Suvir Saran

Pav Bhaji is the mash of potatoes, peas, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables with pav bhaji masala (special blend of spices) and lots of butter. It is served with pav (buns) that the Potugese are meant to have introduced to India. I find the hot dog buns closest in texture and shape. Do you know Pav Bhaji? Where do you eat it? Restaurant or home? Where is your favorite Pav Bhaji place? What do you know about Pav Bhaji legend?

Thanks Jinmyo, but it would be excellent if we could see things change. I mean it when I say I know horrible stories... from restaurants across the Board... from Tamarind (2 Stars) to several non star restaurants. If they can each take meaningful steps in ensuring dignity for their staff, the Indian restaurant scene can become truly vibrant in many ways.

Steve thanks for posting our previous discussion. It is just as important now as it was then. Tamarind and other 2 Star and non star restaurants could do themselves a big favor by respecting employees and their rights as fellow human beings. Since we are on this thread, Tamarind is being used as an example. There are many other restaurants one could use just as easily. It is endemic across Star ratings. Tamarind could have kept Hemant Mathur (tandoor chef) and Surbhi Sahni (pastry chef) if it was able to grant them due respect exposure. While they may not have faced abuse of their rights as humans, they also did not get their fair share of publicity for the work they did. To the owner it seemed fine to label the creations of these chefs with another's name. How long would any self-respecting person stand for this? But since no one cared to give these critical players of the team the respect they deserved, these two very brilliant players left. At their own risk, but fortunately they have each landed better jobs and appropriate respect. Mathur is now creating and getting recognized for it. He is no longer hidden behind a veil. Mathur is in California at Turmerik where he says he finds new success like he never thought possible with Indian ownership. Curiously enough, after nudging him for details, I found out the owner at Turmerik is Sri Lankan (surprise!) and a Techie that got into food since it was his passion. He made money in the Silicon Valley rise and now indulges in his passion, Food and fine dining. Tamarind and the rest of the Indian restaurant world could stand to learn a very important lesson here: The owner of Turmerik flew Mathur from NYC to SF, paid for his ticket, hotel stay, meals etc... Wined and dined him, took him around SF and also to other Indian restaurants. Mathur said to me that he had never been treated as an equal before. He had always felt that being a chef was not a par with being an owner, but in his visit to CA to meet with this owner, he found dignity in himself, his talent as a chef and his value as a fellow human being. He was charmed to leave the success he had brought to Tamarind and take the risk of leaving NYC and his new bride who is still in NYC finishing school. The point I am trying to make as you did too, Steve is the endemic abuse of human dignity at many ethnic restaurants. This happens for many reasons and in many subtle forms. Some chefs, service related and other employees are not as familiar with English as some owners might pretend to be. This makes the employee feel inferior and the owners make no pretense in furthering the myth. Some work with fake employment papers and with that known fear in their minds, they are willing to take more abuse. All of this creates a very bad environment for employees and a great cushion from where an owner can abuse and manipulate a talented pool of employees and create fear that makes these people forget their own worth. Steven I think you have worked at an Indian run establishment, without naming names, do you think these things seem real? Am I making this up? Did chefs, server, dishwashers, hosts, bussers, runners, managers etc. get equal respect, as the owners would afford their friends and seemingly wealthy patrons? I have seen horror stories and have been known to fight for some employees. But incorrect work papers and some other legal issues dealing with the employee make it very difficult to go very far in correcting the situation. What we need are more owners that are professionals and come into this business firstly to live a passion and interest and secondly to make money. When only money making is an issue, such abuses will only be furthered and we are not going to see much of a change anytime soon. I only hope that owners can realize how even though most diners will never know the stories you and I know, they can still get a vague sense of unhappiness from the sad look in the manner of the employees. I can always tell when I am eating in a house where employees are tortured. There is certain sadness even in the most humble service that brings out the misery that the service staff endures even as they camouflage it very well. Treating employees with respect and fairly can do the owners no harm. In fact can make the experience for the customers so much better that the word of mouth will even be better than the 2 Star reviews that many will flaunt long after their release. A clever diner can date a static review, but word of mouth is always current and changing.

Any favorites? Where do you get them? Why do you like these Beers opposted to others?

