Suvir Saran

Bukhara Grill merits a visit. The Naan is very good. And the food is is better than what its neighbors are serving in that block.

Ruby, you are very good in supporting the economy in NYC today. It needs it and also helps t he many immigrant workers who have lost loved ones on 9/11 but are getting little if any federal or charitable assistance as they fear being deported to countries they came from. These restaurants not only entertain our senses, and us but also provide some support to this very acutely hit part of our rich and diverse NYC population. You were very eloquent in your posting. I too work hard for every meal I enjoy outside my home. And like you, I am not middle-aged, middle-class or middle-educated. And am not worried though to be middle-aged. I am actually looking forward to seeing it happen as it does. And cal me daft, but I love how inspiring the conversations and dialogues are at egullet. Some are so honest and bold; they almost make me wonder how we can share it with more people. Without losing the very rich and intelligent quality of text one sees on this site.

I do also speak in middle-pitch and write middle sorry mediocre, but I think I still am able to have my understood by most middle-people. Perhaps if you do read my post again, middle-speed, not to slow or too fast, you will get the gist of my post.

And why prey are you Lord Lewis wasting your breath amongst us middle-educated folk on egullet? You seem so good at pointing out the failures of the middle-class, the middle-aged and the middle-educated, perhaps you should look for a higher or lower forum where you can be more at ease. And your elevated sentiment more appropriate and better understood. One should not associate in places where one cannot be happy about getting involved. It is sad to see someone spend so much time in a place and yet find so much not correct with that place and its core. I would hate to see that happen with your association with this site. You seem to carry a frustration about most that we read, chew and discuss here. You can make it easier by reading, chewing and discussing amongst those that you are more at ease with. I am sure most all would be happy, seeing you happier. While each guest brings much to any forum, there are times, when one has to think about the guests own needs. I for one would certainly understand your moving on to higher, bigger and better places. While your loss would be felt in the beginning, we will cope with it, as we middle-class people know best to do. Or, perhaps you really do love the site, and are only saying things that you really do not mean, but say to make a dialogue. There are more successful ways of doing that. But I would still recognize your way as being fine, if that is what you are attempting to do. We all have our own style. And since you come with an entitled titled name, you may not know what it is to only be middle-class, middle-aged, and middle-educated. We have worked hard to be who we are. And that does entitle us to form our own opinion and in our middle-world, it is considered correct to aspire for the higher, have visions and create and work around theories. We need these to live. Since our lives depend on ourselves. We have no middle-men giving us living expenses that are owed us for the title we have.

