"Things are lining up, the sun is shining, the team is excited, and I am excited to bring Nepalese food back to the community and continue to give back," Barkhau Daily says.
The chef and owner of The Cheel in Thiensville, Wis., left Nepal in 2003 to pursue a bachelor's degree at Lakeland College, where he eventually found a gap in the Wisconsin market for authentic Nepalese cuisine, per a press release from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
He founded the restaurant after a successful career in international marketing, and since 2014 it has been a community staple, serving award-winning farm-to-table Nepalese cuisine at the busiest intersection in Thiensville.
But in November 2020, the 130-year-old Queen Anne building the restaurant called its home burned to the ground.
A $250,000 grant from WEDC will help rebuild the restaurant, which will double its capacity and include an expanded dining room, bar, patio, event space, and live music venue.
"We could not do this without WEDC," Daily says.
"We are lucky to have an organization that supports small, and woman-owned businesses in this state."
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