The Unique Way to Share Good Food & Algerian Hospitality
We're Wafa and Mounir Bahloul, and we built KAYMA around the three things our family never sat down without: food, story, and laughs.
KAYMA | Our Story
Our Story
We - Wafa & Mounir Bahloul - grew up in a big family where sharing and hospitality were our everyday. There was always a joyful gathering around food, it didn’t matter what was the occasion or what time of the day, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. There were always three main ingredients; food, story, and laughs.
Our Journey
“Our people are nomads, so we traveled from Batna to the Bay Area with our kayma to share our food and hospitality.” - Mounir
Why We Started Kayma
The name KAYMA is derived from the Arabic word for nomadic dwelling, a place that feels like home whether it is permanent or temporary. Wafa and Mounir's family is a part of the Chaoui in northeast Algeria, and the two hail from the city of Batna.What once started as a catering company has now grown into launching a kiosk at the La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, which is opened in Spring 2021 in the Tenderloin.
Core Value
We always use the best ingredients to prepare and make great food and baked goods with high-quality standard, we are committed and dedicated to achieving the best service for our self and toward our customers.
We always laugh and have fun while cooking and will do our best to always timely service food with a warm and friendly welcome for our totally San Franciscan but completely Algerian homemade food.
Our Table on Mason Street
Wafa started cooking and baking with her mother at home, in wedding celebrations and special occasions. That was something she wanted to master. Then, she took her passion for cooking and Baking into the next level she went to culinary school and studied Algerian and French pastry before moving to the Bay Area.
But, Mounir starts learning how to cook once he moved to the Bay Area where he uses to call his mother and ask her about recipes and the food he loves.
Wafa and Mounir got married but still use grandma’s recipes in everyday meals and love sharing it with friends and neighbors. But now they want to expend it to everyone that walks through the streets of San Francisco in order to revive those stories, flavors, and laughs. Then, Wafa and Mounir Together worked in the food business in the Bay Area until they joined La Cocina in 2018, and took the leap of starting their own dream coffee – restaurant place and catering business.