Bux, I am not offended or amused or even find incomplete the use of curry (if we have to use that word) in western cooking. Actually, I am fine with the idea. For curry does not mean anything to me. Curry to me means a lot of things very different from what we talk about here. Gravy maybe, a green herb is another thing that comes to mind. Also there is no comparison between the Japanese not liking western foods and an Indian not liking Curry in western dishes. Those are two very separate and unrelated occurrences. Nothing similar in them to justify comparison. Maybe you could compare how Indians respond to western food and compare that to the Japanese reaction to western food. That would be an accurate and correct comparison. Secondly, Indians are amused at best not insulted or outraged or upset. Personally, I give little credit to a chef that finds ingredients that are from India and uses them in their food, and after all that effort, has to still resort to a word as poor as Curry to define their great creation. It shows very little understanding of food and life and culture and inspiration on the part of the chef and little respect for their own art. It would be sad if I were a painter and did oil painting, learned how to do water color from a great artist and then came back to my country and told people I am using new paints to work with. If I could not even remember the name for those paints - water colors in this instance, it shows how little I cared to learn. That perhaps I was simply doing something for show. One that cares, will be more conscientious. And with that understanding, that chef would create food that will live upto what it is. Do not forget, China and Japan have very old ties with India. Buddha took his way of living to those countries. In the chant Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo you will find words from different languages. And with the religion traveling to these other countries, so did the food and its many subtleties. While Chinese and Japanese foods have maintained their original form and character, they have an old tradition of knowing the wisdom of spices and how they were used by those that relied on them for pleasures more than just culinary. I am sure when these exotic spices came to these two countries, it must have been very disturbing at first, but with time and practice, they evolved into a part of their lives. Noodles are a part of Indian food in many forms. We have papadums that are used in Rajasthan as pasta or noodles are used in Italy and China. These rice and lentil noodles or pasta, whatever we call them, are used in that part of India as a starch. Tomato based sauces are used today and in these the papadums are cooked like a pasta would. So it is not too exotic for an Indian to fathom that. And actually, the Chinese do a great job with what they call curry. They have understood the secret well. It is all in cooking the spices and bringing out the essential oils that will give layers of complexity to the dish. While we talk about noodles and curry, you will find many similar dishes in the foods of Southern India and even Sri Lanka. These make many different kinds of noodle and pasta like starches, which are eaten, with the many Indian sauces. So, again, noodles with curry are not exotic to Indians. And Steven from your last post, I can perhaps claim that I would be a better judge of western cooking. So maybe my edict on foods in France and the US would have more weight than yours. For I carry less bias in the reverse situation. For I am a mere Eastern newbe living in the western world.… hmm…..that is exciting to know. Thanks for giving me such power. But really, I do not think that is the case. But there is some sense to what you say. I certainly will not go as far to accept the reverse of your post. Since it certainly makes me very uncomfortable. But I will remember this thought when I want to oppose your undue dismissal or love of any chef or restaurant. It is a weapon I now have at my disposal. Thanks.

And that is where Steven you and I will never meet. Since you cannot understand my food and the need of people from my part of the world to have that cultural baggage associated with food. You want the same distinction that you find yourself laying on food to be mine. It will never be Steven. And it is in this very basic difference in our lives and understanding of essentials that we can find the richness that the world has. Or we can simply want the other to change and create unrest. The choice is ours. I choose for plurality. I am confident as you read further, you will too. I was hosting family friends from New Delhi at our home the other day. I had done a tasting of 7 rice dishes. Only cause I was working on the rice chapter. While they ate the foods, the food was important yes, but what was more important to their enjoyment was how the food transported them to many trips into each place from where my recipe had been borrowed. While the recipe was not exact, to their minds, it was evocative of the very moment when they had enjoyed a rice dish similar to what I had prepared. The comparisons would certainly have gone through their thought process and their enjoyment of the rice and that meal, immediately had the cultural baggage of each of their trips involved in their enjoyment on Thursday night. It made the moment rich and memorable and the food greater than any they could have found anywhere else. For it came with rich nostalgia, had its own feet and had the mysteries that made it just slightly different and yet so close. They were searching through their taste buds for those subtleties of my hand and of the chef that had prepared the same dish decades ago. Perhaps it is a poor way of enjoying food. But that is how they enjoyed their meal. And their stories of each rice dish and where they had first enjoyed it and in what setting and how it was different or similar to mine, made me understand my own cooking better. The next moment we were chatting about my large collection of pickles and chutneys and again we were being transported back to kitchens of the many grandmother and aunts that each of them remembered preparing similar dishes. Again it was the memories that clouded that moment and made it what it was. We in India seem to thrive in not needing a pure carefully secluded moment to enjoy the many beautiful things of life. Maybe it makes us less in tune with the beauty of each of those things individually, but Steven, that is where Indian lives. Our textiles evoke similar memories, our music does the same, our dance and our language evokes similar comparisons and richness. No one would be interested in sitting at a dull table eating great food in India. They would rather sit as a loving group, full of tension that makes for exciting and thrilling conversations and talk about all things considered uncouth in the west as a group and that makes for an enjoyable meal. I remember how as a child, we had some boring aunts and uncles and we hated eating in their homes. My mother says they prepared great food like all other family members, but only she, who is truly generous and very kind, finds that ability. To the rest of the family, a dinner in their house was like eating a terrible meal in detention. And now, when the same aunt and uncle come to meet us, I can understand where my mother was able to find some taste in their food, for my aunt has cooked in our kitchen. The conversations have been those that I encourage in hour home and people that we have invited and those that could not eat her food in India, now like it. We talked the same day about Chaat and how in India the mere mention of the word Chaat ( which refers to mouth wateringly delicious foods found in streets ) will make most people that have grown up eating it, start drooling and for real. I mean drooling as the dictionary describes it. I am not drooling after tasting it, as I am drooling as I even write about chaat. There are memories associated with the enjoyment of chaat and they make us involuntarily start salivating right at the thought. And I and my family and friends are not alone with that experience. I have friends from India across continents, who come to visit me in NYC and want to eat chaat I make at home. And as they tell me that, they are stuttering for they are so excited by the mere prospect of having that food they so crave. But we in India are very different from people even in our near vicinity. And that is common is it not. Americans in the US are different from the Americans in Canada or Mexico. We each grow up in different worlds. Ours places great importance in the cultural and traditional aspects of food. Which does not mean we need it in all foods. When I ate are Arpege, I was not seeking anything more than the adventure of that one meal. When I go back thee, I will certainly have colored lenses through which I will taste the food the second time. That is how I and most Indians I know think. But for I have little connection with Arpege, the first time was as pure and disconnected from me as it could be. But not for Indian food my friend. In that world, each memory of the dish I am cooking and eat in another kitchen, will change how I enjoy that meal. That is just how it is. I am sorry if I fail in being elevated to a level of purity, but I have been trained in a culture, where if I go back and live as you do here, they would look at me and what I say, as you do about what I say here. But it is this richness of difference and plurality of life that makes the world so wonderful. That we can each have such different reactions to the same thing, should make us love life and enjoy it for that diversity.

