, one of the few West African restaurants in Portland, will close temporarily on December 31. But donât fearâthe restaurant plans to make a big comeback as early as June 2021.
Chef and owner Fatou Ouattara attributes the closure to a number of factors. Sheâd been planning to expand the restaurant prior to the pandemic, since the current locationâs kitchen on NE MLK was too small to efficiently serve the 200 customers it can seat indoors and outdoors at full capacity. But Ouattara says business was down 60% during the pandemic, especially since the shutdown meant no more catering events like weddings and African cultural events at local universities. Ouattara laid off ten of her twelve employees during the shutdown. The likelihood of expanding in 2020 seemed nearly impossible, so