Pan, I had great Laksa in Goa of all places. It was divine. And then I had some in Singapore. But the Goan version was divine. The chef makes his own dried shrimp paste. Could that make all the difference? Thanks for your great insight into this cuisine. We are lucky to have you share in such detail.

Anil, Interesting you mention Coconut Grove. Even before they opened, I had taken a food critic to a sneak preview. We had a meal that was mostly very good. Some unfortunate dishes. But the appams (pancakes) and the stew (coconut stew) were sensational. They were made tableside and that only added to the entire charm. The food critic was smarter than I, they did write up Coconut Grove but mentioned that diners should rush there soon. The critic understood how the chef was very good and his not being an owner would number his days. While I think the chef may stay a year or so, since the restaurant sponsors his immigration papers, some chefs would take the risk of having to wait longer for their legal status if they get a better offer. So even though we think he may last a year... he may not. I have a larger worry; Coconut Grove has a couple of owners. Curiously both by the same name. And each of these owners has a very distinct style. While it is always good to have different styles, in a restaurant, I would rather see teamwork that gels than opposes. As they say...... Too many cooks spoil the broth. I enjoyed our meal at Coconut Grove. I have heard mixed feedback. It certainly won me over with the appam and stew. And then there were the amazing chutneys and pickles, numerous fine examples of Southern Indian genius with pickling and chutney making. But the hook was not enough to bring me back. I was there pre-opening and have never been back. The word of mouth has not been strong enough for me to go back just yet. What they did differently from Tamarind was that they did not hire a publicist. Unfortunate in their case. Since they had much more to offer than Tamarind when they opened. But this city is a tough one. You have to really place all your cards as perfectly as you can when you open. NYC critics do not give you too many chances. While the critic I dined with certainly said good things and mentioned the possibility of chef defection, none other has really said anything significant. Shows how much a publicist alone can do. A good publicist with sound connections can get you undeserved 2 Stars. It further proves the theory that journals etc... do not always know about Food or really care about what they rate as best. Coconut Grove as a restaurant and food concept and talent in the kitchen, was much more impressive than any Indian restaurant in NYC, Tamarind did not even come close. In fact, the chef at Coconut Grove could outwit most all Indian chefs and foodies living in this country.

And if anyone cares to know.. My maternal grandparents live in San Francisco in the Marina. I get to visit them very often for that reason. My grandmother with the help of a walker cooks 3 meals a day. They have lemon trees in their yard, mint and cilantro growing and several other fruits and vegetables. She uses them all and other great produce available in abundance in SF and cooks amazing meals. She actually freezes lemon juice from the tree in the yard for months when they do not have fruits. She says even the frozen juice from the lemons from the yard has more flavor. She makes pickles from them. At her age, with a walker, she enjoys making Dosas and Idlis (steamed lenti and bean cakes) at least once a week. She says it gives my grandfather and her a good change from the North Indian food they eat the rest of the time.

