In the world of dining, omakase is the ultimate trust fall—a chef-guided tasting menu where each dish is a surprise, crafted with precision and creativity. But what do you call it when the entire experience is plant-based? There’s no word for that yet, but maybe there should be. Papakase, perhaps?
At Ka Papa, the mother-daughter team behind Sarasota’s most inventive vegan restaurant is redefining fine dining, proving that a tasting menu doesn’t need foie gras or wagyu or toro to be extraordinary, and neither does an a la carte menu. Here, Kim Fraederich and her mother, Bella, ensure that every course and every dish is a celebration of flavor, technique, and the art of plant-based cuisine.
Their journey to Sarasota was anything but conventional. With backgrounds spanning continents and careers, their path to opening Ka Papa was shaped by both passion and pragmatism. Kim, a former chemical food process engineer in Canada, spent her days extracting pea protein for major corporations—including McDonald’s—but found the cold, and the cost of living, to be untenable. Bella spent years in Germany helping to manage businesses for her husband, Jurgen (Joe). They wanted to be reunited as a family and decided that opening a business together would be the way to do that. They wanted to be somewhere inexpensive and tropical, and after exploring options from Belize to Miami, they landed in Sarasota. Here they found an immigration attorney and, more importantly, a place that felt like home.
Opening a restaurant wasn’t the original plan—it was the compromise that made their dream of staying in Sarasota possible. It also seemed a natural fit for Kim to oversee the back of the house and for Bella to run the front of the house. The choice to make it a vegan restaurant was extremely personal. After losing Jurgen—Kim’s father and Bella’s husband—to cancer, Bella and Kim became even more deeply aware of the connection between food and health.
Kim had seen firsthand how food is processed, how animals are treated, and she knew she didn’t want to contribute to that system. Ka Papa was born from that realization, an homage not just to their commitment to plant-based cuisine but to the man they loved. In Hawaiian, Ka Kapa translates to “Papa’s,” so they named it Ka Papa, ensuring that Jurgen “Joe” is always part of their journey.
Open six days a week, the restaurant offers both a full-service vegan menu and, four nights a week, an intimate 11-course tasting menu designed for tables of two to four. Each dish is representative of their travels through Africa, Europe, and a year spent backpacking through Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Even the decor tells a story, with treasures like handcrafted lampshades from a bustling Bangkok market.
Signature dishes such as the Crock of French Onion Soup, Plum-Miso Glazed Eggplant, and Game Changer Plant Filet prove that vegan dining is anything but predictable. Those with a sweet tooth will find indulgence in decadent, house-made desserts, and the bar features a carefully curated selection of biodynamic, organic, and vegan wines. Guests can also sip on exotic wine-based cocktails or explore a mocktail menu so inventive, they won’t miss the alcohol—just as they won’t miss the meat. For special occasions, Ka Papa creates stunningly crafted vegan cakes with flavors like lemon-lavender and rich chocolate, all finished with velvety vegan buttercream.
For Bella and Kim, Ka Papa isn’t just about food—it’s about storytelling, connection, and honoring their past while creating something new. Whether or not Papakase becomes the official term for a vegan tasting menu, one thing is certain: In Sarasota, Ka Papa is committed to raising the standard for plant-based fine dining, one carefully crafted course at a time.
Says Kim, “Our mission is to revolutionize vegan food. We have guests that are amazed that everything is plant-based and say that if all vegan food tasted like that they would eat it every day.” So would we.
- Ka Papa Cuisine
1830 S Osprey Ave, Suite 104
Sarasota
941-600-8700
kapapacuisine.com
