A new Nepalese restaurant is coming to the space formerly occupied by Down Home Kitchen at 104 Main Street in Montpelier. Photo by Larry Floersch.
By Carla Occaso
A new sign heralding ‘Indian Nepali Kitchen’ has gone up in the window of 104 Main in Montpelier. This new restaurant, which expects to be open for takeout within a few weeks, will replace Down Home Kitchen restaurant.
“I am a believer that they are a perfect fit for our city,” said Karl Miller, owner of 104 Main.
Miller sounded excited to talk about the new venture from people who he said called him within a week or so after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all restaurants in Vermont (and most of the country). The new restaurant will be named “Kathamandu,” as listed in the Secretary of State’s office, Miller said. Kathmandu (without the second “a”) is the capital of Nepal. The restaurateurs are a husband and wife in their late 30s, from Nepal, he said.
The Secretary of State website lists the company as Kathamandu [SIC] Restaurant LLC, with the principals named as Peter Deng, agent; Krishna Paudel, member; and Tham Magar, member. The company was incorporated on March 3, 2020, and plans to have a full-service restaurant. But their plans have been temporarily foiled by COVID-19, Miller explained. They will still be able to offer takeout, though, from the to-go windows on Langdon Street.
Down Home Kitchen, run by Mary Alice Profitt, closed and vacated the premises around the time of the pandemic shutdown, Miller recalls. The new restaurant has no ties to Profitt, Miller said.
Kathamandu Restaurant LLC is in the process of installing a new kitchen design, including traditional Indian cooking appliances. “They are going to get everything ready. They are going to be using the takeout windows within a few weeks,” he said.
“Katmandu,” a song by American rocker Bob Seger, reflects an older American spelling of the Nepalese capital. Kathmandu is the modern English spelling.
A call to Peter Deng of Kathamandu Restaurant was not immediately returned.
