Popular Berea restaurant’s noodle recipes will live on thanks to donations

After seven years in business, beloved Berea restaurant Noodle Nirvana closed its doors for good on Sept. 30, 2023. But thanks to a successful crowdfunding donation effort, its recipes will continue to nourish the local restaurant’s biggest fans for years to come.

On Jan. 6 a Kickstarter campaign for the cookbook “Noodles, Drinks, World Peace: Recipes From Noodle Nirvana” closed with $21,177 raised, over seven times more than its modest $3,000 goal. Despite the devout community of fans the restaurant accumulated during its lifespan, the results shattered owner Mae Suramek’s own expectations for how fundraising would go.

“If we were lucky we hoped to sell 100 books, most of which probably would’ve been for our family and friends,” jokes Suramek. “But we’re going to have to order at least 500 now to account for our 477 backers and the people who didn’t get the chance to participate in our Kickstarter.”

Once she announced Noodle Nirvana’s closure, Suramek described becoming inundated with requests for recipes of favorite dishes by customers almost instantly, ranging from Mom’s Curry to all of her mainline broths and sauces. This led to a sit-down meeting with her mother — for whom many of the restaurant’s recipes originate from — where they came up with the idea for a cookbook.

“We wanted to think of a good, meaningful way to share these recipes with people who value them,” recalls Suramek. “We wanted these to continue being the people’s noodles. We had zero interest in putting these recipes away forever.”

What’s in the Noodle Nirvana cookbook?

Due out later this year, the cookbook will contain over 34 recipes found at the popular eatery like Mom’s Curry, Vietnamese style pho, green curry, basil stir-fry, spring rolls, Thai and spiced orange tea, and more. It will also feature cover art and other illustrations by Jessica Holly — who previously created octopus murals at both Noodle Nirvana locations — along with history on the restaurant, stories behind the recipes, a glossary and even a section on how to find and substitute for harder-to-find ingredients.

According to Suramek, the latter section is inspired by her own difficulties getting the items she needs where she lives.

“I can’t buy most of these things in Berea,” admits Suramek. “I can in Lexington, but I wanted to give some tips and tricks to cooking international dishes when you live in a small town and how to find substitutes at your local grocery store.”

What’s next for Mae Suramek?

With the restaurant and crowdfunding campaign in the rear view, Suramek has almost fully turned the page on Noodle Nirvana, with only 33 cooking classes as part of a commitment to backers of its $100 tier remaining.

Since then the former non-profit worker in the days before Noodle Nirvana has returned to the sector as Director of Operations for the New Americans Initiative, which empowers civic engagement in immigrant and refugee communities, in addition to a job in real estate. Non-profits were central to the restaurant as well, with 25% of the proceeds from the first Wednesday of each month generating nearly $200,000 for organizations in need from 2015-2020.

Even with all that she has on her plate, Suramek wouldn’t completely rule out a comeback in the future.

“If you ask me a year from now it might be different,” predicts Suramek. “It’s been a really wonderful and rewarding seven years but the pandemic was really hard, so we’re ready to close that chapter and let the people continue the story.”

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