After years of pop-ups and Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market appearances, Chef Richie Nakano and the Hapa Ramen family officially broke ground on a brick-and-mortar home on Fillmore Street and launched a Kickstarter campaign to help replace their worn down kitchen materials.

In just 14 days, 349 backers supported the endeavor, “Building Our Dream Kitchen,” to the tune of $55,130 (as of 7am Tuesday), including an incredible 12 minute push late Monday evening that brought in nearly $10,000.

“Over the past couple of years, we have worked our equipment hard through extensive use at our Hapa Ramen stand at the farmers market, at pop-ups, and at our commercial kitchen in the Mission,” states the campaign mission statement. “Construction has now started at our upcoming restaurant Hapa at 1527 Fillmore, and we can hardly believe that our dream that we’ve been working toward for the past couple of years is within our grasp.”

With a commitment to organic, locally sourced ingredients, Hapa Ramen is a popular stop at the Ferry Building street food event every Thursday and at a weekly pop-up at Wings Wings in the Lower Haight. From the hand-crafted al dente noodles of Susanna Ok to the layered broths of Svet Voskoboinik, each dish is carefully constructed for a balanced yet complex experience.

Incentives for contributing to the kickstarter campaign include jars of pickles, bowls of ramen, T-shirts and even a pig butchery class. The deadline to contribute arrives at 5pm Wednesday for ramen fans who would like to still get in on the action.

Learn more about the Kickstarter campaign and the Hapa Ramen team HERE.

• Tag: hapa, haparamen, Kickstarter, ramen, Restaurants, Richie Nakano