Steven.. you are correct.

And Steven, I entertain every effort made in any direction. Most often when things are good or bad, my reaction is the same. Those that know me.. call me pan faced, for I share little emotion when affected by things. Call me jaded, but after having seen much strife and misery around me as a young child, I have much too much knowledge about all that the world goes through. And how transient these trivial aspects of life are in the long run. It was also that silent knowledge that had my eyes dry after 9/11 and still dry after the events of the last few days in India. Nothing that I could have said done would have changed the reality of what had happened. And yet, I also knew that nothing that happened in the US that day was any different from the horror that the world had quietly witnessed in many other places before and as we have seen in the last few days in India alone, is being visited today. But yes, there were plenty in our media and in our friend circles that were gravely affected. And I had deep sympathies with them and all ears in my sharing of their grief. But even as I was available to one and all of my friends and acquaintances and neighbors, it did not mean I shared in their version of grief, their way of dealing with it, or in the ways in which they assigned blame. In fact, I had my own issues to deal with after 9/11. I witnessed the fusion of man with barbarian. Men calling me a F*******G Arab, one even spat on me as he yelled for me to go back home and a policeman that asked me what my religion was as he looked at me so as to terrorize me. But that was a fusion that was just as real as the fusion of flavors and cultures. And just as successful in that moment as a chef pouring curry powder over a dish and finding success. But we choose to ignore one, ponder over the other. Why? Only for one being easier to grasp. I looked at those five or six incidents where I was harassed and abused as mere ignorance. Steven as you point out how an ignorant man can create something wonderful that is exactly how I felt about these ignorant people wanting to hurt me. They were ignorant in not knowing that not all Arabs are their enemies and they were even more ignorant in assuming that I was Arab. Not that it should matter. All lives are sacred as all fusion food and creations are necessary. I share this to show you that ignorance can have victory. But ignorance is also what makes the world come through points where it nears very low moments. But from reaching those poor lows, we have but one direction to go, up. And that is what can bring hope to those that can sense failure. I chose to keep living in the same city and place, for I knew it could not get worse. Things would change. But even months after 9/11 I feel the strain exist, but it does seem at least on the surface that people are getting back to their senses. It was a first for most everyone here to see such horror so closely. Till 9./11 it was something we looked at on the TV screens as being the reality of those foreign and underdeveloped nations. It brought into our backyard a small fraction of what a lot of the world has lived with for long periods of time. Similarly, fusion has its ups and downs. It changes from what part of world one sees it in. While it is always a challenge when it first begins. Wonderful things have happened from fusion. Like the very vast and varied Indian cooking. A lot of it is fusion. So is the language Urdu. A child of fusion of 5 languages, to those that have read its literature and can speak it, no language in the world can come close to it. It is the most sensuous most romantic language and maybe the youngest one to exist. It was created in the 16th century I believe. It has in its roots, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Persian and Sanskrit. Many thought it was a joke when it first started. Today, all that know it, find it magical. So, I do not for a moment doubt the potential of the fusion we see being worked on today, I am only hoping I will see some magic in my own lifetime. I am happy knowing that it has begun, and that lives younger than mine, will reap the benefits of that which was still growing in my lifetime. It is a hopeful point of view. And yet, I also make a living sharing one such trivial chore of our lives with others. Food. So, I have no problem trying and enjoying mistakes and victories. But they do not make me jump and proclaim winners or losers, since I know it takes much more than a fluke or a mistake to make one either a winner or a loser. It takes a lifetime of continued self exploration, viewed by many that we do not even know exist to happen, before we can be announced as anything more than a mere human like all others. For any announcement on any other persons behalf is limited to their own biases. Like mine come out in this debate. While they are different from yours, they will never be better or worse, simply the different way of thinking of another mind. We all are affected differently from different things. And those that try and fit us into one mold, will find no victory at all. For my passionate criticisms of a chef would only be mine alone to live with. Life would still move on for the chef and the world. My praises will also only affect me.. and in the same limited way and affect little around the world. So why bother, I choose to observe, enjoy and leave. I have been known to go back to many places I have never enjoyed. I go back for others I know love them. I can always let go of my need to be in control. That makes me also get closer to understanding how other minds work and get affected in different ways from me in so many different aspects of life.

