COVID-19 Closure

Downtown Austin ramen and sushi spot shutters permanently due to COVID-19

It's the second closure this summer for the Komé group.

The owners of Ni-Komé, the sushi and ramen stall at downtown’s Fareground Food Hall, announced Thursday, August 13, that they will close the location permanently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the second store the restaurant group has closed this summer, with the popular Daruma Ramen on East Sixth Street shuttering in June.

“We had to send a message to all employees at Ni-Komé that we won’t be able to reopen and we won’t be able to have them back,” says co-owner Kayo Asazu. “That is the hardest part… The sadness that I have is that I couldn’t hire back all the people at Daruma and Ni-Komé, and I’m just wishing the best of luck to [them]. That’s my main concern, and I’m hoping they will be okay.”

Ni-Komé was a satellite outpost in the group’s family of restaurants. It offered an abbreviated version of the sushi menu from their flagship location, Komé Sushi Kitchen, as well as their signature chicken broth ramen bowls from Daruma Ramen. Komé Sushi Kitchen on Airport Boulevard remains open for takeout, and they’ve added the chicken broth ramen to their offerings.

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Fareground announced it was temporarily closing the food hall. Since then, only Israeli street food stall TLV has reopened at limited capacity, with other vendors like Dai Due Taqueria and Contigo remaining closed for the time being.

Ni-Komé was among Fareground’s original vendors when it opened in 2018, and it is the first since the start of the pandemic to announce it will not be returning.

Ni-Komé adds its name to an increasingly long list of restaurants all over Austin that have permanently closed due to the pandemic and resulting economic upheaval. With longtime Austin mainstays like Threadgill's, and critically acclaimed award magnets like The Brewer’s Table unable to stay in business in the current and ongoing conditions, many fear the industry as a whole is destined for more hardship.

For their part, Kayo and her business partner and husband, Takehiro Asazu, are trying to keep busy and stay creative with their other restaurants.

“I have the same amount of time every day and the same amount of energy, so right now I’m just focusing more energy to the rest of the stores,” says Kayo.

Since pivoting to a takeout model at Komé, Asazu says they are running more daily specials and they’ve added groceries like dry noodles and Japanese snacks to their menu. They are planning to reintroduce delivery service in the near future.

closings

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.