Our Story
Louie’s Wine Dive was founded with humble roots in the Drake area of Des Moines by converting a small Jewish Bagel store and an adjacent Vietnamese seamstress studio with some sheetrock, a few gallons of paint, and hard work. The fun ambiance for which Louie’s Wine Dive is renown came with time from the big personalities who make Louie’s Wine Dive their ‘home away from home.’ Fresh wine and fresh culinary keep Louie’s Wine Dive a restaurant leader in the communities it serves.
BRGR Kitchen + Bar and Taco Republic are beloved brands for their product which is hyper focused on burgers and brews, and tacos and margaritas. Burgers and tacos pull at our heartstrings because they have played a part in so much of our lives! They are also so craveable and yet so convenient. It also allows our chefs to be truly creative using new and fresh ingredients and cooking methods to continue to challenge the status quo.
W.VinZant Events and Trucks. W.VinZant Events handles private events of all types from formal Weddings to small Birthday Celebrations. Our dedicated office prides itself on providing guests the ability to articulate their vision in the setting and with the culinary and service of their liking.
W.VinZant Events also provides our dedicated Taco Republic Truck, the BRGR Trailer and the Wine Trailer for off-site events that want a unique compliment to their gathering. With our dedicated trucks W.VinZant can serve everything from restaurant quality food thru specialty cocktails, and hosts can enjoy the experience without
lifting a finger throughout!
Fresko Natural Food located in downtown Des Moines is designed to work hand in hand with the bounty of Iowa’s rich farming tradition. The depth of Fresko’s passion for local, excellent quality ingredients is literally built into the walls where we used sustainable materials throughout. Fresko partners with numerous Iowa farms, including cattle, pork, protein, dairy, cheese, and produce producers. Fresko has been recipient to numerous awards and continues to be a culinary leader in Iowa!
W.VinZant Restaurants acquired Gram & Dun during the dark days of the pandemic with what we’ll call a confident, if not insanely enthusiastic, belief that the world would get past Covid. It was daunting. Even for this premier location overlooking Brush Creek and south Country Club Plaza, there were few passers bye and little hope for a thriving restaurant.
Years later, we have developed an all star team at this flagship location. Culinary and service are carefully articulated with seasonal menus and fresh features consistently setting the standard on the Plaza. A seasonal cocktail or signature ‘Smoking Dun’ on the patio at Gram and Dun is a Kansas City must do!
Va Bene is a throwback to the neighborhood Italian restaurant that everyone loves to dine in… Va Bene focuses on simple, rich culinary made from authentic ingredients. It checks the boxes:
Fresh housemade pastas and breads ✔️
Housemade Meatballs ✔️
Housemade (patiently) Sauces ✔️
Housemade Lemoncello and Cocktails ✔️
Extensive Wine Menu ✔️
Founded with a “late-night knock on her door,” Mary Zerngast discovered the reputation of her famous fried chicken recipe had spread far and wide, and so in 1942 she opened the door to Chicken Mary’s restaurant out of her country-side home near Pittsburg, Kansas. Mary’s chicken recipe has not changed since and is as delicious today as it was back then. The Chicken Mary’s reputation is now nationwide. (Check out more about Chicken Mary’s on the Food Network’s, “Battle of the Chicken Wars.”) In our opinion, there is no more craveable food then Mary’s fried onion rings, German potato salad and fried chicken! It’s worth the drive.
Whether you want to grab lunch or dinner with your family and friends, or a beer and a bite to eat while watching the game, or enjoy live entertainment late night, the BrewTop Pub & Patio accommodates you. Brewtop serves quality fare and a full bar including way too many beers on tap. Check out the Brewtop entertainment schedule and meet up with your friends for a fun night out and don’t forget to enjoy our rooftop patio and bar.
Who We Are
Meet the Team
Whitney Vinzant -
CEO
Whitney Vinzant
CEO
Corey Gonzalez -
COO
Corey has been Chief Operating Office for W VinZant Restaurants since November 2009.
