How a Seattle restaurant is helping incoming Afghan refugees

Naomi Tomky, Special about the Seattle PI

August 26, 2021 Updated: August 26, 2021 11:18 am

Exterior of Kabul’s Afghan kitchen in Wallingford.

Jonathan M./Yelp.com

When disasters occur anywhere in the world – by human hands or natural disasters – restaurants from there are often the first to help on site.

As publicly accessible representatives of these cultures and meeting places for people from this country, they usually know the best place to send money or other help and have the means to raise funds. Right now, Wallingford’s Kabul Afghan Cuisine is doing just that for the incoming refugees arriving from Afghanistan.

Although working hours are limited due to personnel problems and – according to their Facebook post – “despondent” about what was going on there, the restaurant announced that it will donate 10% of its sales to the Afghan Health Initiative over the next 60 days. The local non-profit organization was founded by immigrants and refugees from Afghanistan and helps refugees arriving from Afghanistan as well as Iraq and Somalia in King County.

“Our hearts are hard to witness the conditions in Afghanistan,” said the restaurant in the contribution about the fundraising campaign, which also thanked customers who had given the people of Afghanistan a message or condolences.

Kabul is one of the few restaurants in the area that serves Afghan cuisine, but for diners looking for other places to find pillow bread, tender manti dumplings, flavorful qabuli pilau rice, and sweet firni pudding, Bothell has Afghan Delicious and Bellevue Afghan cuisine. For a different take on Afghan food, Jazze’s has a stand in Tukwila’s Spice Bridge Food Hall (and delivers to Seattle via Cherry Picked) with organic food the owner calls “Afghan Fusion”.

Naomi Tomky is a freelance food writer for the Seattle PI.