Kapow! Noodle House to Open November 1

By Melissa McCart Wed., Sep. 7 2011 at 1:17 PM

The guys behind Boca Raton's most anticipated restaurant opening will narrow down their chef pick for Kapow! Noodle Bar this week, says partner Vaughan Lazar (Pizza Fusion), one of three partners behind the Asian fusion concept, a joint project conceived by Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich.

The pool of "hundreds" of applicants has been narrowed to six candidates, each of whom will shop for ingredients and cook for the partners next week in the final interview round for the executive chef position at Kapow! Noodle Bar.

"We're especially excited about this restaurant opening because it's the first chef-driven concept in our collective restaurants," said Lazar. "So finding the right person who will take ownership of the concept and the menu is really important."

Asian fusion dictates the current draft of the menu, which will include pork buns, Korean-style volcano rock shrimp, dumplings, ramen, udon noodles, and chow fun. Items will be locally sourced; a handful will accommodate those with gluten allergies and "Cross-Fit freaks on paleo-type diets," said Lazar.

The candidate who lands the position will accompany the partners on their next food-scouting trip to New York, which will, naturally, include trips to restaurants in the David Chang empire.

As a cocktail consultant, Kapow! Noodle House has hired Freddy Diaz, who will draw up a drink menu and guide the restaurant in recipes for house-made elixirs, including bitters. The partners snagged plots from the soon-to-open Boca Raton community garden to grow herbs for cocktails and dishes.

The partners designed the 1,600-square-foot space using reclaimed wood, energy-sustaining appliances, and other eco-friendly measures, says Lazar. "It means a lot to us to leave a small footprint on the environment."

Lazar said he embraced the chance to work with the "visionary" Mayo and Frielich pair: "Not only are they passionate and laid-back, but nine out of nine times, they have the focus and the resources to see things through. And that can be rare in the restaurant industry."

Kapow! Noodle Bar is scheduled to open November 1.

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Tags:

Kapow! Noodle Bar, Rodney Mayo, Scott Frielich, Vaughan Lazar

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Jim Hayward

The more important question, at least to cocktail snobs like me, is what does Mr. Diaz have up his sleeve? I can't wait to find out.

Randy Lay

There is so much more to noodle cuisine than Pho. More likely, if Kapow does ape the David Chang (Momofuku) philosophy, there will be a variety of Ramen and Udon dishes based on the dozens of noodle variations that are so significant in the culinary culture of Japan. Pho is decidedly Vietnamese and, truth be told, I would be surprised if it even appears on the menu.

I'm looking forward to trying Kapow and I think it's going to be a far better fit than the overpriced, underwhelming, monstrosity that is Phillipe. The bluehairs that used to dominate Boca/Delray are steadily being replaced by a younger, more food oriented, clientele and restaurants such as this that steer closer to the cutting edge of today's food trends will have a legitimate shot at success.

freakerdude

"Boca Raton's most anticipated restaurant opening"

Yes! Boca-phites of mainly 70 and up are so eager to check out Kapow that they may have already soiled themselves. Boca ain't ready for pho. Lawd have mercy.

Sorry, had to do it.

melissamccart

Laughing. Thank you. I have to tell you. I've been up there a handful of times and have learned that the the dubliner is the only place for younger people to go. Perhaps theres a need for two places? Maybe they're to draw the four David changheads in south Florida to an an area they'd never ever venture before, kinda like west palm? We will see. I'm curious myself.

llh94

http://www.lovetoshopping.org

lylh71

http://www.lovetoshopping.org

Jake

Its more likely that people who want free publicity write to you than anyone else. Why would someone write a blogger for info when they can just go to their facebook page and ask directly?

MelissaMcCart

jake, perhaps i should just ignore those requests for information.

Max

Pho in east boca in the summer can't possibly have any real buzz. Ideas should come from your head

Instead of just parroting what they wanted you to write, why not get answers to the obvious questions. Such as why do these "visionaries" want a guy who sells bad pizza as a partner? And why mizner park? And who are the cartoons supposed to appeal to in an area where gray hairs dominate?

MelissaMcCart

max, are you a teacher? or maybe this is my dad? your comments can be didactic. but i appreciate them nevertheless. lazar-pizza guy's back story is as a marketer and designer before pizza and i'm happy to elaborate if you'd like backstories on all of the partners, though it's been done quite a bit on this site and elsewhere. mizner park because they happened upon the real estate and wanted the outdoors for the concept since it's such a small place. i think the question is to what degree do these (or any) restaurateurs decide to shape an area as opposed to assimilate into the demographics of what's there. mayo has shown he's willing to take real estate and other types of risks. cartoons are more a nod to manga/asian riff, though i agree it's more US cartoony. it appears online that the logo is going through a couple iterations. some of these questions are great for when things firm up- like when they get a confirmed chef and menu. and as for pho or other spicy foods, apparently you haven't heard the hot/spicy foods for hot weather correlation. lots of cultures eat hot foods in the summer. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/s...

MelissaMcCart

lazar meant it in the context of respectable street in particular and how it was a business that helped turn around an area. as for anticipation, i've gotten nearly a dozen emails asking me about this opening, actually; more than any other opening so far. i'm interested to see how it'll turn out. i miss ramen shops and have yet to find decent pho. if there's a new destination that adds some depth to cheap eats, it would be terrific. but we'll see how it turns out; they haven't even named their chef yet.