Fire closes the acclaimed Kampar restaurant in Bella Vista
Chef Ange Branca said no one was injured in the blaze Saturday. A GoFundMe drive has been launched for employees of the South Street-area Malaysian restaurant.
Kampar, the acclaimed Malaysian restaurant in Bella Vista, has been shuttered by fire that damaged its second floor.
Owner Angelica Branca said she was home about 7 a.m. Saturday when a neighbor called to report seeing smoke pouring from the roof at Kampar at Seventh and Kater Streets, a half-block from South Street. Another neighbor had spotted the smoke while walking her dog and called the fire department. No one was in the building, Branca said.
Fire officials did not offer a cause Sunday. Branca said there was roof and water damage in the bar area. She said she has been unable to assess the full damage because the building’s power was out, and did not know how long Kampar would be closed.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started for the restaurant’s 20 employees. “Ange is the most incredibly resilient human being,” said general manager Sam Pritchard. “For now, our slogan is ‘Keep calm and Ange on.’”
Kampar was known as Sate Kampar in its first incarnation on East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia from 2016 to 2020. In 2017, Sate Kampar was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for best new restaurant. After closing the original location in 2020 during a pandemic-era rent increase, Branca worked in various kitchens with chefs from other underrepresented cuisines.
She opened Kampar in this location in May 2024. It previously was Nomad Pizza after a stint as the vegan restaurant Horizons.
The main restaurant and its Kongsi Bar — modeled on a social club frequented by tin workers in Branca’s hometown of Kampar — are on the second floor and features a menu of Malaysian cuisine as well as Hakka cooking, a Han Chinese cuisine preserved in Kampar.
The smaller space downstairs is reserved for a chef in residency who creates a fixed-priced menu.
Last month, the bar was among the semifinalists for a James Beard Award for Outstanding New Bar, a new category. In his Inquirer review last August, critic Craig LaBan found the bar program “inventive” and paid special tribute to its burger, which he described as “a meaty juice bomb that takes burger comfort for an international ride.”
Branca said she is hoping to reopen soon. Meanwhile, she has been gratified by the outpouring of concern on social media. “They’re very, very supportive and sending good vibes to us.”