I had lunch at Hampton Chutney today. Crowded as any restaurant can be. How does Patty (the chef-owner) manage? With a winning smile no less. I ate the Classic Masala Dosa. My friend had the #6 or #4 I forget now. The classic with spinach and cheese added. We took them to go. We walked to the St. Patrick's cemetery where we found a place of quiet and calm to sit and eat. Not far at all from the restaurant. The Dosas were great. The stuffing was delicious. The chutney (cilantro for each of us) tasty and the meal a perfect one for a sunny pleasant afternoon in NYC. I told Patty to come visit egullet and let her know we are talking about her here. She had no clue what egullet was. I am hoping she will come so we can ask her questions here. I love Hampton Chutney. I also love the fact that they are so clean. I am weary of the Guru Maayi connection. Since I leave religion and spirituality at home when I dine. I would rather not see that in public places. At Hampton Chutney certainly the images of their owners spiritual beliefs are on display for all to see, but no other mention is made. The very secular person in me found the music upsetting the first time I ate there. And now I actually like it. So, once I moved beyond my initial distaste for the flaunting of any kind of religion publicly, I realized that here was not any action to coerce or affect or change, simply what inspired those that worked there to keep serving happily and with large smiles. I go back more often to Hampton Chutney than any Indian restaurant. For 3 reasons: 1) Great Dosas (my all time favorite food) 2) For clean and friendly environment 3) For that lovely smile I see on the face of the chef-owner Patty, even as she is making and endless sum of Dosas without any breaks. That smile in the chefs face takes me back to the smile on my grandmothers face as she labors at the age of 84 to make great Gobhi- Aloo- Mooli stuffed parathas (cauliflower-potato-turnip stuffed flat breads) and convinces all of us that it gives her great pleasure to feed us these most amazingly crisp parathas. And I am talking at least a few dozen parathas made from scratch by a woman standing with the help of a walker and gravely ill. But she has us all convinced that in serving home cooked meals to my grandfather and all family and friends, she is able to get exercise and a will to continue living. In her feeding us these parathas she claims she finds great relief from a life that could seem hopeless in old age. The strange thing is that I believe her. And at Hampton Chutney, even as Patti makes Dosa after Dosa without a break she continues to smile and keep going at it. When I was there last week I counted her making 15 Dosas before taking a break. And that break was only coming to the counter, announcing the name of the party that placed the order, delivering the Dosa with a great smile and then going back to start making the remainder of orders. Wow! She must love making these crunchy savory and most tasty rice and bean crepes. Her smile makes me forget I am in NYC. I feel I am in the home of my grandmother, eating a meal that all are enjoying. Me for its taste and the chef for what it gives them, a sense of fulfillment.

Bux I agree with you on your assessment of the magazine and link. But more importantly in my book, I do not give any magazine more power than I give a group of friends or family. Word of mouth and sites such as egullet get my attention since so many people with very unique understanding of what they want, come and share their experiences. Nothing can be fairer. It gives you a very realistic opinion about what to expect. Magazines give you most often very one-sided impressions. Each publication comes with an underlying mission. My time and my palate are far too independent to be looking there for an impression. I would use them at the most for a resource to get addresses and numbers. But guidebooks to cities now have all that and also varied impressions. A better choice for my wandering mind. Mind you, as a caterer I have been listed in several magazines and publications. When I hear from people who heard about me through a magazine listing, I realize I have great work ahead of me. Lots of questions remain to be answered. Those calling me after hearing from friends or family or through both, come to me knowing what they want and how they know best I can deliver it. The stark difference in the two is amazing. While it is great for my ego to be mentioned in magazine lists as a top caterer in the city etc... It still does not make me an intimate person for another to trust more than the other 49 on that list.

I agree to some extent with you Wilfrid. But beyond that, I think it is high time restaurant owners at ethnic restaurants realize that employees are human as well. Have emotions, egos, visions and personal tastes. Once they can acknowledge that fact, treat their employees fairly; I think the battle is half won. At this point, so many of the servers are so unhappy and only Working to keep a job that most do not care what the experience is for their guests. To them it is a job that needs their presence and that is all. Unfortunately many of the managers and owners do not know better themselves. And in the end, service is poor at best and food mediocre to begin with for reasons as you mention. I think Indian food has come to a point where it can just remain mediocre and fill a statistic of ethnic presence, or become good and shining through sustained and consistent performance so as to leave an indelible mark on the mindset of the diners. But too many owners seem to think a 2 Star review is their license to fall asleep and let things simply happen as they do. I am suggesting that they learn from people like Floyd and Danny and take their establishments further up instead of falling into that downward spiral that has been their path for a very long time. I am suggesting that Indian restaurants like Tamarind, Ada, Daawat etc are at a point where t hey are poised to walk on a path that would be lucrative and brilliant. But to get to that path, they have to make some serious decisions.

