Help Re-launch Art of Dosa

Dear friends,

We've avoided this for as long as we could, but it is finally time for us to ask for some help.

We are scheduled to restart Art of Dosa this coming month of September at our food stall at the famous Revival Food Hall in downtown Chicago. If you have enjoyed our award winning dosas over the years, you are likely aware of the unlimited potential of our South Indian vegan fast casual concept. This ABC News segment on Friday March 13 2020 by food journalist Steve Dolinsky graciously uncovered the beauty of our concept and the deliciousness of our dosas. Unfortunately, a day later, the entire world went into pandemic lockdown; and what was meant to be our flagship location has been temporarily closed ever since.

It's been a tough 18 months... we tried our hardest to keep our doors open for the first 6 months as a virtual kitchen in West Town, from which we donated over 4000 meals to Chicago Hospital ICUs and ERs during the height of the pandemic. But finally, due to more unforeseeable circumstances, we had to close up that shop too and put things in hibernation. Saying goodbye to our beloved staff and customers hurt immensely, but we have held onto confidence that our love for dosas and our passion for sharing that love with the world cannot remain contained for too long.

With the pandemic waning (somewhat) it's now finally time to re-open our doors, but we find ourselves at a crossroads. We had bootstrap financed Art of Dosa thus far out of our personal and family savings through four years (over half million $), and this restart now requires an infusion of cash that we just don't have left at this point.

Why do we need funding?

• Rent for a separate commissary kitchen (security deposit plus 2-3 months rent)
• Cooking equipment (including a double stack combi oven, a steam kettle, a 4-burner stove, a proper commercial ice cream maker, low-boy refrigerators for prep, shelving and miscellaneous wares)
• Equipment installation costs
• Food Hall rent and Common Area fees
• New POS hardware for Food Hall's new POS system
• Business license renewals
• Initial food inventory purchases
• Advance labor to cook inventory and training of brand new staff
• Working capital for supplies and first two weeks of labor

How soon is funding needed?

Quite urgently - we must open the restaurant by early September as the Food Hall has kept our stall reserved for as long as they can. Now that people are increasingly vaccinated and people are starting to come back to work in the city, this is the time to open our doors again.

Honestly, we never thought we would be here, asking for your help. We've always been the ones on the other side - giving our dosas to the world for the best of causes. Sometimes the universe just flips the tables. We always keep our heads high and our chins up... we know that somehow this is all just going to work and the tables will flip again.

We are so grateful for any support you can provide at this time. And if you can't, no worries at all, please share with others and send us your good vibes. Your support means the world to us in our time of need, and we will remember forever.

We love all of you, and can't wait to serve our dosas to you and our beloved Chicago again. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Love, love, love.

Art of Dosa