Old Town Orange is a semi-preserved historic area in Orange County. The neighborhood is quaint. Yet, surprisingly, it boasts several chef-driven dining concepts. Why would these places choose to open in Orange? If you ask locals, it all started with a place called Haven Craft Kitchen + Bar.
For years, the drinking scene around the area was lackluster. Then Wil Dee helped revolutionize what was being poured in Orange County. If you ask Dee, he refers to that time as the dark ages of bartending.
“If you didn’t have a creative bartender, especially in Orange County,” says Dee, “that Old Fashioned would be a bright red cherry, a sugar packet-muddled drink that was half soda water.”
That wasn’t good enough for Dee. When he opened Haven in 2009, he vowed that his place would be different.
“Things were static – as far as the spirits, wine, beer selection,” says Dee. “Things didn’t stay or move. It was just maintaining rather than being creative.”
Haven began as a gastropub and is now dubbed a craft kitchen and bar. Though its moniker changed over the years, one thing remained constant: Haven is celebrated for its craft beer and spirit selection.
Dee followed Haven’s success and opened another shop in Old Towne Orange called Provisions, a cafe, coffee, beer and wine shop. In 2016, he co-founded Chapman Crafted Beer & Coffee, which brews microcraft beer and roasts specialty coffee right in Orange.
As Dee’s beverage footprint grew, the city’s advancement also became important to him. Dee serves on the executive board for the Orange Chamber of Commerce and sits as vice president of the Orange County Brewers Guild. Beyond his civic responsibilities, Dee flies out to Louisville to taste special whiskeys blended by the famous Kentucky distiller Woodford Reserve for his O.C. restaurant.
“So tasting, that’s the fun part of it,” he says.
We caught up with Dee to learn what ignited his passion for beer and how Haven stays relevant as Old…
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