Erin Allen: Good afternoon. I'm Erin Allen and this is The Rundown. 

So New Year's Day is nearly here, which means Capricorns and Aquarians, it's about to be January again. Some folks look forward to the first month of the year, not because it's their birthday, but because they have a reason to take a break from a fun but yet often harmful habit: drinking alcohol. Dry January actually originated in the United Kingdom in 2013 as a way to not only drink less, but also be more mindful when you drink. Since then it's gotten popular across the western world. Whether you abstain from drinking in January, or you're basically never drinking, you might still want that bar atmosphere. And not drinking alcohol doesn't mean you don't like trying delicious concoctions. If that resonates, Cristina Torres created a bar just for you: The Bendición Dry Bar and bottle shop, over on Division near Western in Humboldt Park. And she's here today. Christina, welcome.

Cristina Torres: Hi, Erin. Thanks for having me.

Erin Allen: Thanks for being here. So tell me a little bit about why you started Bendición.

Cristina Torres: So I got sober in February of 2020. And during that time, it was pretty hard for me to be in a space that revolved around alcohol. Living in Chicago, which is a city that there is a bar next to a bar next to a bar, it was just like a bad time in my life. And I basically, it was like, well, there's nowhere for me to hang out right now, like most cafes closed at like five, you know, restaurants, pair everything with alcohol, there's nowhere for me to go. So I'm just going to make it myself. And thinking about what it is that I wanted out of a space helps me create the space for other people, because this bar and bottle shop is for other people more than it is for myself. It's just to create that space for other people to come when they don't have anywhere else to go. Even if they're just not drinking for the night.

Erin Allen: Yeah, I also find that whenever someone's wanting to go out on a date, or just have, you know, like an intimate one on one time. It's like, yeah, we'll grab a drink. And I'm like, can we grab a tea?

Cristina Torres: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and there was a study recently, I honestly don't remember which dating app it was, was probably like OKCupid or something, that they released an article saying that like a lot of younger people, now when they go on dates are not going to bars anymore, because they want to be present during their dates. And they want to get to know the person. So they go to like parks or museums, or hopefully there's a dry bar in their area, not just let's all have drinks. You know, I talk over drinks, but it's just a fun, present thing to do. And you're aware of what you're saying.

Erin Allen: So as you mentioned, Chicago is a drinking city. Bars, upon bars upon bars, and it can be tough for folks who made the decision to no longer engage in drinking. So tell me about the type of community with that social component that you're really trying to build with, with Bendición.

Cristina Torres: The atmosphere and the vibe that we're trying to create is that it is safe to be here and be yourself. And you don't have to drink to be more social to be you know, more hyper, to be somebody that you're not. Somebody that you become when you're drinking a lot. For me, for example, I was very rude, and very mean to people. And so what we're trying to do is create the space where we have like game nights and we have Tarot reading nights and like queer, sober socials where people can come and just meet other sober people and just start that conversation with like, people you don't know. Because a lot of time in sobriety, it's very isolating, especially in the first couple of months. All of the events are focused around like how to help people in those early stages of not drinking.

Erin Allen: Tell me about the name Bendición. What does it mean and how did you come to that?

Cristina Torres: Bendición means blessing in Spanish. My family is half Puerto Rican, half Mexican. My grandmother is from Puerto Rico. And there. A lot of times what they do when you're leaving, visiting your family or visiting elders, is they give you your Bendiciónes. So they give you their blessing. The way that they use it is generally like a religious thing. I do not consider it a religious thing in my mind or in my recovery process. I don't consider the space religious in any way or anything like that. But the reason I named the bar and space that is because it is to honor my grandparents. They both have passed at this point and they were really important figures in my life. Also to me like, my sobriety is a blessing from whoever or whatever. And I like to think of this space as a blessing for sober people or people who are just not drinking, that this is a safe space in a city full of alcohol.

Erin Allen: You know, that's really dope too, because one of my friends who is sober now, who was dealing, who is dealing with alcoholism, you know, he said, going through AA, it can be a very, you know, religion focused space to be in. And so yeah, to be able to go somewhere, that yeah, has the name blessing, but is not focused on, you know, a religious practice can be really, you know, a nice safe haven.