Anil, Pondicherry had Ismail as a consultant just as Daawat had Madhur and Tamarind Raji. A consultant plays a very limited role. And Indian restaurant owners have not been able to do what Danny Meyer did with Floyd. They would rather be cheap, make an easy and cheap deal to get a name. IN the long run, the agreement ends, the restaurant declines and some even close. The owner (the largest partner – the one making the decisions) of Pondicherry was asked by someone how he could claim to own Pondicherry when it was Ismail Merchants restaurant. He replied, when you know me, become a friend, and break bread with me on a regular basis, this restaurant of mine could be called yours as well. And this actually happened long after Ismails contract had come to close. I loved the way the owner handled it. It was so Indian and so politically correct as well. It may not have been as black and white and simple at Pondicherry as you think. I was a partner in it. Ismail had his own dishes in a 3rd page on the menu. The rest were the Indian Fusion dishes that both charmed and exhausted diners. Ismail gave old-fashioned simple recipes. Authentic with his signature. Nothing new, nothing out of the norm and surprisingly, people would rather have his food than the fusion. So here are the plain facts about that technicality. But Anil that is on paper. What happens in the functioning of a restaurant is much deeper than what a menu can share or most diners can comprehend. It took much more than the Pondicherry food that Ismail liked to close Pondicherry. In fact they had only a few dishes from Pondicherry, and Ismail never made much effort to give them publicity. He was happy sharing with people that limited 5-6 dishes that were authentic Indian and were adapted from his recipes. So again, you may have heard or felt something different from reality. And I urge you to read between lines here for the real truth. What Indian restaurants like Tamarind, Pondicherry, Ada, and Surya etc lack are owners that can look beyond the box. I always tell my clients where I work as a consultant, that to get most out of a consultant, they need to ensure some ownership associated with the consultant long after t he end of the contract. Or else, the easiest thing in the world is for a consultant to say that they are now gone and have nothing to do with that horrible restaurant. In ownership of any small sorts, a clever restaurant owner buys long-term vision on behalf of a consultant and for their own long-term success. But to understand this, it takes a Danny Meyer and Floyd Cardoz. We are yet to see a team of Indian restaurant owner/chef that has translated similar successes in the realm of authentic Indian cooking. I have information that can send chills down the spines of those that will hear this stuff. But it is not my place to give details and accuse. We can only suggest, share gently and positively and hope that those in the trade can pick up from our constructive feedback those elements that would help them have sustained and long success.

Two years ago at our annual holiday open house in the village, we had made buckets of Lassi (mango) and it was served with dashes of Vodka, Champagne or Rum. Depending on what one wanted. People still remind me of that service. I will go check out the article now. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Anil, Would that mean you can come chat over chaat?

Matthew I am like you. But you know what, not many in the US have lived overseas in the tropics and so have no comparison to make. They are the lucky ones. Since they can now enjoy the Mangoes found here. I did get the mangoes from the Chelsea Market. They were good. Will I eat a second one? NO. Did I finish even one? NO. I did not find green mangoes. In India we use green mangoes with much love. I love them. I crave them and I would love to see them easily available. Do we use green papaya in Indian cooking? Yes we do. But not very often. And in certain regions and certain homes. I love papaya salad.

Sambhaar is what is a lentil based sauce served with Dosad traditionally. Sambhaars are made with different mixed or seasonal vegetables. At times just one vegetable added to the lentil sauce and at other times a melange of seasonal vegetables. Okra sambhaar is common in Southern India but I am happy to see it make it into restaurant menus here. Yes the coconut chutney that accompanies Dosas is normally served chilled. And mustard seeds are a very important ingredient. The coconut soup sounds amazing. I cannot wait to try it. Pan.. thanks for suggesting this restaurant. It seems like quite a find.

Pan... what a wonderful post you gave us. Amazing for anyone wanting to understand Malaysian cuisine. I am printing a copy of it to save for reading later. Thanks. Do you do anything with food at all? Again...many thanks.

Pan I was of the opinion that it would be easier to find them in the India board. I may be wrong... bear with me on this one. The thread already exists. Sorry to have caused you trouble. It was not my intent.

Liza it sounds very nice. I will send this to a friend of mine that loves being a mixologist. And your post takes me back to really hot days in Delhi during our summer holidays when in the evening we would have a mango milkshake. In the blender would be put milk, mangoes, ice, some vanilla icecream and a very tiny amount of lime juice. the milkshake was the best cooler we could have at 6 in the evening after a long day playing carom.

