Blend.Co will function as a coffee shop, cocktail bar and event space. Located at 2246 Larimer Street, it is celebrating its official grand opening on Friday, September 12 with a ceremonial ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. followed happy hour specials until 9 p.m. including $4 draft beer, $6 Mile High Spirit cocktails, $2 off house red and white wine, $5 chips and dip, $7 half orders of charcuterie nachos, and $8 pickled veggies or chips and salsa.
Happy hour will normally be available from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Blend.Co's 7,000 square foot building formerly housed Attimo Wine's production facility and tasting room, as well as a short-lived event space, Magnolia, and the Brickfire BBQ & Seafood pop-up. Featherston, along with Suzy Ayotte and Anna Wright, met last November as co-workers on the development side of Magnolia, but received word in January that the project had filed for bankruptcy.
"We all unfortunately lost our jobs on a Friday. That Saturday, we wrote a business plan, and the following Monday, we pitched the landlord," says Featherston.
Luckily, the landlord was their previous employer, Snooze co-founder and Attimo owner John Schlegel, who loved their idea and agreed to hold the space for them until May, allowing the team enough time to secure money from investors. Although he's not an investor, Schlegel provides mentorship to the trio. "He is our biggest fan and number one supporter," says Featherston, noting that Blend.Co will be exclusively serving Attimo wine and happens to be located next door to the original Snooze.
Blend.Co is opening with a cocktail focus and will soon add full coffee service to its lineup.
c/o Blend.Co
The dream team had all fallen in love with the neighborhood during their time there, meeting neighbors and other business owners. The experience made them realize that they wanted to remain and help change the neighborhood. "Ballpark is a little neighborhood in a big city," says Featherston. "People who work here are not driving from the suburbs." So the trio decided to stay with one goal in mind: to give the community a third space that serves many functions.
"We wanted to create a space where neighbors can meet other people in the community — a space to really bring everyone together in one centralized location that isn’t typical table service; a space that is designed for the guests to stay," says Featherston.
In addition to building a cafe and seating area, the second floor was turned into a private dining room that can host up to eighty guests for plated dinners or buffet-style happy hours, yoga classes and more. The outdoor patio alone offers 5,000 additional square feet, and the industrial basement that served as wine storage will become a speakeasy space called the Cellar. Attimo production has moved to Stem Ciders in Longmont, freeing up even more space for a kitchen.
Director of cuisine Nathanael Anderson dreamt up the food offerings, which include new American-style light bites made with locally sourced, fresh ingredients such as charcuterie nachos, crab cakes and chips and dip. In addition, pastries from Rebel Bread, overnight oats, and breakfast burritos from Bonfire Burritos round out the menu. Coffee will come from Astro, with cold brew options from Sati.
Because the team is still waiting for a custom-painted espresso machine from La Marzoco to arrive, the plan is to kick things off with the cocktail side of the operation, a plan dubbed "cocktails come first." Signature cocktails heavily feature coffee, like a Cinnamon Toast-Tini and a coffee Old Fashioned. Cold brew will be available as well and full coffee service should start in about a month. When that launches, Blend.Co will also expand its hours to open at 7 a.m. daily.
Blend.Co is located at 2246 Larimer Street and is currently open from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 4 to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit blendcolorado.com.
