Sunday nights, late-night is one of the best times of the week here. Lots of us have Monday and Tuesday off, so there is the weekend vibe, plus the natural decompression of a busy weekend simmering down. Often Alejandro will make an impromptu meal this is whimsical and kind of inspiring. Occasionally this stuff is documented. And we were going to do that last night with the rabbit sugo agnolotti, but instead decided to take the video in a different direction. 

You guys all probably know Kickstarter. Its been around for a few years and has helped fund a really wide range of creative projects that are too vast to list here. But to give you an idea, some of the ones that are currently featured on their homepage range from apps, to robots to hot sauce. Those looking for funding typically put together a video, or some piece of media for what they hope to accomplish with the funding. 

Last night, we were talking about Richie Nakano, a former Sous Chef at Nopa. At first we were talking about him as a runner, because he ran the San Francisco Marathon yesterday in less than four hours. Then we started talking about the Hapa Ramen Kickstarter and went to check it out. Of all the videos and campaigns that have been launched on Kickstarter, you’d be hard pressed to find one the has been more organized or thorough than Hapa’s. It would seem that as an “investment” whether in an individual or concept, you’d be more inclined to want to support someone who has shown an aptitude in the craft (big check) and who has expertly organized and managed a campaign (another big check). But what we saw was only 60% of the project funded. And “only” is not at all meant to diminish the contributions, because the fact is we’re still talking over 30 g’s, and that’s quite a bit of money. But when you get everyone from one of the premiere winemakers in the state to the Founder of Instagram co-signing the project, it would seem that goal $55,000 goal was an attainable one. And it is. But it’s just really, really down to the wire now. So we wanted to share this. There are probably lots of you who follow Nopalize that also follow other chefs and food blogs in San Francisco. And if you follow San Francisco chefs and food blogs, then you’ve undoubtedly heard others beating this drum, because again, the campaign has been so well orchestrated.

But, in any case, check out the video. And of course, support Hapa. Because if they don’t reach their goal, they get no money. But, all you guys from Hapa should be really proud of what you’ve done with the campaign. The amount of love and support that you’ve gotten on the campaign should bode well for your brick and mortar!