Rapport’s wine taps will not rest
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Neighbors and regulars of a popular nearby hangout that suddenly went dark to start the year on North Broadway are jumping into the wine business and reviving the space.
Nomadic Wine Dispensary will open soon in the former home of “self-pour” wine bar Rapport. Owners and first-time hospitality entrepreneurs Bonnie Donovan and Tim Sale say they weren’t looking to become part of Capitol Hill’s food and drink economy but could not bear to see the comfortable cafe space go empty.
Nomadic plans to embrace and extend Rapport’s 80 self-pour tap system to make drinking wine — and hanging out — at Broadway and Roy accessible and educational while also making the space even more comfy and more of a night focused lounge with soft couches, lower tables, a refined food menu, and a new blue-hued paint job.
CHS reported here in January on the “closed indefinitely” status of Rapport as owner and founder David Clawson had to step away from the just over four-year-old business. Rapport had carved a popular, roomy hangout out of a former Starbucks concept cafe on North Broadway.
While they maintain their busy careers in tech, Donovan and Sale want to keep that neighborhood spirit alive. Donovan lives nearby and said she talked with Clawson about the closure plans and his hopes for someone to take over the business. Now the new owners are part of the neighborhood in a whole new way.
Donovan says lots of neighbors and regulars have stopped by to poke their heads in and share in the excitement of the space going back into motion.
Not everything is unbridled, first-time enthusiasm. Donovan said she and Sale are keeping things simple with a focus on early evening and night hours. Nomadic, in the beginning at least, won’t open for morning coffee and cafe service.
With the self-pour concept continuing, Nomadic will also be a part of changes in the Capitol Hill food and hospitality industry as owners find new strategies to keep up with the spiraling costs of rent, goods, and workers. CHS reported here on the latest “un-staffed” addition to the Hill as Portland’s SOMA Kombucha opened a new taproom on E Pike.
At Nomadic, the hangout will be ready for North Broadway nights. If everything goes to plan, by the end of April, the Nomadic wine taps will be flowing, there will be beer and cocktails for those who prefer, tapas, Tuscan sandwiches, blue walls, and comfy couches.
Nomadic Wine Dispensary will open “April-ish” at 700 Broadway E. Follow @nomadic_wines for updates.
HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE THIS SPRING
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🦢🐑🌞🌻
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍
