By Shelley Widhalm

The Surveyor

Before the owners of Jo To Go purchased Da Bean Coffee House, they already had a name for their new coffee shop.

Berthoud residents Tiffany Heywood and her daughter, Amanda Thorstensen, just didn’t want to tell anybody — or at least until remodeling was well underway and they could rebrand the sit-down coffee shop alongside their drive-through location, in business for 23 years.

Kô-fē House, which had the signs up as of March 27, will open April 15 at 434 Mountain Ave., with the tagline, “breakfast, lunch and other good stuff.” The signs went up two days later for Kô-fē Drive-Thru, 429 Meadowlark Drive.

“I’m excited to be the middle of town and engaged with everything. Here I can wave at people through the window,” Thorstensen said.

Heywood came up with the name of both locations when she looked up the word “coffee” in the dictionary and liked the look of its phonetic spelling, “kô-fē.” She added the word house, but this was before she and Thorstensen purchased the business from Jennifer Harris, who closed Da Bean on Jan. 25.

Heywood and Thorstensen originally had planned to open Kô-fē House on March 1, but the remodeling project took longer than expected due to the involvement of the project. They removed the carpeting and tile and put in vinyl plank flooring and repainted the interior in purple to go with Jo To Go’s signature color, adding two accent colors of blue and gray.

“We want to get to know everyone and show them what took us so long,” Thorstensen said.

Thorstensen and Heywood made a few other changes. They tiled, painted and updated the bathrooms, replaced the grill, updated the lighting and speaker system, and painted the tables, plus opened up the two main rooms to show off the architecture and high ceilings. They also refinished the countertop, bringing attention to the original corrugated steel.

“As a whole, coming up with this look, it all came together in pieces,” Thorstensen said, adding she and Heywood wanted to achieve a look that is comfortable and welcoming.

To add to the existing furnishings Thorstensen and Heywood bought and refurbished used furniture and other items, and built some of their own pieces, including a U-shaped bench with handmade gray cushions and wainscoting around the base they installed.

“I can’t believe how much it has changed,” Heywood said.

Heywood and Thorstensen plan to remodel the drive-through this summer, including repainting and replacing the roof, plus increasing seating on the patio from six to 18.

“We want the association to be obvious between the two,” Thorstensen said.

The menu at Kô-fē House will feature a full line of coffee and espressos, featuring blends from Café Richesse Coffee Roasters in Fort Collins, the brand they serve at their drive-through. There will be caffeine-free drinks, such as Italian sodas, regular sodas, hot chocolate, smoothies, an assortment of teas and chai tea lattes, and a dozen specialty drinks in hot, iced or frappe with names like Amethyst, Snow White, Aspen, Sea Turtle and Unicorn.

On the food side, the menu will include traditional breakfast foods, bowls and loaded toast, and for lunch, sandwiches, salads and sides, plus a few gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan items. There will be baked goods, too, such as muffins, bagels, scones, cookies and a specialty carrot cake, using the recipe Da Bean had used and that came with the business. Food will be ordered at the counter and served sit-down style.

Some of Da Bean’s offerings will carry over to the Kô-fē House, including the monthly featured artist, launching with Berthoud photographer Don Ashcraft.

“I’m a big fan of art in general,” Heywood said. “It’s really a nice thing you can do for the community to support the people that do creative things.”

Da Bean’s open mic will continue the first Saturday of the month, Coffee with the Mayor the first Tuesday, and Coffee with a Cop the third Thursday. Suggestions are accepted, too, such as for game nights, poetry readings and book signings. There will be a Little Free Library bookshelf with books to take or leave and a kids table with games and coloring books.

The coffee shop will be open 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. To contact the shop, call 970-344-5391 or visit kofeberthoud.com. The grand opening will feature free drinks and samples of the carrot cake.  

“Come out and try it. You won’t regret it,” Thorstensen said. “You can come to a happy, welcoming loving place that serves great, high-quality coffee, and you can make new friends.”