Amanda Davis and Aniedra Nichols Now Own Table 6

Denver stalwart Table 6, at 609 Corona Street, has been through a lot in its nineteen years, including the devastating loss of owner Aaron Forman, who died in February. The restaurateur had been a fixture in the dining scene for decades and was widely admired, and his sudden absence left a pall over the community. But on May 24, Table 6 general manager Amanda Davis and chef Aniedra Nichols made a welcome announcement: The two now own the place.

Although she became the restaurant’s chef in late 2020, Nichols’s friendship with Forman dated back around fifteen years; the two even cooked together at the James Beard House in 2015. Davis has worked at Table 6 for over a decade, and while the two women had not been co-workers prior to 2020, they'd met about a decade earlier through mutual friends.

Before Forman’s death, both Davis and Nichols, as well as several of Forman’s family members, had partial ownership stakes in the restaurant. After he passed, “his sister said it was a gift he would want us to have, and his siblings wanted no part of it. They didn’t feel like this was theirs to have," Nichols recalls.
"Table 6 has been really dear to my heart for many, many years now,” she says, adding that Davis had been there for much of its life. So the two purchased the Forman family’s ownership stakes, making the spot fully female-owned.

“I don’t hear much about women-owned restaurants. It’s sure nice to be alongside [Jen] Jasinski, Caroline [Glover] and Dana [Rodridguez],” says Nichols, citing the owners of Crafted Concepts restaurant group, Annette, and Work & Class and Super Mega Bien, respectively. The discussion about goals for women in the hospitality industry is still a bit limited, she adds: “I think for most of us [female] chefs who started out at the bottom and worked our way up in such a male-dominated industry, it’s never been about ownership. It’s just been about working alongside [men].”

While Nichols has been part-owner in restaurants over the years, this is the first one in which she’s been an equal partner. “This is on my own accord,” she says. “We’re able to do what we want without anyone having a second or third opinion. We’re doing whatever menu creatively we want to do.”
Other than regular seasonal menu changes, the new owners don’t plan to mix it up too much right now. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Nichols, who adds that longtime sommelier Evan Williams will continue in his role.

They are planning some summer events, though. On June 24, the restaurant’s parking lot will host a Pride party with bottomless food and drinks, drag queens and music. Friend John Chapman (of Lawrence & Larimer clothing boutique) has a young son who will be spinning tunes. “His son is eleven or twelve and is going to deejay,” laughs Nichols. “I guess he’s booked all through June.” (Get tickets to the party and find out what kids are listening to these days here.)

Table 6’s current menu includes a Chicago-style tater tot (an homage to Forman’s childhood home as well as to his predilection for always having tots on the menu), blue cheese bratwurst, roasted cod with green curry and soba noodles, and cumin-spiced flank steak with salsa verde — all examples of Nichols’s eclectic approach to cuisine.

“We want to get some fresh faces in there and let people know we don’t have plans to go anywhere," Nichols concludes.