Three Valley locals are making their way to Glenwood Springs to open a Nepalese restaurant and bring a little bit of home into their hearts and those of the community. Himalayan Cuisine, located at 115 6th Street, opens for business this weekend.
Krishna Thapa and Devika Gurung met in their home country of Nepal about 15 years ago. Both have businesses in tourism there — Gurung as a yoga teacher and healer and Thapa as a mountaineering guide. They both lived in the same town, Pokhara.
Gurung came to Carbondale ahead of Mountain Fair weekend in 2016 and, of course, couldn’t help but fall in love with the place. Thapa has been in the Valley since 2011.
Ranjan Karki grew up in Kathmandu and came to the Valley just a few years ago. He studied hospitality in Nepal and moved to Aspen to work at the St. Regis. After being here a while and not meeting anyone from Nepal, he became homesick. In conversation, a coworker told him that he knew another man from Nepal, Thapa. Karki jumped at the opportunity to meet someone from home.
“I was so mesmerized at that moment because I hadn’t seen a single guy from Nepal for the first month I was here,” Karki told The Sopris Sun. Gurung echoed his sentiment, “When I first moved here, I missed so much seeing Nepali people.”
They each have a lot of love for the Roaring Fork Valley community. Gurung brought up that in 2015, following a catastrophic earthquake in Nepal, their friends and family here rallied to donate a significant chunk toward the recovery.
The food will be authentic Nepalese cuisine, whereas, according to Gurung, many Himalayan restaurants’ dishes tend to have an Indian influence. Their goal is to use organic and non-GMO ingredients.
“In Nepal there are lots of ethnicities and each different region has their own dish,” stated Gurung. “We don’t have to introduce all of that, but there are so many foods that are unknown [here].”
Glenwood seemed like a good fit because of tourism traffic, and with a 10 year lease they plan to be around to reap the benefits of the City’s 6th Street Project. They certainly are not relying solely on tourists “because they can come and go,” said Gurung, “but we’ll sustain … by getting support from locals.”
The intention is to create a space to share Nepali culture. Eventually there will be an Asian market with vegetables, frozen momos, various chutneys and more. The market will also sell goods from Nepal, feeding the economy back home.
They don’t plan to be stingy with their recipes either. On top of the restaurant menu, “I want to create a menu … that anybody can make at home,” Gurung stated. “I want to pass it on.”
The trio intends to give back to the community in other ways. Gurung said they’d like to deliver to the hospital so patients can enjoy good food, and provide space in the commercial kitchen for community use at a fair price. “There are so many local small business owners looking for a commercial kitchen where they can produce their local product,” she acknowledged.
To shake things up a bit, they plan to host live music twice a month, show a film about Nepal or the Himalayas once a month and host a buffet once a week. Carbondale musicians Morgan Williams and Gabriela Mejia will perform during the opening.
The three owners want people to be curious and ask about their culture. One can start by asking about the logo, which carries a lot of symbolism. I won’t give it all away, but the mountain on the logo is Machapuchare, also known as Mata Putra (a Vedic name that translates to “mother son”), located outside of Pokhara.
“A year ago the idea of creating a center for Nepali culture was just a spark, born from the shared passion of myself and my dear Nepali friends, who are more like family and brothers to me,” Gurung wrote in a recent Facebook post. “Now, as we prepare to open our doors we are filled with excitement and anticipation for the opportunity to share the rich flavors and traditions of Nepali cuisine with you all.”
The opening is this Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24, starting at 1pm.
