When a music teacher in Virginia hopped into a cab in Washington, D.C., on a late night in the early 2000s, it was supposed to be a simple transaction.

But it sparked one of those too-on-the-nose romantic comedy setups of people from different worlds.

She was frustrated and had stormed out of a different taxi — a night out drinking in Georgetown may have explained her side of things, she admits now. The cabbie was working odd jobs and dreaming of opening his own business.

They talked. She grew up in an Italian family outside of Buffalo, New York. He had moved to the U.S. from his native Pakistan less than 10 years earlier. He rerouted them to a late-night pizza joint not far from her home.

It was the first meal that Ashar Abbasi and Nichole Hodges-Abbasi shared. It was also the springboard for the life they’d create across the D.C. region.

Hodges-Abbasi, 46, now teaches music at Hallie Wells Middle School in Clarksburg. Abbasi, 49, took the leap by opening K2 Cafe and Kitchen in Poolesville in 2021, followed by a flagship location in Clarksburg on Jan. 15.

Neighbors and travelers have flocked to the cozy confines (and bare-bones kitchen) of the original K2 for a menu grounded in Abbasi’s native Pakistan. But the couple fuse those flavors with foods from other American immigrant cuisines, like bagels and wraps.

“Ashar likes spicier things, and sometimes our kids do and sometimes they don’t. So, we just kind of started making up recipes that were like a little bit of a blend of both of us,” Hodges-Abbasi said.

“Ashar’s culture is just full of awesome food, like really awesome food that has tons of flavor,” she added. “But sometimes it’s a little bit too spicy for some people.”

Working outside the confines of authenticity works in their favor. Take K2’s signature — and standout — tandoori chicken bowl. Abbasi piles tender, oven-roasted chicken (neither location has the capacity for a working tandoori oven) on a bed of basmati rice and lettuce, red onion and tomatoes.

He was preparing a bowl on a recent visit and drizzled a house-made, glowing orange “spicy” sauce that was effectively a chipotle ranch, Abbasi said. Next came a squeeze bottle of a white sauce, and I wondered whether it was yogurt-based like at other rice-and-meat shops.

“Just ranch,” he said, applying the quintessential American dressing with a chuckle.

Abbasi finished it off with a distinct touch from his homeland and India: namak para, a spiced and crispy cracker that provided a nice crunchy topping to the bowl.

“It’s like you’re dipping your toes in a different culture within the comfort of your own home,” Abbasi said. “Without going to an authentic restaurant but getting some authentic flavors.”

The couple named the restaurant K2 partially because of Abbasi’s fixation on the world’s second-highest mountain, which sits on the border of the Pakistan- and Chinese-administered areas of Kashmir. But it’s a subtler nod to Abbasi’s childhood in Lahore and Islamabad, where packs of K2, a popular brand of cigarettes, were everywhere.

Other menu items that celebrate the spirit of fusion include the creamy rosé sauce, inspired by Hodges-Abbasi’s Italian heritage. The fusion curry comes with chickpeas, chicken or kofta meatballs — ground beef and chicken mixed with spices and herbs such as cilantro.

One item that Abbasi is particularly excited to keep evolving is the shop’s ”kurritos,” a play on a burrito. These are inspired, Abbasi said, by the shop’s loyal customers who often pedal up to grab a bite after a bike ride on Sugarloaf Mountain.

The couple feel increasingly confident about expanding the menu — with a full kitchen in Clarksburg — and their ambitions. Hodges-Abbasi said she never thought about owning a business. But she saw how committed Abbasi was to sharing their blended cuisine early on when he started experimenting with kebabs in their home kitchen and sharing them with neighbors

“I want people to know that instead of coming to an authentic place, they are coming to an adventurous place,” Abbasi said.

“As long as they’re open-minded and willing to try new things and new flavors, they will not be disappointed.”