Floyd Cardoz could kill me and should for putting this on here... but I will venture or at least try to make a point using him and Tabla as an example. Please remember, this is only an example. Jinmyo when you question Steve about if it (Tabla) were more or less Indian, you raise a great question. If Tabla were more Indian, Floyd would not have that radiant smile he carries today. He has flourished since I first met him soon after the opening of Tabla. He may have forgotten my face, and me but I remember the very innocent, young, almost meek face that came to our table. We were guests of a friend of Danny Meyer and guests of the house that night. This young man that came to our table was certainly very charming and talented, but today, is not only charming and talented but also radiant and proud and dynamic. He has grown, as we all do, but grown into his best potential. I am sure he has most to credit for his own growth, but I think it appropriate to recognize his partnership with one like Danny Meyer. I am sure Danny recognized the great potential that Floyd had and stood alongside Floyd as he realized it in stages. He stood through tough and easy times. And with some endurance and patience they have seen a great day for Tabla. It has not only succeeded but also lasted longer than all the other Fusion restaurants that came before it. If Tabla was more Indian, or at least in ownership, Floyd may not be as radiant, may not be there at all. And may never have had the mantle that Danny put him at. On the contrary, Floyd would have been pushed deeper and deeper into a closet so as to not make him visible to others. The owners and their consultants and their spouses would have been given credit for Floyd's brilliance. End result, a staff that knows the owner has no respect for human dignity and brilliance. Staffs that do not respect management make for even worse servers. Bad service leads to bad experiences at tables. And bad experiences at tables next to yours lead to bad experiences for you. It is a vicious circle. Jinmyo, did I make myself clear? Steven am I understanding you correctly? Or am I alone in understanding this situation in this manner. Of course I have made an example of Tabla.. But it could be any other restaurant. Tabla just happens to be a good one here.

Steve Klc is being generous here in his succinct yet very fair post. What he has not said is clearly evident to those that understand the business as seen in the Indian restaurant world. I am sure many other ethnic restaurants are going through the same or went through the same before they came to the next level. Jinmyo Steve and I have each had experience in Indian restaurants and each been part of critically acclaimed and cutting edge restaurants. What killed them? A very shallow understanding of the business and almost no vision to create something that would do more than just feed a checking account. Hundreds of wonderfully talented chefs work at all these Indian restaurants today. Gone are the days when just about anyone could work in a kitchen if they looked to be Sub-Continental. But today, there is no excuse for Indian restaurant owners to not see a larger clearer calling. They have in their midst a very exciting, well trained and driven staff that people like Steven and I have seen lose all hope in these kitchens. It is not much different for the few professionals working in the front of the house in some of these restaurants. The professional teams exist, the players are all there, there is no teamwork, no captain, no coach and no spirit or even game plan. What does that lead us to? Tamarinds, Pondicherry, Adas and Suryas. One after the other, each of them fails only because someone does not care to encourage leadership. Some owners do not even understand food or service or the restaurant industry but find it very easy to dismiss the direction shown by employees that no what they are doing, are enthusiastic about their jobs and professions and have dared to bring forth a vision. But what do I hear from most of these chefs and managers, a complete disregard for their intelligence and their dignity. How long can a restaurant run with such shallow respect for humanity? When one can disrespect another professional so carelessly what would it take them to dismiss the subtle needs of a needy customer? What is to say that the coffee we wanted decaffeinated is really so and not plain coffee? I have witnessed and seen many such horrors and have seen almost no horror in the faces of the owners as I expose these to them. It is as if they did not know better. They do, but for them, this is a business venture that is a means to an end. And the end is not one you and I or most customers understand. It is simply an end to feed a hungry bank