Cristina Torres: Yeah, for sure. And I also still occasionally go to like AA meetings and things and the religious aspect of that is a hard thing. And it's something that kind of keeps some people away from being in the program or something that they struggle with within the program. And so I'm glad that you mentioned this, because one of the important parts about the space is that it is for people in any level of sobriety or in recovery or anything like that. I keep using the word safe. I know that like spaces can't be 1,000% safe. But this is a space where people can come and just be sober together, regardless of like, how you're approaching your sobriety.

Erin Allen: Yeah. And it isn't anything against religion. I just want to make that clear like, if you are a religious person, great, that works for you. But as you said, it's great that it's like, regardless of which values identify. So yeah, I mean, when I think about a person who isn't drinking, what comes to mind for me often is not like, oh, how long? You know, what are the reasons I think usually, like, it's usually they're dealing with addiction, or they have a religion, they're practicing a religion that prohibits it. But I know that you talk about there being a lot of reasons why a person may be abstaining from drinking alcohol. And I'd love to hear what are some of the ones that you've come across?

Cristina Torres: Yeah, for sure. I think that's one of my favorite things about the - let's say the movement, the movement right now, is that we are entering a space of a gray area in sobriety, where I feel like years previous, it was very black and white, it was either you cannot drink because you are an alcoholic, or you do drink and you're a fun person. And I feel like now we're entering like this gray area of like, I just, I'm sober-curious, and I just want to know what my life is like when I'm not drinking, I want to know like who I am when I'm not drinking. There's people who for health reasons, like you mentioned, like they either are on medication, they are going through a pregnancy, they are healing from a surgery or anything like that. So people who are like training for marathons, people who are working out, there's so many reasons why people are not drinking, or like choosing not to drink for that week or that night or, you know, forever. That I think it's becoming a little more normal now that when people say I'm not drinking tonight, it's not like this huge thing of like, oh my God, what's wrong? Are you pregnant? Like what's happening? And it's more like, okay, like, that's cool. Which I'm happy about. Because it's awkward to be like, I'm an alcoholic, like, no to over at a bar like, why I'm not drinking.

Erin Allen: Any advice for people who are looking to stop drinking, whether it's for the first time, the 10th time, first for the night?

Cristina Torres: I guess my biggest piece of advice, or a welcome into exploring sobriety is, and people say it all the time, but it's you're not alone. And it's super true. Like, there are so many sober people, and so many people who are just like just not drinking for the night, or just, you know, taking a break. I think that starting to branch out and find other people that you can relate to or other people that you can talk to about this journey is extremely helpful, and I think really important. And then stock your fridge with a ton of like seltzer waters, and just like sparkling coffees and stuff like that. And then getting a journal. It sounds super goofy. Some people are just like whatever about it. But writing everything down, that I was going through writing down my feelings, writing down, why I'm angry, why I'm upset, why I'm happy. Just finding a healthy way to express your feelings and express what it is that you've been trying to avoid by drinking. I think it's probably bigger than everything else I've said.

Erin Allen: Wow. That sounds like some really helpful advice. All of this was so helpful. Cristina Torres is the founder of Bendición Dry Bar and bottleshop over on Division near Western in Humboldt Park. Cristina, thank you so much.

Cristina Torres: Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for having me.

Erin Allen: And that's it for The Rundown today. Before I go, that study Cristina mentioned was actually from the dating app, Bumble, which reported that 54% of single people are being more mindful about how they date, which they say has affected their drinking habits. Interesting. 

Big thanks to Justin Bull who helped produce this episode and Katie O'Connell, who helped edit as well as Ariel Van Cleave who is the show editor. And FYI, we're taking Monday off too because - Happy New Year! I'll be back early Tuesday morning. I'm Erin Allen and I'll talk to you then.

WBEZ transcripts are generated by an automatic speech recognition service. We do our best to edit for misspellings and typos, but mistakes do come through.