Bread & Butter Bodega, run by gal pals Amanda Dunham and Meredith Zelenka, is an upcoming neighborhood market for Curtis Park at 1160 26th Street.
The neighborhood, which bumps up against the RiNo district known for its trendy breweries and eateries, is rated as a food desert. This, essentially, means that it’s an area with a lower-income rate where a substantial amount of residents don’t have easy access to a supermarket or large grocery store.
That stat paved way for the idea of Bread & Butter. The ladies running the store actually live in the building it’s attached to. “Living our day-to-day lives, we just knew there needed to be fresh food available nearby,” Dunham told What Now Denver on Tuesday. “After plenty of conversations, we just decided to open something ourselves.”
The idea started taking serious form last summer, and as of now, the biggest holdup is the City of Denver’s building permit process. While Dunham and Zelenka have filed for one, they’re awaiting the final verdict.
“Our contractor is expecting our permits to finally go through any day now,” Dunham says. “They resubmitted some of the final questions. We should be able to move pretty quickly once we get them.”
With that in mind, they’re hopeful for an October 2021 opening.
“Some people think of ‘bodega’ and have different thoughts about ‘grocery’ vs. ‘Sandwich counter,” Dunham continues. “We are going to be grocery-focused. We will be able to sell beer and hard seltzer, as well, and we’re really excited about that.”
As stated on the website, this will truly be a project of and for the community.
