Sometimes you don’t want a reservation, a recipe, or a sink full of dishes – you just want comfort food, and you want it immediately. The kind of meal that feels like a hug minus the grocery list and the cleanup. That’s where Brandy Waterkotte comes in, part neighborhood mom, part comfort-food superhero – the kind of hero with macaroni and cheese powers.
On the corner of 18th and Oak, in a building that has quietly watched generations grow up, comfort food has come home. Table 18 Café & Catering opened about a month ago in the former Warner Cleaners location – a space longtime neighborhood residents still remember as Modern Dairy, the one-stop shop where kids grabbed ice cream, candy, and a little independence. For owner Brandy Waterkotte, opening a café here wasn’t just a business decision. It was a return.
“I grew up two blocks down,” Waterkotte said. “I was here two or three times a day as a kid. This was my childhood hangout.”
That history runs deep. Modern Dairy once served as a mini grocery store and neighborhood hub – a place where kids scraped together change for fudge bars and push pops before heading off to nearby tree houses. Those memories now live on inside Table 18, from the cheerful colors to the playful décor inspired by childhood imagination.
“My vision was always a tree in the corner,” she said. “When we were kids, we’d come here, get our candy, and then go sit in our tree houses. I wanted to bring that feeling back.”
From Asking for Food to Serving It
The idea for Table 18 didn’t arrive all at once. It started next door – literally at The Roost coffee shop.
Table 18 Café and The Roost coffee shop are connected in more ways than one, including an actual door between them. While customers might first notice the shared wall, the deeper connection is family. The coffee shop next door is owned by Waterkotte’s son, Ross Bartlett, and when he opened his doors, Brandy found herself spending more and more time there, helping out and listening.
And customers kept saying the same thing.
“Do you have food?” she said. “Especially the college kids.”
The question came up so often it started to feel less like small talk and more like a daily reminder. While drinks flowed easily, plans to add a drive-through were ultimately ruled out due to city ordinances and traffic near the nearby church. The city later approved 30-minute curbside parking, which helped – but coffee alone was never going to quiet a hungry crowd.
They wanted something more substantial to go with it.
That constant request, paired with Waterkotte’s lifelong connection to the neighborhood and her background in food, became the nudge she couldn’t ignore. What started as helping her son soon turned into something of her own, opening the door — quite literally — to Table 18 Café & Catering.
A Career Built Around the Table
Before opening Table 18, Brandy spent decades in the service industry – from bartending and serving to managing the Elks Lodge and later running operations and catering at the Corinthian Event Center.
“I learned I love doing food,” she said. “My catering really took off the last three years.”
But the physical demands of constant setup and teardown, paired with a desire to work for herself, eventually pushed her toward something new.
“My body couldn’t do it anymore,” she said. “And I realized I needed to be my own boss.”
Mom’s Recipes, Made for Right Now
The menu at Table 18 is rooted in family. Many recipes come straight from Brandy’s mother and grandmother – the kind of food that feels familiar before the first bite.
“My mom was a great cook,” she said. “Most of my recipes are from my mom and grandma – my grandma’s mac and cheese, my mom and grandma’s potato salad.”
That mac and cheese has become a standout, served in hearty bowls alongside soups, wraps, paninis, salads, and daily specials designed for quick comfort.
“I’m a comfort-food girl,” Brandy said. “Sometimes you’re just having a day, and you don’t want to wait. You want comfort food, and you want it now.”
It’s a concept that resonates, especially given the café’s location directly across from the college.
“These kids are homesick,” she said. “They miss mom’s cooking. This gives them a taste of home.”
Built by Family, Backed by Faith
Much of Table 18’s success, Brandy says, belongs to her husband, Michael Waterkotte, a union carpenter who helped build out the café almost entirely by hand.
“He built this whole place,” she said. “The kitchen, the counters – everything. It took seven months to open.”
Brandy has already outgrown the space and so with help from her husband’s hands, she is renovating an additional 1,000 square feet in the back for a second catering kitchen.
The building itself carries its own legacy. Former Modern Dairy owners Bob and Nancy Elliot lived above the building for decades. Bob Elliot passed away before the café opened, but Nancy still lives upstairs and shared memorabilia from the dairy’s past – including milk jugs and original photos – now displayed inside the café.
“I was sad Bob didn’t get to see the finished product,” Brandy said. “But I love that part of the building’s story gets to live on.”
Beyond family support, she credits her faith as a cornerstone of the café’s atmosphere.
“I attribute a lot of this to God,” she said. “That’s a big part of the comfort and love in this place.”
Modern Dairy memorabilia given to Brandy by the Elliot’s. Photo by Brittany Boll
What’s Next
Table 18 Café & Catering is located at 1741 Oak St. and is currently open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with expanded hours, including breakfast service, planned for the future. Brandy and Michael Waterkotte are also looking to add the right people to their team, including a cook who enjoys working the grill and someone with a passion for creating comfort food, managing the café’s grab-and-go cooler, and preparing homemade desserts. For more information, catering inquiries, or employment interest, call 217-779-2906 or visit www.table18catering.com.
Dining and Cooking