Tara Almassi says that everyone she talked to told her that she should put Open Form, her cafe-wine bar-event space, on the ground floor of a building, like most businesses. Instead, she picked a location on the second story of a Capitol Hill building on Pike Street between Belmont and Summit. There’s not much in the way of signage outside — you might walk right by it even if you’re looking for it. And to get to it, you have to walk up a narrow staircase.
“This is what makes it so special – the experience of walking up the stairs and then having the space open up,” Almassi says.
The space does open up. It’s a single room, low-ceilinged but bright thanks to the large windows facing the street. During the day there’s chill, house-ish music coming from the big speakers on one side of the room, and a variety of tables, couches, even a couple low tables with cushions for seats. At any given moment there’s at least a half-dozen people working on laptops (including me, as I write this), plus a few friends catching up. The bar opposite the speakers serves pastries, coffee, wine, and matcha.
The floor cushions are one of several nods to Almassi’s Persian heritage (both of her parents are from Iran). Another is a refreshing watermelon and chia seed drink that’s a riff on sharbat, a traditional summer beverage. Open Form also offers Persian tea service, tea being a core element of Persian hospitality. “In Persian culture, they’re always drinking black tea, Ceylon tea,” says Almassi. “They drink it till midnight, and we can still sleep after drinking it. It's in our blood.”
In the evenings, Open Form puts those speakers to use by clearing out the center of the room, setting up a DJ rig, and hosting ticketed dance parties that can stretch into the late night. It also hosts private events, workshops — almost anything can happen here. It’s the kind of place Almassi loved when she lived in New York, she says, spaces that were bars or cafes or event spaces or somewhere in between. “They're not clearly defined, which I think creates a lot of curiosity for people,” she says. “And I kind of like not being put in a box.”
