Zach Rivera and Christina Chae
Golden Years, Moonflower, and Nightshade | Chicago
SEPTEMBER 2024
In his early 20s, Zach Rivera was living the dream, traveling across the country as a trainer for the Colorado Rockies. Over time, however, he started to have doubts about the path he had chosen. In the offseason, Rivera returned to his hometown of Chicago and, inspired by memories of barbacking in Spain during college, decided to pick up a few shifts at a local bar. When the season started up again, Rivera knew that he needed to make a change. He quit his job and accepted a barbacking position at a Chicago bar-arcade. Over the next six years, he rose to beverage director while learning what it takes to run a high-volume bar. It was there that he also met future business partners Marvin Boeving and Christina Chae.
Chae was introduced to hospitality at a young age while working at her mom’s nail salon. She went on to study psychology in college while working in bars and restaurants on the side. Soon, her love of hospitality overtook her interest in psychology, and she committed to the industry full-time. Chae, alongside Boeving, joined Rivera’s team, and moved her way up to bar manager. She traveled down to Nashville to open another bar-arcade for the group and, while there, spent time working at small, independently owned bars, falling in love with the warm, inviting spaces. Back in Chicago, Chae took on a bartending position at Celeste while the three of them started to discuss building a spot of their own.
In 2021, they opened their cozy neighborhood bar, Moonflower. Six months later, they introduced their second concept, Nightshade, a moodier counterpart to Moonflower that offers experimental cocktails for more adventurous guests. In November 2023, Rivera and Chae went out on their own to open Golden Years in Chicago's busy West Town. At the 70s-themed bar, the duo has crafted a menu of crushable, 70s-inspired cocktails and, at Moonflower, they place a priority on programming, hosting pop-ups and a “book fair” with graphic novels and art from a local comic book store. Rivera and Chae are bringing their years of leadership experience and cocktail knowledge to their future concepts as well, building exciting, accessible community hubs across Chicago.
