The Katama Airfield Commission has awarded noted taco purveyors Zared and Evan Shai — owners of Backyard Taco and Dos Mas — the bid to operate the restaurant space at the airfield.
The bid was announced at Tuesday’s Edgartown selectman’s meeting and comes after the owner of Right Fork Diner announced she would not be placing a bid for the space earlier this winter.
According to airfield commissioner Bill Brine, who made the announcement Tuesday, the restaurant will be called the Katama Kitchen and will operate from mid-May through the second weekend in October.
“The winning bidders are local and experienced restaurant owners,” Mr. Brine said at the meeting Tuesday.
According to a copy of the bid submitted to the commission, the restaurant will be operated by the Shai family and serve breakfast and lunch seven days per week, as well as dinner in the high season. A sample menu submitted in the proposal bid includes breakfast options, nearly a dozen lunch sandwiches named after airport codes and dinner options that include hangar steak.
The proposal states that the restaurant will be aviation themed, with decor and outdoor activities that honor the airfield’s heritage. There are no tacos on the menu.
Rent will start at $60,000 — $20,000 more than the minimum bid requirement — and rise to approximately $70,000 by the seventh year of the lease term, according to the family’s proposal.
The Shai brothers have owned and operated three different food establishments since arriving on the Vineyard a decade ago, including an Edgartown smoothie shop called Smooth Moves and Backyard Taco, as well as Dos Mas on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs.
A special condition of the RFP is that the restaurant has to make particular accommodations for pilots and aviators who fly into the historic airfield. The Shai brothers said that wouldn’t be a problem in their proposal, offering a special pilot program and noting their own family’s deep connections to aviation.
“The prospect of this venture is not only exciting from a business perspective but is personally close to the family’s heart,” the RFP said.
While their father received his pilot’s license in the 1970s, the proposal said that brother Evan Shai, who has a personal pilot’s license, has been flying out of Katama Airfield since arriving on the Island, and Zared is in the process of receiving his pilot’s license as well.
“We’re excited to take the spot and look forward to getting it up and running, and a great season,” Evan Shai said during the meeting Tuesday.
“Congratulations,” selectman Art Smadbeck replied.
In other business, selectmen approved outdoor dining permits for a handful of downtown restaurants, including The Seafood Shanty, Among The Flowers, Edgartown Diner, L’etoile and Port Hunter.
State zoning amendments have allowed towns to loosen restrictions regarding outdoor dining due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After a successful 2020 summer, selectmen decided to pursue a similar plan for the summer of 2021, with an effort to keep sidewalks open.
Closing out the meeting, Nicole Brisson and Julia Tarka were appointed to the Meshacket affordable housing committee. The Edgartown Board of Trade’s annual Pink and Green weekend was also approved for May 7 through May 9.
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