account. Indian restaurant owners do not have this unique disposition. I have heard about this from many other smaller and growing ethnic food communities. In fact I am told most all-ethnic groups have gone through this phase. It is a natural. And is not unique to the US either. Even in India the restaurant world has seen this growth. Those that have been successes in the industry there made a conscientious effort to make that risky jump, afford some losses, but in the end, afford a sustained presence of many decades. It takes a visionary to make that happen. Tabla can be criticized for many things. But never for service or delivering that which they offer in their menu. They give you what you were told to expect and what you would after reading a 3 Star review. They do not expect a diner to think that because the restaurant comes with an "Ethnic" baggage, the restaurant can falter and be excused. In fact, what I find so wonderful about Tabla is the very fact that they have broken any and all stereotypes that those wanting to criticize it could have brought up. They have us all quiet by not giving us any opportunity to see them stumble. Service, decor, consistency, professionalism, hygiene standards and a healthy working environment for their own staff are all amply evident and clearly provided. Tabla has done what Four Seasons started to do soon after it opened over 42 years ago. While the Four Seasons was cutting edge and contemporary when it opened and critically acclaimed, they realized soon after that it takes great effort to maintain that buzz year after year. And even more as after several restaurants of similar grandeur and substance were opening. In fact Four Seasons had to find feet even as the ground it walked on was being taken away. More exciting foods, celebrity chef operated restaurants and warmer and cozier restaurants started opening and affording their own clients other venues where they could spend the same or more money and get perhaps even more for their buck. But at Four Seasons they realized while they could not always be trendy and cutting edge, they could simply be consistent and professional and courteous and clubby. That became their schtick (sp?) and is even today. They were wise. Four decades later they are still around while hundreds of trendy restaurants have come and gone. Tamarind can look at one like them and make a quick learn, or learn the hard way. It is not my call or Stevens or any food critics. That call has to come from the owner. We can each give subtle and impassioned calls and hints. But can do no more. In having made an effort, each of us that watch Indian restaurants at this unique juncture, can hope that these restaurants which are on the brink of something very powerful happening next in their journey, can either be poised in the right sense or come to that point in such mess that they will be chewed and digested and flushed even before they materialized their full glory. Tabla has not come of age fully. It has only gone from being a robust and charming-precious new born to becoming that toddler that did not hurt itself as it crawled, but started walking on its own and at a good pace. Table is poised to go places and is a perfect study for others poised to change to join and learn from. While we all want to have our own experiences, it is not always wrong or in poor form to learn from another. Especially in this instance. We should thank the Myer-Cardoz team at Tabla to have had patience and distant vision, and after doing so, we should join them in the next juncture. But our success would not be to simply meet them there, but to be prepared in all ways that they are. It does no good to be ready for the 3rd Star and have no infrastructure. While William Grimes may have limited his freedom to give lesser stars by having given some restaurants a quick 2 Stars even before they reached maturation, he was forced to then give a Tamarind 2 Stars perhaps even less deserved. But what is there to stop another critic in his position from coming and stripping a few stars as they see fit. It would not be the first time. What we see in America that makes it so unique and wonderful as a nation is that in America anyone has the freedom to succeed and make a name. But it is also true in America that when you stop performing, it is just as easy for this countries systems to take away all that you had. One cannot buy a placement in American society, business or politics, but one earns it with hard work and can lose it when one stops to perform. And it is the smooth flow of all aspects of the restaurant that keeps Tabla seeming magical and the contrasting Tamarind, Ada and Dawat seem a comedy of errors. It is that which Steven said so simply and I have belabored over too many sentences.

