We were crazy enough to get into this restaurant business in the first place, and then held on for dear life as the economy went to hell. After a year and a half of the hardest and most fulfilling work of our lives, we’ve come to the realization that:
1) you have to sell a heck of a lot of $4.50 kati rolls to make a living for two families in San Francisco; and
2) it’s time to spread the gospel for simple, fresh homestyle Indian food to other parts of the City.
So…we’re doubling down and opening our second Kasa location (dubbed K2) in the Marina next month!
The space is at 3115 Fillmore Street (b/t Union & Lombard) and is a little bigger than K1. We’re converting the space from an old furniture store, so the permitting, design and construction process has been intense. (K2 “Coming Soon” sign)
We kept things really really simple at K1 with a handful of dishes and a clean aesthetic so that we could focus on making amazing food from scratch every day, and we plan to keep the Heart of Kasa the same at K2.
Of course, we have some twists that we’re adding this time around, most notably: late night weekend hours (open til 2am Thursday thru Saturdays) and pitchers of beer and Sangria, but mainly we don’t want to mess with a good thing.
So…tell your friends, help us spread the word, and as always let us know your comments and brilliant ideas.
Deepa Mehta? I’d never heard her name until Saturday night just gone (though I’d seen her controversial movies Water and Fire). I guess she may never know just how exhausted she got us all at Kasa.
Our naivety as first time restaurant owners shows up despite the leaps and bounds we’ve made learning the trade. The Asian American Film Festival (of which we were totally unaware) with Deepa Mehta’s new movie Heaven on Earth drew in crowds with lines out the door at Kasa. We were perfectly well staffed up for a normal Saturday night, but multiply that by 3 and craziness ensued. Our entire crew worked like super heroes, bringing out food, rolling Kati Rolls, washing silverware, bussing tables, taking deliveries and pouring out drinks all at the speed of lightening.
At one point our roti stock was totally depleted…it is hand made after all! The panic in all of us struck in. That’s when I started to make frantic calls to Tim and Suresh for HELP. I’m not sure what kind of crazy babysitting arrangements were made between them, but soon thereafter Tim swooped in to save the day. All in all, it was a lot of fun though, and the entire work crew bonded.
Needless to say we researched the festival and were well prepared for the Sunday night showing at the Castro of Shah Rukh Khan’s movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Things were fast, furious, buzzing yet SMOOTH.
Lesson learned: know the events going on in the Castro really well. I’m Indian though…how did I not hear about these movies? I really want to watch the Deepa Mehta movie. Someday when I have a little time.
Anamika
