Kabab Cafe Reboot

UPDATE 4:
   Just 10 days to Christmas and the final days of the fundraiser. Please help us get a little closer to our goal.  It has been tremendously helpful, as anyone who has visited the cafe recently can plainly see. Thank you so much!

UPDATE 3:    
     We can show how thankful we are this this holiday for a warm and talented friend like Ali.  Please consider the Kabab Cafe when participating in Giving Tuesday on the 30th.   

    A customer sent an article from the Oct. 17 New York Times: 32 Things to Love About New York City Right Now. High on the list was, “Chatting with the friendly chef at Astoria’s cozy Kabab Cafe over a plate of Egyptian meze.”
      We couldn’t agree more. Let’s show our appreciation. 

 
UPDATE 2:
      Just a month in, the generous friends of the cafe have funded an oven. Now, we’d like to accelerate the donations to cover some much-needed plumbing and rehab bills. We want Ali’s kitchen in prime condition for the busy holidays! The cafe is closed for Thanksgiving Day, but you can call ahead to plan one of Ali’s amazing seasonal dinners—kind of a 7 fishes feast but with fowl instead of fish. Let’s keep helping him build back!

UPDATE:
    Thank you for this great show of support!
We are almost at our first goal of $5,400, enough to buy the oven. There is a backlog of at least 3 months, so we want to get a direct order to the Chicago manufacturer asap. 

      Imagine the magic that Ali has worked with just his small oven and tiny workspace. From a Queens cafe of just 17 or so seats, he has earned an international reputation. Many of his customers have been tourists, mostly from Italy and Japan, who drop by fresh off the plane on their way to Manhattan—sent by guidebooks or fans of Bourdain. But the lifeblood has been the faithful New Yorkers who have kept coming over the years.  

      Let’s keep him cooking! We are sooo close….

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Following months of a slowdown during the pandemic, the Kabab Café is up and running again better than ever. New paint, new shine, but the same great food...served up by Ali with the warmth and flair that made it one of Anthony Bourdain's Top Ten places to eat in New York.

 

But to complete the upgrade -- with a new oven (the current one breaks down) and a new sink -- the café needs the support of its loyal friends and followers.

 

Let's give Ali a hand, with donations now and a visit to the restaurant in the coming weeks. Help the café maintain its prominence in Astoria. Keep this New York gem forever shining.