Steven you are right, but flukes do not happen again. And not always will be understood by everybody the same way. And there is no reason to not let flukes exist and have their day of glory. I am not debating that. But baseless thoughts and all things without roots disappear on their own. Such is the reality of our lives. Things we do in the moment, can lead to much happiness and much victory, but it does not mean that will happen every time. I live in the moment and my cuisine does as well, but at no moment is any element of it simply a fad. That is what can be pointless. And yet, I am deeply aware of the need for change to exist and happen. Since t hat is lives romance with itself. It's own need to exist and flow. We are all here for a finite moment and then gone. Many of our fads die with us, what we leave behind will only leave an impression when those things have substance that merits others time. Too many of us have little time today to spend with another and their lives, why would we do so with a dead man. It is with that in mind, certain people think of a legacy they will leave behind. We all leave one, but some speak louder than others and resonate as such with broader audiences for longer periods of time. And those few are called classics. And the power to make anything a classic lies in the hands of the creator and circumstance. But mostly in the hands and mind of that shaping it. Many give up; have short-term goals and limited vision. That is not to say at all that they lack talent. Many geniuses never see their due for they give up too soon or are very distracted. It is a pity that we have little in place to help those winning minds. For if they could bring to fruition each of their ideas, the world would have even lesser time to fight wars, but more time to enjoy those creations.

