Witold Szczepaniak will put his 16 years of experience importing “the best beers of Europe” with a new pub and bottle shop project in the heart of Broadway that has seemingly popped open out of nowhere on Capitol Hill.

“I was hoping to keep it a little quiet, you know,” Szczepaniak told CHS as we talked to the importer earlier this week about his plans to open Euro Pub on Broadway sandwiched between Phoenix Comics and the Perfect Copy shop just down from Dick’s Drive-In.

“We’ll have European snacks,” Szczepaniak said, “But the beer is most important.”

Szczepaniak’s plan is to transform a former Broadway bodega into a European beer room and bottle shop as an outgrowth of his Eastside-headquartered importation business. He also opened Browar Polska, a tasting room version of his concept in SoDo.

At Euro Pub, the buildout is underway with a mid to late-March target to create a pub with “at least 10 taps,” and bottle coolers with beer for sale. Growlers will be filled. Good times will flow.
“It’s an idea that has been in the back of my head,” Szczepaniak said. “We need to educate people about the really good beer and thousands of years of history.”

There is no Euro Pub web site or Facebook page yet so stay tuned to CHS for details.

Thanks to Ella for the tip!

Capitol Hill food+drink notes

• Outer Planet has been busily brewing on 12th Ave. Friday, you can start drinking:
• So, where will Torchlight Alley — “A new theater/cabaret space coming soon to Seattle’s Capitol Hill” be?
• Chophouse Row and its hotly anticipated array of new food and drink offerings appears to have also nailed down a key ingredient to success: a tech office tenant. We hear rumors of a “March 1” opening for the delayed building. Still sorting out what that means for the menagerie of food and drink tenants.
• The 2015 James Beard Foundation award nominations are out. Seattle Times calls them pretty much what you’d expect except one dude on Orcas Island. Seattle Met calls frequent nominee Ethan Stowell a “Beardsmaid.” Here are the Capitol Hill-related names on the 2015 list:
  Outstanding Chef: Holly Smith, Cafe Juanita (Currently popped-up in the former home of Lark on 12th Ave)
  Outstanding Bar Program: Canon (What’s it mean to be home to the 6th best bar in the world?)
  Outstanding Restaurateur: Ethan Stowell Restaurants
  
  Best Chef: Northwest
  Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins (Renee Erickson sets sail on Capitol Hill project)
  Nathan Lockwood, Altura (Altura debuts)
  Garrett Melkonian, Mamnoon (Celebrating two years on Capitol Hill, Mamnoon’s Middle Eastern cuisine thrives on a transforming Melrose block)
  Jason Stratton, Spinasse (Spinasse expands, Artusi at side)
  Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule (First look: Completing the overhaul of a Capitol Hill auto row building, Trove ‘fourplex’ debuts on E Pike)
• Congratulations 2015 Seattle Pride Parade grand marshals, Wildrose owners Martha Manning and Shelley Brothers.
• On the *other* Capitol Hill, big beer is battling small beer over taxes.
• “Why many restaurants don’t actually want you to order dessert“
• So much for that $15 minimum wage:
• More beer: Cafe Barjot will host Standard Brewing for a beer dinner in March.
• “Fine dining in a neighborhood bar-like milieu” — Seattle Times on Single Shot.
• “Street food is in danger of becoming a cliché, it’s true, but this exciting new restaurant reminds us why it’s so utterly addictive.“
• The guy who owns Bellevue Ave E’s The Lookout also owns Belltown’s The Lost Pelican.
• From the Montana + Kedai Makan playbook, Monica Dimas and Neon Taco are now rocking Nacho Borracho on Broadway.
• Ms. Helen reportedly set to return to 23rd and Union.
• Chop Suey will reopen in March with a new lounge and second stage — The Den.
• Sunday, customers and friends said goodbye to the Arabica Lounge. No word yet on what’s next for the E Olive Way space.
• John John’s Game Room is getting a new owner, still rocking the pinball.
• This artist’s work can be found on the walls at Sun Liquor, Sun Liquor Distillery, Tavern Law, Top Pot Doughnuts, Zeitgeist Coffee, Mamnoon, Zhu Dang, Bait Shop, Stout… and, now, Monsoon.
• Shhhh, I-5 Shores! Your bartending neighbor is sleeping!
• Here’s why Evening Magazine was at Lost Lake.
• It’s back:
  

  Tomorrow begins the week of the #TopPotBurger ft. a @Toppot donut, marshmallow creme, bacon, cheddar & peanut butter! pic.twitter.com/VGiQFQIrin

  — Lil Woodys (@lilwoodys) February 16, 2015