The Table Top Tasting Room
Craft beer and fine food coming to 22nd and Oneida Street this November
By Erin Vanderberg, Editor
A beer-loving homebrewer and a green-thumbed foodie are opening up the kind of hang out they have been wishing for since they moved into the area in 2005.
Doctors Dipesh Amin and Sita Kedia, a husband and wife team, are currently renovating the Colorado Contemporary Dance Arts studio space at 2230 Oneida Street, which will open in November as The Table Top Tasting Room.
“We’ve kicked around the idea of opening a tasting room for several years,” said Dipesh.
An avid bike commuter who pedals between home and the Skyline Medical Center or the Anschutz Medical Campus, Dipesh has yearned for a place to have a beer and conversation before heading home via the Montview Boulevard bike path. Last year, a trip to Germany and Belgium solidified the vision.
“We were there, enjoying beer, food, atmosphere and the warm gathering of people who were having conversations with their neighbors, and we decided we had to open our own place with that same kind of ambience,” said Dipesh.
They began looking for locations in a few mile radius from their home and kept coming to the Oneida Street location, which offered prime Park Hill real estate, front patio space and even garden space to the south.
“What I want to create here is a place where you don’t watch television,” said Dipesh. “You converse with a friend or neighbor or meet someone new.”
Sita, whose family owned a local chain of video stores when she was growing up, welcomed the idea of creating a business of her own with that one-of-a-kind family-owned feel.
“It was wonderful being at my family’s business, even for just a couple of hours a night,” said Sita. “I still treasure that experience, so that’s another thing that draws us back to having a business of our own.”
Sita and Dipesh started dating at the University of Colorado Medical School, wed in 2008 and just celebrated their five year anniversary. Sita is a physician at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and is also the vice president of a nonprofit health organization, the Anthropedia Foundation. The tasting room will be their first “baby.”
While Sita travels extensively for work, she will be at the Table Top as much as her schedule allows, and has her focus set on creating and sustaining a vibrant indoor and outdoor space. Dipesh, in the meantime, plans to be on duty at the tasting room every day. He jokes that it will provide him a “work-work balance.”
They are also partnering with Joe Sykora, Dipesh’s college roommate, who owns Sticks and Stone Woodworkers, a remodeling business out of Boulder. Joe brings design and contracting expertise to the project, including the handcrafted bar and tables.
The building is undergoing a dramatic renovation to allow for the type of ambience the group is trying to create. A new enclosed entrance will lead patrons in through the northwest corner of the building. The bar will be built around a floor-to-ceiling cooler, covered with stone, on the south side of the building. There will be dedicated communal tables, with a phase two plan to open out onto a beer garden to the south. The central feature of the room is a fireplace, where Dipesh envisions chilly cyclists warming up, beer in hand, on their way home from work.
The bar will highlight Colorado beers, as well as national and international craft beers. Colorado taps they have in mind include Copper Kettle, Our Mutual Friend, Wits End, Renegade, Upslope, Oskar Blues, Ska, Odell, Avery, Great Divide, Dry Dock and Station 26. The national craft beer list will rotate beers from breweries like Stone (San Diego), Jolly Pumpkin (Traverse City, MI), Shmaltz (Clifton Park, NY), Flying Dog (Frederick, MD), Dogfish Head (Lewes, DE), Ommegang (Cooperstown, NY), Allagash (Portland, ME), and more. The international selection will focus on their beloved Belgian ales from breweries like Chimay, Duvel, Orval, Westmalle and Westvleteren, as well as a collection of wild and sour ales. A wine list will also be available. A specialty cocktail list, and attendant full bar, is in the works later down the road.
“We want to be able to cater to all different types of crowds, not just beer lovers,” said Sita.
Dipesh, a ten-year homebrewer, has the advantage of being friendly with several beer experts, including Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, Andy Parker, one of the brewmasters of Avery Brewing and Henry Woods, founding partner of Upslope Brewery, all of whom he’s consulted with about his new venture.
On the cuisine front, the couple has teamed up with chef Elizabeth Gibb, formerly the executive chef at the City Club of the Historic Highland Building and the assistant chef at the Beehive Restaurant in Boulder, to work on a food-pairing menu that will compliment the beers, wines and specialty cocktails soon to be on tap. Amongst the tacos, sandwiches, salads and small plates, as well as gluten-free and vegan offerings, Elizabeth also specializes in pickling and charcuterie.
“Fermented food with fermented drinks!” exclaimed Dipesh. “The great thing about our menu is that it fits the needs of our tasting menu. Small bites, full entrees and dessert, all while trying to keep things at a reasonable rate and kid-friendly. We hope to expand the menu in the near future.”
Their fellow shop owners on Oneida are eager to have them on the block. Tony Uva of Allegra’s Pizza and Rob McKendry of Park Hill Skates were at their liquor license hearing to lend their support.
“They want this place to be vitalized and open to traffic so that everyone can benefit,” said Dipesh.
So do the neighbors. Sita and Dipesh did the door-to-door signature gathering for support themselves.
“We wanted the message about what our place was going to be delivered directly from us – and we wanted to meet the neighbors,” said Dipesh. “Almost everyone was like, ‘Wow, this is going to be really cool!’”
Once the operation is up and running, Dipesh has plans to offer beer education at the Table Top with events like “Meet the Brewer” and even a homebrew competition.
The multi-talented duo are fully funding their venture with the intent of creating strong roots on the block.
“There have been a lot of enticing opportunities for us to leave Colorado,” said Sita. “But none as enticing as staying in Colorado.”
The Table Top Tasting Room expects to open its doors in November. Follow its progress at tabletopdenver.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/tabletopdenver.