Swift and Union Sets Opening Date For Mid-July

Tabor Tavern owners Ken "Zig" Naffzigger and Kristen Siefkin confirmed this week that their new 68-seat restaurant will open later this month.

Siefkin said they're still applying the finishing touches on Swift and Union's construction, but adds that if all goes the way it's supposed to, their first guests will get their first Swift and Union eats and drinks on July 13, a significant date for the couple—Tabor Tavern opened its doors on July 13, 2012.

Siefkin says Kentonites should expect a full bar, signature craft cocktails, a 10-tap Pacific Northwest-heavy rotating draft beer selection, and a modern Americana/Pacific Northwest menu courtesy of former Songbird Cafe executive chef Aaron Hepp-Buchanan.

For eats, think steak frites, mussels in a micheleda broth, niçoise salads, fish and chips, smoked ribs and a substantial roster of sandwiches for carnivores (including lamb burgers and salmon burgers) and vegetarians (smoked tofu sandwiches). There's a kids menu, too, and in the weeks ahead, lunch and weekend brunches will be offered, as well.

As for the decor, Siefkin says she's contracted Richard Rolfe and Jake France of downtown Portland's Boys Fort, who have designed the space with a cattle-centric motif as a way to honor the neighborhood's distant past—the Swift in Swift and Union is a nod to the long-defunct Swift Meat Packing Company, while the Union nods to the equally defunct Union Stock Yards.

Swift and Union, 8103 N Denver Ave.; Opening hours: 4 to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday and 4 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with lunch and weekend brunch services rolling out in the coming weeks