A year after being smashed by vehicle, restaurant reopens
over 4 years in timescolonist
Just over a year ago, Randy Madahar’s busy Indian takeout place on Burnside Road West received a crushing blow — literally.
An SUV smashed through the front of Kuku’s Restaurant, leaving a tangle of splintered wood, mangled tables and shattered glass.
The driver had suffered a medical issue and received minor injuries. Fortunately, nobody was inside at the time.
Madahar thought it might take a month to get back on his feet, but structural and code improvements to the building — slowed dramatically by the pandemic’s strict construction protocols — turned that return into a long wait of 370 days.
Madahar re-opened this week and the neighbourhood and faithful patrons have come back in droves.
“The support has been amazing,” Madahar said Thursday. “Family and friends and people from all over the place have been coming by or phoning.”
The older building, which includes residential suites on the upper floor, needed extensive repairs and upgrades costing about $300,000.
The closure put a huge damper on Madahar’s 12th anniversary and a run as one of the region’s longest running Indian cuisine restaurants. He calls it “home cooking” and does a bustling takeout business. Before the pandemic, his catering business, especially around Christmas, brought in needed revenue.
But it hasn’t stopped Madahar from carrying on the good will.
Despite the accident, he ensured hot meals were being delivered Wednesdays and Sundays to people in need in the downtown area, something he has been doing faithfully for seven years.
While Kuku’s was out of service, Madahar gathered food from other sources and agencies and delivered them downtown.
He resumes the service from his own kitchen on Saturday, delivering hot soup, chili, drinks and other items to the needy at two different stops — North Park and Cook streets, and Meares and Quadra streets — at around dinner time.
The food is distributed by volunteers with Kuku’s van.
“The people who are served really need it and they expect us,” Madahar said.
dkloster@timescolonist.com
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