After a lengthy lay-off, Eric Kinlaw is reviving his two concepts on 10th Street.
To quote Kinlaw’s response to a comment on Instagram about the Hive’s reopening, “They’re coming back at the same time, but not the same way.”
The Bee’s Knees will be Bee’s Knees Coffee and Curios, and The Hive will be Hive Bodega. Both are slated to open on Friday, Aug. 6, right around the 19th anniversary of when Bee’s Knees originally opened.
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Concerns over the pandemic and a desire to re-think his business designs led Kinlaw to close both locations, he is bringing them both back with a few distinct changes. No longer will Bee’s Knees be an upscale date night eatery or brunch spot. It’s been reimagined as a combination coffee/tea bar and antique shop, featuring items Kinlaw has collected over the years and some he’s yet to discover. The new restaurant will offer limited seating for in-person dining and drinking in both spaces, but Kinlaw desired to shift to more of a retail focus.
Kinlaw is currently looking for baristas and a baker for Bee’s Knees, but the work is almost done.
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“I feel good about it. We’ll find the right people,” Kinlaw said. “Our kitchen will be vegan/vegetarian for sure—no meat whatsoever. We’ll have some eggs, some honey and a little dairy but ever-inching toward a vegan operation.”
Running a “clean kitchen” was one of Kinlaw’s main focuses in rethinking his concepts, and that plan is right on target. It helps that some of his former employees are returning with him.
“We’ve been able to retain seven previous employees,” he said. “They’re invaluable. There’s been so many facets of this reimagining, and I could not do it alone.”
Those same employees assisted in the renovations.
“We basically took everything apart and put it back together,” he said. “We repainted everything and resurfaced the floors, and that was essentially all myself and a small group of employees.”
The coffee and tea at the new Bee’s Knees is sourced from Athens and Atlanta.
“We’ve got six Georgia roasters, with a light, medium and dark roast from each one, so 18 varietals to start,” Kinlaw said. “The tea is Spirit Tea from Chicago. They’ve got an amazing selection, and we’ll expand from that as much as demand requires.”
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Fans of The Hive will still be able to grab a drink with friends at Hive Bodega, and Kinlaw is focused on being as sustainable as possible with those offerings as well.
“In terms of wine, we want organic, natural, biodynamic… sustainable in some way. For beer, it’s a little harder to be sustainable. But we’re going to have a good, broad selection, and we’re introducing sake as well.”
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All the alcohol will be at Hive. Kinlaw also has interest in developing nonalcoholic spirits somewhere down the line.
“We’re doing what feels good and what we want to do,” Kinlaw said. “This is what we think is forward-thinking. We want to grow into this new world.”
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
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