detail exists. Fire pit outside the Boiler Room building in Sun Valley during the winter. Photo: Don Day/BoiseDev file

While concrete details are scarce, a concept diagram shows convention center expansion to the north of the existing facility. The existing conference center hosts everyone from billionaires to local leaders. Sun Valley has a total of 25,000 square feet of indoor meeting space spread across 16 rooms. The largest space is about 8,500 square feet. While it is one of the largest convention facilities in Idaho, it is still limited in terms of the number of guests it can accommodate at any one time.

For lodging, the planning document says the area is approved for 840 units, plus another 150 workforce units. Currently, the Village has 208 units, split between the Lodge and Inn. A jump from 208 to 840 would be significant and the plan doesn't give an indication of how many rooms could ultimately be built. However, the traffic study indicates another 105 rooms could be added throughout the life of the master plan – an increase of roughly 50%.

It does outline two general concepts, the first is an expansion to the Sun Valley Inn that would extend out from the west of the building. The other is deemed as "future lodging and open space" that would take up a current parking area and area where employee housing once sat.

Parking, views, paths & more Flowers outside the Sun Valley Lodge last summer, with Bald Mountain off in the distance. Photo: Don Day/BoiseDev

Beyond the key question of what could be built, the plan puts together principles for the village's infrastructure.

A key concept centers around those well-known Sun Valley views.

"Key views to both mountains from within the plan area shall be preserved, particularly from central gathering spaces such as the village core and the pavilion lawn (refer to Figure 3.2)," the report notes. "The views to the northeast up Trail Creek Canyon are also impressive and should be part of design considerations for the northeast portion of the SPA."

Currently, the village is surrounded by two large parking fields, and the village has more than 1,000 total spaces for cars. The main parking lot, to the west of the village, where the 2005 plan contemplated a hotel, would remain, with maintenance and upgrades slated early in the plan's life.

But on the east side, where parking lots for the Sun Valley Inn sit, the development of those lodging and conference facilities could see the lots disappear. Instead, the plan looks at an "integrated" approach.

"Where feasible, parking areas are encouraged to be reduced and replaced with landscape or plazas, creating a more pedestrian-oriented open space experience within the plan area," the application says. "A goal of this master plan is to reinforce the walkability and connectivity of existing and proposed amenities within the village to each other and to larger outdoor gathering spaces and trail network."

In addition, the new master plan calls for improved facilities for cyclists, as well as connections to the Wood River Valley's extensive trail network.

What's next

With the City of Sun Valley Planning & Zoning Commission's recommendation, the plan will move to the Sun Valley City Council for final approval or rejection. From there, Sun Valley Company would have to submit approvals for each individual project change.

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