There is a huge difference in the two sides Steven. One comes with the burden of knowing not only the food, but also with the magic that comes by knowing a spice. No textbook alone can teach you what a spice does as it changes with heat. In every step lies a new intensity of taste and a new subtle aroma and texture. A trained chef alone can make that judgment about how to use those spices. The ignorant and amateur will make do with curry powder. And I am nauseous thinking about curry powder being sprinkled as would be salt and pepper. Since so many ingredients in there need to be sautéed for their true flavor to come out. And some would at least make the trained Indian palate of mine want to throw up cause I taste raw flavors that are not tasty to a palate that has seen the subtle changes that transform a spice from just being a spice or becoming the key ingredient taking our senses to a culinary heaven. It is this expertise that does not exist much in the world of fusion yet. And I say Yet, only for many chefs including some you have each highly praised. While they have reached new heights and done very well from where they began, their own knowledge and their food, have years of experience to live before t hey can be as deft with spices and their moods as the chefs and cuisines they borrow from. I cook western fusion style every now and then. Five years ago I made a cream based pasta with curry powder. I found it offensive to my senses. I knew it would charm my American friends. That was exactly what happened. On the anniversary of that day, this last month, I was asked if I could recreate that stunning dish. I found it so mediocre that I did not give it any space in my memory. And here, foodies of some repute in our fine NYC were asking me for that dish. It was one of my first forays into fusion. To most anything new is exciting. And seeing the response that night from people that seriously were in love with my very amateur attempt at fusing two cuisines, I realized how important it was for me to not share these with people. I needed to bring to them something, which would be ready to be loved and epitomized. Or else, we humans tend to accept certain things out of our need to see change. I did not want on my shoulder the burden of having created a dish even I was not happy with. I am told by sources that have worked with a few of these fusion chefs that they often find more comfort and craving for their more traditional foods. I have asked what they mean by that, and have been told, those foods are quote " boutique " and have a place in a restaurant to be served to customers, but do nothing for their own craving for something tasty. Well, I was doing the same. Cooking something for my egos need to create something. While I was far from pleased with it, it did make the others happy. But shall one be creating things one cannot respect themselves? It is with that knowledge that we need to respect the need for a mastering of ones trade. And all steps involved in our trade becoming what it is. So with fusion cooking, one has to understand well what cuisine will become the dominant one, and understand every subtlety of the one we bring into this dominant cuisine. So, with that behind us, while we may be bringing no more than an element or two into this base cuisine, we do so knowing how brilliantly t hat one addition can transform the dish and yet maintain the basic brilliance of each of the cuisines. Curry powders are not meant to be used as salt and pepper. They were meant to be used in sauces and gravies and other cooked preparations where the cook was trying to imbue the food with an Indian flavor. It was a quick fix for a curry craving. Not a perfect answer at all. But it was made to be a quick fix alone. Certainly flukes happen. Maybe once in a million tries a chef can open a can of exotic unknown ingredients and come up with a dish that is nice. But that does not make it fusion or an art form. Fusion will need to have substance to find a home in the hearts of people. It may feed hungry stomachs, may entertain that mind searching for a fad, but to bring comfort to ones cravings, it will need sustenance from within itself. And that comes from a core of traditions. Traditions need roots. While there is certainly a root growing there, it needs to get deeper and have lateraline development. When that has happened, the opening of a can and sprinkling a spice nature of this cuisine is transformed into a cuisine that though new, is grounded in its own rich tradition.

And Vivin, it takes me back to comparing music and food as being very similar. Classical music may not appeal to the young and the hip, but for decades and generations, it what people go back to when they want something very comfortable and easy. And a great young artist, at least in the INdian music scene normally comes from within the folds of the classical genre, or one who has enough knowledge of the classics to then create from their roots, something fresh and lively but deeply grounded in history and life. I know little about french food and by no means am I wanting to die having discovered every nuance of it, but I loved Arpege and remember it fondly. I had one of my favorite western meals in a restaurant at Arpege. And their service and attention to detail was extraordinary. At least the night I was there.

Darjeeling tea sorbet.. wow.. sounds wonderful. Again and again, my mind comes back to the one thing.. we need all our food, being played with today, to find legs. And when it finds them, builds them, it will walk. Till then, we will need to argue, defend and protect it. But once it has landed, the next such round of fusion will begin. But this drama also keeps us loving that which is classic while entertaining our senses today in more ways than one. If we only had the classics, we may never have learned to respect them or critique them. It is only after we have eaten a meal that could be good but not sound, can we understand in comparison a meal that may not be lively but is sound.

