This is the view of the soon to be Kangaroost. We are excited for you to come visit us!

Around here, things change on a dime. We were struggling last week to find a way to continue operating during the winter. Last year had us believing that we would easily be able to operate during the winter as a food truck. While we have had our sights set on a brick and mortar restaurant for a while, we had decided that we would wait for the right opportunity to present itself – and continue running the truck while keeping our eyes wide open looking for that oppurtunity.

As these things often go, things fell into place so much better and faster than we could have imagined. Last Friday, Jay and I were discussing what we would do to continue operating the truck. We have had several catering oppurtunities which have helped, but, that has not been enough to make up for the fact that there have been many days we’ve not been able to run.

Oppurtunity Knocks (or rings)
On Sunday, I recieved a phone call from a lovely young lady looking for a caterer for her wedding in August. When I told her that we are not able to book any more events this summer, she went on to explain that she was the daughter of the man who owned and operated Plum Hill. We had heard about Plum Hill closing and while we were sad to hear that this family run restaurant was unable to survive, we thought it might be a good fit for the Kangaroost. We reached out to the owner several weeks prior, but we were unable to connect with each other (I had the wrong contact info ).  But that worked out.  Dave, the owner was not ready to make any decisions and we were still experiencing a fairly mild winter.
But, on this day, Leah excitedly informed us that her dad was ready to move on occupying the building that formerly housed Plum Hill and his family’s dreams. They had looked at our website and thought that we may be a good fit for their space. The next day we met, and we ended the meeting everyone teary eyed, knowing that together not only would we be able to build the Kangaroost and continue to bring folks together and serve them good food INSIDE, while holding true to the values we started out on our path with. This building gives us the chance to work with another family and become a new chapter in their story. While the name Plum Hill will no longer be there, the essence of what they were about and certainly the spirit of it’s dreamer Vera “Beep” Klister.

Kindred Spirits
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the story of Plum Hill Vera had a dream not unlike ours. She wanted to have a restaurant where she could serve whole, made from scratch foods to folks in her community. Sadly, she died shortly after the restaurant opened. Her loving and kind husband Dave has tried for several years to make things work, but he wasn’t able to commit the time needed ~ so, in late December he made the very emotional and difficult decision to close Plum Hill.
When Jay and I walked in and saw the building, we both had the same thought. If we had paid an architect and a contractor to build a restaurant for us, it would look just like this building. It’s open kitchen has all the equipment we need including a walk in cooler and freezer which will continue to allow us to purchase from local farmers in the way we are used to.  Folks will be able to see us working in the kitchen. I can still turn around and say HI to everyone who walks in the door and we will always know who we are cooking for.
So, while we the Kangaroost will be different from Plum Hill, the idea of community and space and family will always be valued in this building. We have a deep respect for what Dave and his beloved Vera have done and will do everything we can to continue serving delicious local foods in this lovely space while honoring what they set out to do.  Dave has provided us with an unbelievable oppurtunity and we will give everything we have to the success of this new venture ~ We are  only starting to know each other but Jay, Mason and I all felt so welcomed by Dave and look forward to a long lasting business relationship and of course a rapidly developing kinship.

What Next?
So, the plan for now is this – we hope to have the Kangaroost open and serving food on February 19th. We are still working on the details of the menu and hours. As soon as that is finalized, we will let you all know. You can be assured, there will be plenty of oppurtunity for you to come see us, including BRUNCH on the weekends! We are excited to welcome you into this space and will feed you the same delicious, made from scratch foods prepared from local ingredients that you have come to know and love at the Kangaroostaurant. Now, we can offer you a place to sit as well as a few other luxuries.

What about the Truck?
The Kangaroostaraunt is our first love. You never forget your first love and in this case, we won’t be letting go of it anytime soon. We love food trucking, we love being out and about in communities, with the people. Parks in the summer, farm markets, festivals you name it, we’ll be there.

We were able to have an impromtu food truck meet up at Erb Park last summer ~ great chance to get to know some new folks!

folks dancing up a storm at one of the Heid Music Summer Concerts at Houdini Plaza.

This lovely couple enjoying their first dance together at a wedding we catered this summer.

The Kangaroostaurant will definitely be out and about ~ you know where and how to find us~~

Community Supported Restaurant
This move allows us to open a restaurant in a lovely space without the need for loans or investors. That is remarkeable. That is because of you and your support. We have about 30 CSR members whose financial backing has made some of this possible. We had held off with selling shares as we wanted to offer a building and facility for folks to come and sit down. We now have that and we again are going to start selling Community Supported Restaurant Shares. These shares are much like a gift certificate ~ redeemable in increments and useable for many different things including gift certificates, food, catering and most services we provide. The memberships are two year memberships(except for our first members whom we will be extending due to the delay in finding a building) and available as follows. Please note, if you’re already a member any of the information below applies to you!!! Many of you have redeemed some of your share, at the truck, but now we are so excited to say we can offer you what you signed up for!

$500.00 shares – 100 available – entitles holder to $500.00 in food at the Kangaroost, Kangaroostauant or Private Event. May be redeemed at $25.00 month increments or to cover up to 50% of catering/private event costs.  Ability to reserve tables for groups of four or more.
$1000.00 shares – 20 available – etitles holder to $1000.oo in food at the Kangaroost, Kangaroostaurant or Private Event. May be redeemed at $50.00 increments or to cover up to %50 of catering costs.  Ability to reserve tables for groups of four or more.

Both of these shares will include invitation to an annual celebration of community as well as other “members with benefits” that may come up! We need and appreciate your support as always.
It is our goal to continue to operate with out obtaining conventional bank financing. While we are able to move into the space for very minimal cost, the day to day operating expenses, as well as hiring of new employees and some minor equipment purchases, we do see the need to build on our access to operating capital. If you have any questions or would like to purchase a share, please feel free to contact us, either by email – info@kangaroostaurant.com or at 920-277-8173.
If you are a current shareholder, we PROMISE to be in touch with you later today with details as well as any other information. Things have changed from our original plans but, but only slightly. The biggest one being that we will not be opening a shared or community ktichen. We will need all the space for the truck and the Kangaroost.

To all of you thanks! We continue to pursue our dreams with your support and for that, yes, we are grateful!