Corey strategically focuses his passion of driving a unique dining experience that focuses on every guest every time. Corey believes the best marketing happens within your walls and this has led to a combined fourteen regional restaurants in counting. Corey graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver in 2004, with a degree in Marketing. Prior to joining Louie’s Wine Dive, Gonzalez worked as the Senior Account Executive for The International PGA Golf Tournament and Colorado AvidGolfer magazine where he sold corporate hospitality and advertising on behalf of numerous national brands. Corey is married to his wife Angie and currently has two daughters Gia and Ivy, and a son Cruz.
Corey Gonzalez
COO
Kristene King Thrall -
Chief Strategy Officer
Kristene has enjoyed a decades long career in hospitality holding every position in a restaurant. From designing cocktail menus as Bar Director to helping to create the pastry menu while being a Pastry Chef, she has become an expert in systems and operations. Kristene excels at improving costs and educating teams on sales success. She has led 100+ students to accreditation with the Court of Master Sommeliers and currently spearheads all training programs, HR and pop up concepts.
Kristene King Thrall
Chief Strategy Officer
Grecia Lucas -
Marketing Director
Grecia is the Marketing Director for W. Vinzant Restaurants and has worked in the restaurant industry for 15 years starting as a host. The marketing journey began in 2011 with BRGR Kitchen & Bar, Urban Table and Gram & Dun. Later joining W. Vinzant Restaurants in 2019.
Working with 8 brands and 14 restaurants in Kansas City, KCMO, Iowa, and St. Louis, ranging from casual to fine dining has allowed growth and development of skills in design, operations, App development, online ordering, website design, and so much more.
Family is a very important part of Grecia’s life, as well as baking, furniture restoration and interior design.
Grecia Lucas
Marketing Director
Cory White
Cory was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa and has over 15 years of restaurant experience in the greater Des Moines area. Cory enjoys his family and friends and specifically time spent together over homemade dinners and drinks. His love for hosting family and friends carries over to his career and passion for providing guests with a great dining experience centered on delicious food, cocktails and wine.
Cory White
Mikita Burton -
Social Media Director
Mikita Burton
Social Media Director
Jeff Thrall -
Regional Director
When not at work he enjoys travel, cooking and gardening with his amazing wife, Kristene.
Jeff Thrall
Regional Director
Thomas Pelkey -
Regional Chef
“For me, food is an expression of gratitude.” An evolution of how an ingredient was harvested from a certain pasture, body of water, or farmer, to get to my cutting board. Ending a result of a pleasant experience or memory for one another, brings contentment to my everyday life.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Thomas began developing an appreciation for food at a young age, growing up with a mother and father who privileged hunting & fishing. Also being able to and still to this day cherishing memories with his grandmother from Italian descent whose food is next to great, as the best restaurant in the world.
After graduating culinary school in 2012, Thomas worked his way through the kitchen at Story, while still trailing in some of Kansas City’s best restaurants. Thomas made a move to NYC after submitting a cover letter & resume to some of the countries / world’s best restaurants. Having worked in NYC for 3 months he spent time in the Michelin star kitchens of Le Bernardin, Per Se, Nomad, & Marea. After returning to Kansas City in 2013 he accepted the sous chef position back at Story & during that year the restaurant was nominated for its first James Beard award. Seven years of gaining a great deal of knowledge from mentor chef Carl Thorne Thomsen, Thomas made a positive career choice to join W. Vinzant Restaurants.
Thomas began working at Louie’s Wine Dive in 2017 gaining his first executive chef position. Upon Joining the restaurants of Vinzant, Thomas has worked his way up the realms, developing dishes and menus for other sister restaurants of Vinzant & gaining the title of Regional Chef for his KC market restaurants. After the purchase of Gram & Dun in 2020 Thomas had found a new home with the company, becoming executive chef for the iconic Kansas City restaurant.
Outside of the restaurants, Thomas enjoys spending most time with his wife and three children.Teaching his 3 boy’s sports, how to hunt and fish, just as his folks taught him. If he is not spending time with his family, he finds peace in his blind duck hunting, scouting for new hunting grounds, casting a fishing line, or just simply reading a book.
Thomas Pelkey
Regional Chef