Vivin I loved Arpege and loved Passards food. I chatted with him.. and he did not call it fusion at all. Evolution yes. And I was thinking of you as I was in the cab coming home.. and so, it was funny coming to your post. What timing. I had wondered what you had to say about all this. We come from a land of fusion.. or at least I.. even my ethnic background is fusion.. and my people, the Kayasthas were a fusion of Hindu and Moslem.. so I have thrived in the world of fusion... and Madhur Jaffrey is also a Kayastha like me and also comes from the world of that fusion that I talk about. Like anything in life, we need to see fusion with legs first. And then judge it. For now, the few restaurants that have called themselves fusion, have done so to become trendy.. maybe in haste. If they were clever, they would steer away from these names. Make legs for their vision and then label it. For, till that happens, people will be dissapointed in this new trend. A trend that is for now, nothing more than another evolving with time and effort into something it will become at a latter date. Does it make sense?

Thanks Bux... very interesting threat that was. Woof! Well, Indian spices have been used as you rightly say for centuries in the west. People just did not make as much fuss about the fusion that happened. Living in a country and a part of the world where we need obsessions, we find it easy to take beyond their due anything anyone does. And I think that is what has happened with the play of spices happening in the kitchens of many chefs. Country captain chicken was a poor but quite authentic version of a chicken curry. It is still made in some older homes of the south in the US. I was working with Nathalie Dupree on her recipe. A few changes I made, not many, changed the recipe that was wonderful to become authentic. But her version was just as wonderful I think. It just did not come with the heavy word fusion, it simply was a chicken dish reminiscent of the old days. I think fusion has been happening as long as human beings have lived and traveled and moved from place to place and accepted visitors. It is but a natural thing to see happen. IN the old days, one did not make much fuss till something radical and substantial had taken place. Today, even as Table struggled to find its feet, we had declared it a winner. Not that it was not close to what it should be; it just had not evolved for itself. I believe, if Tabla can last with the same chef for a decade more, we will certainly see then a fusion cuisine that will be relevant. Every take on fusion can have strong association with one cuisine. In Tablas case it happens to be some cuisine other than Indian. I have met some snooty French chefs that claim that it has no French roots. I doubt that. And as an Indian cooker teacher, and someone that has lived eating Indian food all his life, I certainly can vouch for the fact that Tablas food has little if any roots in the food I grew up eating at home, or those of friends or even in restaurants. The Bread Bar at Tabla was an afterthought. Or a thought that reached a higher potential years after the restaurant opened. IN fact that very Indian concept seems to have done better in the longer run. I see very little if any fusion in that part of Tablas's menu. Raji Jallepalli did the same; she fused and borrowed Indian subtleties into French cooking. French food was the dominant partner. Beware, at Tamarind, she gave little of herself and her cuisine other than her name and blessings as a consultant. The food was the age-old Indian repertoire from the north. Made to perfection by Hemant Mathur who has since left Tamarind. It was fortunate for Tamarind that Raji had reached a place and time in her short-lived life, to begin exploring Indian cuisine that she had never known. She left it to Hemants mind to come up with recipes and variations to age old classics and she helped him in finding edible flowers that could be used as garnishes in his plates. If we could call the addition of a flower used as a garnish as successful fusion, yet it did succeed. Perhaps I am more apt in calling it simply Indian food served in an elegant setting with effort made to serve it in contemporary styles. I have still not had one Indian fusion meal that I have loved. Where the Indian element of the food has been dominant and yet been fused with foreign elements that change it enough so as to make it just different enough but not lose its identity. For all your interest, I am the same chef that New York Magazine and Food Arts Magazine had called as being fixated on fusion cooking and nouvelle cooking. As I live in the realm of a chef and a creative person, I hate to summarily dismiss t hat work, which is being done by people wanting to create something new. I simply watch without getting too excited or too disturbed. I do not let something as nascent as what we see in the world of Indian fusion occupy anymore of my time than it deserved at this stage of the game. My love for letting life lead its own course freely makes me understand the relevance of places like Tabla. And that makes me respect their being and encourage others to give them a chance. I believe, Tabla is a first step in a great new walk in the path of Indian food. I am sure somewhere along the path, a course that leads to the end successfully will be found and that would be a great new turn in the life of both French and Indian food. Till then, I am happy eating both cuisines as they are. Enjoying subtle play that makes each of these cuisines take new turns. And while I make little if any effort to eat at places like Tabla, I am also keenly aware of what they do in the longer life of food as a whole. And I am also happy to accept that which they create that could decades from now, be considered a great change in the life of two cuisines that were very strong in the own roots. But we are far from that reality and thus, we can only watch for now. And enjoy both the little peaks and drops as these cuisines find a new high point.

