Popular Indonesian Food Pop-Up Announces Boston Departure

Kaki Lima, a long-running and popular Boston-area pop-up that specializes in Indonesian food, will soon relocate to New York City, but there will be a chance for Boston fans to say goodbye. Chef Retno Pratiwi and her husband and partner Peter Gelling will run a final pop-up in Boston sometime in June, before the couple moves.

“We are excited about this next adventure, but we are also super sad to be leaving our Boston community, and especially all our amazing customers. We are so grateful for your support these last five years,” Pratiwi and Gelling wrote in a newsletter. Gelling has accepted a job as editor at a digital news organization. While the pair had previously aimed to open a permanent restaurant in the Boston area, plans for permanence have been temporarily tabled.

“But for now we will focus on nurturing another community in New York through pop-ups and catering, just like we have in Boston,” the letter continued.

In their time in Boston, Pratiwi and Gelling ran extended Kaki Lima residencies in the kitchens of Wink & Nod in the South End and at KO Pies in East Boston, in addition to putting on one-off events at other restaurants in the area and managing a catering arm of the business.

Over the years, Kaki Lima cooked up items like kentang-udang balado, a spicy shrimp dish, and dadar gulung, coconut-filled pandan crepes. Other dishes included batagor, or fried dumplings, and gado-gado, a spread of seasonal veggies and fingerling potatoes in sauce.

Kaki Lima will begin accepting its final catering orders and will soon set a date for its last Boston pop-up in June.

• Kaki Lima [Official Site]
• Beloved Pop-Up Kaki Lima Is Leaving Boston for New York [BM]
• Kaki Lima Brings Indonesian Cuisine to Wink & Nod [EBOS]
• Kaki Lima Reignites Partnership With KO Pies [EBOS]