Profile: Kasim Hardaway
Meet the man behind the ‘gram: Kasim Hardaway talks food, culinary marketing, and making the leap to open a restaurant.
All photos courtesy of Kasim Hardaway
You may already know Kasim Hardaway: this culinary marketing extraordinaire has amassed over 40,000 hungry followers, following along for the ride on his culinary adventures as he develops recipes, visits restaurants all over KC and beyond, and shares the kinds of social media marketing tips that have propelled his success. Now, Kasim joins us to chat about one of his biggest moves yet: partnering in a new restaurant, cultivare, which just opened at 13366 Metcalf Ave in Overland Park, Kansas.
Kasim, you've become one of the biggest faces of food in KC. What do you love about restaurant marketing?
Ha well, that's really hard to answer. There is so much to love in this industry: from being able to work alongside the ingenious, culinary entrepreneurs to helping them tell their unique stories. If I had to choose one thing that brings me the most joy in restaurant marketing it would be the storytelling aspect. I love being able to help articulate food stories and make those stories come to life, whether it be through content, copywriting or events.
What's your favorite thing about working in the creative industry in KC?
Hands down the people. Kansas City is full of some many wildly-creative, passionate, sincere and hard-working individuals. I'm always blown away by the sheer amount of good people we have in this city. People who are willing to support you, in whatever way they can, to help you succeed.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Yikes, I hate talking about myself but probably media placement in the past two years, and specifically being featured in Food & Wine Magazine. It was a big bucket list item of mine that I thought would take decades to see through.
What are you looking forward to most in the next year?
Great q! I would have to say that I'm most excited for the future of my personal brand. After two years, I'm just now feeling like I know what I'm doing and I have a vision for where I want to be in 5-10 years. It's funny because many people think that I have it all together but the first few years were just a lot of faking it until I was able to make it. With that being said, stay tuned. There's a lot in store!
After working in the food industry on the marketing side, how did you know you were ready to open a restaurant?
I don't think I ever thought I was ready (internally laughs). I actually tried opening a restaurant last year when Iron District in North Kansas City debuted. It was going to be a tribute to my late-Nani but I soon found out that operating a restaurant is no small feat. Not that I imagined it would be easy but it definitely was a lot more than I could chew. Whenever I was approached by my partners for cultivare, it seemed like the perfect union. Having the opportunity to not only act as an owner but lead the culinary development and marketing was just a natural fit for me, personally.
Tell me about what it was like developing a full menu! What's your favorite item on the menu at cultivare, anyway?
IT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE, EVER. Slightly overwhelming, but mostly a lot of fun. Waking up every day and getting into the kitchen until 9 or 10 pm, for what felt like an eternity, was actually... amazing. Being able to play around with different ingredients, test flavor profiles and cook all day was like fulfilling a long-term dream of mine. Choosing a favorite menu item at cultivare is like asking me to pick my favorite child. However, at the moment, I am still utterly obsessed with our miso-mushroom bowl. It is 100% original and came together with some help from my mom, who is not a cook at all but perhaps one of the world's pickiest eaters (she exclusively eats 10 things and that's it). As I built the bowl: starting with that base of quinoa, massaged kale, fire-roasted mushrooms, the roasted sweet potatoes and beets, I knew I was missing a crunch factor. I was chatting with my mom and asked her what she would use for a crunchy topping. Her answer was granola. After being disgusted, I actually gave it some thought and thus our savory-granola was born. Similar to the crunchy topping you would put on your yogurt or fruit but nixing all of the sweet notes for a more salty, savory finish.
Dishes at the new cultivare, in Overland Park.
