Karma Phuntshok

Karma Phuntshok, a former Tibetan monk, emigrated with his wife from New York to Toronto in 1999. His wife was pregnant with their son at the time. To him, living in a Canadian city meant having access to good health care and other essential services. After a short stay in Toronto, Karma decided that Toronto, like New York, was far too large a city to raise a child in and began his search, yet again, for a new home.

At the suggestion of his friends, Karma ended up in Peterborough. Initially, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay; he eventually did because his wife was expecting. Having arrived with only suitcases, Karma immediately began looking for work. He was hired by Mr. Croquette, a local meat packer.

Eight months later Karma felt like he was ready to settle down. People in Peterborough were always very welcoming, and he thought the area was really beautiful. He had steady employment with Mr. Croquette, his healthy baby boy had been born, and he and his wife felt that Peterborough was a very safe place to live and raise their son.

He had always struggled with English, so he decided to enroll in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program. He attended Central School’s ESL program for three months, and then Fleming College’s ESL program for six months. After a year and a half, not only had Karma improved his English, he had also purchased a house.

Karma had always wanted to open a restaurant. In 2004 his dream came true as he opened Karma’s Café. Located at 217 Hunter Street, Karma’s Café is a South Asian and Himalayan restaurant that has received a large amount of attention. Karma attributes his success to his business model which is based on the exclusive use of fresh ingredients that combine to make healthy meals with well balanced portions.

In 2006, two years after opening Karma’s Café, Karma was aware that the restaurant needed a renovation and decided to apply to be a feature on the Food Network’s Restaurant Make-Over television series. Restaurant Make-Over helped with the restaurant’s publicity and, of course, to make the renovations possible. However, unlike some other restaurants that have been featured on the show, no changes to his menu were required.

Since that time, Karma’s Café has continued to be a local favourite. For a consecutive three years, Karma’s Café was named one of Peterborough’s top two restaurants in Hardy Oberon’s book “Where to Eat in Canada”. Karma’s story has also been featured in the book “Hunter Street Stories” by Ed Arnolds.

If you ask Karma about Peterborough today, he’ll say that he "loves it here". Excitedly he claims that “Peterborough has the best services, restaurants, art and music for the size”.