You are the smart one Anil. And Simon, read between the lines... You will unerstand what I really say. It may be closer to what you grasp as reality anyways. About Tabla that is. And Steve gave you some very good points about a fusion that has happened for generations.

Fusing is profoundly confusing at the beginning. Soon, when it has seen the many lives that spring from trial and error, those creating it and those sharing in it, will each themselves get closer to what they would rather have. And that realization will take us to the next logical step. Till then, it will entertain those that know little about the culture being borrowed from and infuriate those that having thrived with what is being fused expect much more. Neither is wrong. Neither is better. It is simply like with all of lives many double sided issues a story of two different forms wanting to express each of themselves and yet in need to become harmonious about there shared identity.

And I agree that fusion is a necessary step forward. Every cuisine as we see it today has seen it happen to it sometime in its long history. At times it has been called as such and at others, it took new forms without having to sell that change. Addition of spices alone does not make for successful fusion. One needs to fuse the many other nuances that go in the preparation of food. When one knows all the many ways in which food is prepared in the culture from which one will transplant ingredients, spices or herbs, one has found also the techniques that are necessary to help with this fusion. Till one studies and makes an effort to make the latter happen, we will see the very natal level of fusion. That is why I keep suggesting that Tabla has done a good job, and years from today, we will really come to the next level of fusion that would be fusion with legs. And once we get there, there will inadvertently a need for the next round of fusion.

Simon and Steven, YOu have said it perfectly. Nothing more remains to be said. Wow... could never have imagined a dialogue on here being so short and so succinct.

The consulting chef was Raji Jallepalli Riess who is now gone. She passed away after a short fatal bout with cancer. She was from Memphis, TN. And certainly was one of the first Indian chefs to make it big in the US. She also gets credit for being the forbearers of the Indian fusion torch. She always said to me that her knowledge of Indian cooking as the world knows was limited to restaurants. She had grown up eating what she ate at home. While it was food she enjoyed, it was not of any lasting importance. She credited her own desire to indulge in food and her travels overseas that led her to experiment with her Indian heritage and fuse flavors. She was consulting with Tamarind till the day she died. I am sure since that has been so recent; they are still at a loss of what next. The original chef was Hemant Mathur who is now on the west coast. Hemant is someone that takes food very seriously and each recipe that is served at Tamarind has an indelible stamp of both Raji and Hemant and their individual and shared visions. Tamarind is nothing but an Indian restaurant. And a very attractive one at that. Which is a very pleasant change and the perfect direction for others to follow, even as they make the food more interesting and tasty.

I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say... I would love to see what films are good in dealing with food. I am not very well versed with Bollywoof films.

