Permit me to delurk... My wife and I visited Amma for dinner on Saturday night. I would agree (enthusiastically) with the positive assessments. The room itself is elegant and soothing, albeit small. One caveat: there are a large number of small tables along one of the walls. These tables are cramped for two. Unaccountably they are all set with a third chair – it would seem to me to be impossible to fit a third diner at these tables and the extra chairs have the effect of making the space seem even more confined than it is. We asked our waiter to remove the extra chair at our table. Although he initially seemed puzzled at where to put it, he did quickly comply with the request. The food is exquisitely prepared. We each had the tasting menu. The tasting menu is perfectly calibrated and is certainly neither “too rich” nor “too heavy”. Particular standouts included the “Crispy Fried Spinach” (a nice combination of different textures), and the “Tandoori Shrimp” (multiple layers of spice), but our favorite was the “Manchurian Cauliflower”. By the way, Suvir graciously came out of the kitchen to speak with us during the meal (I had never met him previously and my only connection with the food business is as a consumer) and he told us the secret to the Cauliflower. I leave it up to him to reveal it here! We felt this same grace and friendliness from all of the staff. Although this was our first visit, and although it was a very busy night, we were treated as if we were longstanding regulars. This, in itself, is a reason to return. I had the wine paring with the tasting menu. Unfortunately although the waitstaff identified the varietal they didn’t actually identify what was being poured. Although this was a little frustrating we were having far too good a time to make an issue of it! Thus, all I know is that we had a large glass of Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc, and (the highlight) a very peppery Zinfandel. The Chardonnay was paired with the first three courses of the menu, the Sauvignon Blanc with the second two, and the Zinfandel with the meat course. My own inclination for the future would be to skip the wine pairing and just order wines by the glass with dinner. In sum, although there were some minor glitches, the service was warm and friendly, the space was relaxing, and the food was delicious and complex with feeling forced or overly cerebral. We will definitely return. ... Back to lurking! Ken Stein