Will have to rent that film. I love green mango just as I do green papaya. Cabrales.. I have never used dried mango. Actually I have seen them in US supermarkets sold alongside dried apricots, plums etc... What does one do with them? I do add them to my yearly baking of Holiday Fruit Cake but that is about it. WOuld love to know more about how they are used.

Yvonne, Thanks for your feedback. I agree that Tamarind is better than Haveli, Spice Cafe etc... But they do nothing for me. It would be sad to even bother thinking that Tamarind needs to be placed anywhere close to those. We have moved on, NYC has moved on, Indian food has earned a new place. We cannot compare Tamarind to restaurants from the past. Tamarind cannot and should not be compared to them. Tamarind should strive to be in the league of other fine 2 Star restaurants. Why give oneself comfort in thinking that by looking at those worse than us, we seem to shine. That is not how I look at life. I always look to see what other more fortunate and able than me are doing. And I strive to become like them. It keeps me on my toes. finally landed. Even Dawat is not good anymore. It was the best place to eat even 5 years ago. Today, they could not invite me for a free meal and a trip to London. I have had enough poor meals there at a premium price that I would not go back. Tamarind certainly went down drastically from when it opened to now. Sad. I was hoping that with Tamarind, Indian restaurants would find a new beginning. Actually, they did. But it was a short affair with a role model. The restaurant that it was, it is not anymore. It is endemic for some reason with Indian restaurants that owners have a very limited and narrow vision. Making profit today and forgetting the building of a foundation that would sustain them a decade or three from the hyped up opening, is their goal. Mine would be to lose some money now but do all one can to ensure lasting success. But is ther that Tabla has made a lasting impression and others like Pondicherry, Surya and Ada come and go. Some get so lost in counting the money they begin to make after rave reviews, that they are lost in thinking of what it takes to build a solid empire. I am hoping that very soon we will have a new generation of owner-chef types opening Indian restaurants where the vision will not be driven by a review and quick money, but to share with society great food in appropriate settings. Owners need pride in having given society an avenue where their talent can flourish in the success of their restaurant. Look at what happened to Tamarind, Pondicherry, Ada, Dawat, Shaan, Chola and Surya. They were all great restaurants, excellent in their first few months. They all got great rave reviews and now, each of them is sad and run down. While Tamarind is the newest, the signs are clear that it too has followed in the footsteps of those others, into a downward spiral. I look at restaurants as babies. We bring then into this world all pure and innocent. It is us that shape them and make them what they are. Owners and chefs can sustain the brilliance only if they have a vision, frankly, apart from Danny & Floyd at Tabla, no one in the larger realm of the Indian food world has shown that vision yet. Maybe Tamarind is going to be that next step. I am hoping Tamarind can take from the frank and difficult but honest feedback from fans like myself, the key to their own success. Few customers complain, but those that do, a good owner will stop and listen to. For it takes guts to speak up and care to do so. Tamarind is still young enough that it can correct its mistakes. Correct the poor service, staff its kitchen appropriately so as to give customers hot food. But if they keep thinking that they can live on the glory of great reviews alone, soon, they will become a home for those tourists who read magazine ratings alone. But savvy local diners will go where they had the last tasty, clean, hot, well served and comfortably presented meal. The craze will die down, and then Tamarind like Pondicherry (the most beautiful Indian restaurant in the world when it was open, in my book) will have to realize, celebrities, reviews and tourists and hype, die down and end. In the end a successful restaurant needs to keep reinventing themselves. Tabla did just that and now after a short period of quiet, they are doing very well again. Yvonne, there is a new link already for Guru.. You can go add to it. It is in the India board and the link is also in a post above. Tamarind as I have said before is magical as you walk in. In the past the magic lasted long after I was back home. My last few experiences were far from magical even just minutes after I was seated. While the make up at Tamarind still looks wonderful, the bones are cracking. A strong, measured, sustained and organized dosage of calcium (in this case effort by the management) can easily correct the situation. Sooner the better, or else the bones will break and it will be too late. I love my India, I love Indian food and I love to see Indian restaurants succeed. I have been involved in restaurants that closed. And they like Tamarind seemed like the Titanic did to its captains, a ship that could never sink. The Titanic sank, Pondicherry closed and others did as well. Tuhin Dutta is the name I had forgotten. Like I said.. I had mixed opinions about Banjara. I would go to newer restaurants before I go back there. It was nice. But nothing exceptional. As for Tuhin, I wish we would see more chefs with his enthusiasm and pride in their Indian cooking. That pride in Indian food and the experience of find dining can be the missing ingredient that can be easily established, used and exalted to a level where Indian restaurant owners can then feel they have

Weekend afternoons are great in my book for Chaat. I would love to be there. Thanks for the idea Damian.

Yes they could very well be the Persian Limes. And they are hardly acidic. I cut the oranges as juliennes for the marmalade and the chutney. I remove almost all the white pith when cooking savory dishes with the rind. I leave it for the chutney and the marmalade. For the grapefruit, I would suggest removing the pith... I am not sure.. I have never made that one before. I had some wonderful Pommelo salad in Singapore. It was like a papaya salad. Flavored with fish sauce, soy sauce, tomatoes, hot Thai chilies, dried shrimp, onions and saly and pepper. The juliennes you cut for the chutney could be cut into larger chunks. The length should be as long as you can keep. The width could be 1/4 of an inch wide. Double what you would see in a marmalade. Keep me posted.

Yes people have been known to add cardamom seed powder to their coffee. In India we use brown cardamom seeds more for savory dishes alone. They are more intense in their flavor and also give a very woody and deep taste. The green or white ones are used for desserts and certain savory dishes. I am sure the market you go to in ATlanta has all of them.