I agree with you on this one Steven. A lot of this fusion is very forced. I had a meal a few weeks after Passard did the new menu last year at Arpege. The food was lovely; it spared me the fusion confusion that can easily happen unless you are really very comfortable playing with spices. And the Crème de truffe du perigord noir aux oeufs, haunt my senses even a year later. I saw a lot of spices used and mostly forced when I was there a year ago. I am happy to hear that things seem more harmonious and fused now. Exciting. And curry powder does have Indian roots. But were the roots what we see it as today? Is another question. The beast we see today seems to have no roots to anything worthwhile in any culture. It fills the immediate need for something that acts as flavor filler when not sure what to do with spices. It works for most people, but can offend those that have witnessed the erotic manner in which spices and herbs when used well together can create a symphony of flavors that becomes an instant classic. Cumin in desserts, well, call me puritan for this one, but it offends my sweet tooth to be teased with savory and very acrid and way too warm than one would want an average dessert to be. But, I do live with spices and spend most of my day entertaining them and being entertained by them. I deal with them, like parents deal with their children. I am in heaven eating desserts that are what desserts were meant to be. Pleasurable, sweet ends for meals. An end that leaves you happy about the savory meal that preceded the course that leaves you happy and sated without being tested at the last part of your meal. To me desserts are all about bringing a very welcome and apt end to an evening of great importance. The final note needs to be strong but certainly not overbearing.

Thanks for being enthusiastic and encouraging.. I wish I had more time.. but I promise to do it soon.

You should find out more about that drink they served... Very curious here. Sounds decadent and innovative.. and somewhat similar to Goldschlager.

Salaam Bombay, Bay Leaf, Dawat, Tamarind, Shaan and Sapphire are all offering food that is very similar. It depends when you eat, what time and which chef makes the dish that night. While the sauces are mostly similar day after day at each of those restaurants for their recipe items. Each chef in the same kitchen will make just those slight proportional changes in spicing that can make all the difference. Bukhara Grill is a new-comer.. or not that new anymore. They have had consistency problems but I am told it has become better. I was there not too long ago and ate the best Naan outside of India. The Maa Daal ( Creamy black lentils) were also the best outside of India and the okra was as nice as it can get anywhere. Depending on my mood, I make a few phone calls. Find out which of my favorite chefs is working that evening or day and then I go to the restaurant of choice. But any of the above are a safe bet. While the food may not be as good as that we are used to seeing in India, each of these is close enough to the other, that your own mind can pick the one that inspires you most. I will maybe take some time and come up with a fair and detailed reveiw of Indian restaurants sometime in the next few months.

Comparing Tabla and Tamarind is like comparing apples and oranges. And no the pastry chef on this site had no connection. And that is unfortunate for Tamarind. The very talented young lady that was helping them in the begining was treated so poorly that she left. I am sure they have kept her recipes and creations and are duplicating them for retail. She was very passionate about being at Tamarind. It was her first job. They could not hold on to her, sad for them but she is doing well, back in school and working where they love her. Tamarind has basic Indian food in a nice setting. A few and I repeat a very few new dishes. That could maybe found similar to what is seen at Tabla. Tabla is French food or some food with Indian accents. They are each very good and very unique and necessary for Indian food to make a large dent in the US landscape. Unfortunately, the desserts are mediocre at best. Very inconsistent and very poorly executed when done well. Another huge loss was the passing away of the spirit of Raji Jallepalli Reiss that was a consulting one. While her sudden loss has left them without her consulting position, the genius Indian chef that was the back bone to their success is now in the west coast and doing well with a new restaurant in silicon valley. So, in short, they have suffered a few set backs, but the restaurant will certainly do fine. Those that really know a lot about Indian food, are already complaining about the finer nuances of the cuisine being lost ever since Heman Mathur resigned. Those that do not know better, will never know better. Hemants (the chef that left them) wizardry can only be experienced when you are lucky to have had a taste of his food. There is a very small difference between a good meal and a great meal. That comes from every little detail to perfection having been met. And he cooked only for that goal. And he did a great job at Tamarind. The owners seemed to care little about sharing his personality with the press. Maybe that made him leave a restaurant that had so much promise. It would be great if this could be a learning point for owners of ethnic restaurants to wake up and have respect for their chefs and staff. Alas, I am told, owners need a lot more jolts before changing their old mind set. I did a long review of Tamarind for Food Arts Magazine. I am sure it was one of the longest retsaurant stories they have ever printed. An ABC into Indian cooking through the food at Tamarind. If you can get a copy of that, you may enjoy reading it. I will see if I can find the text and post it on my web site.