Amma

[tommy]

suvir, could you provide some info on the wine list?  specifically, what might be paired with the tasting menus?

congrats.  this is good news.  bad news for diwan, though.

Tommy, I shall share that information with you soon enough. Maybe you can come visit ut... and if you give me ample notice, I may make you some special dishes, only for your table.

I am sure Diwan and we can exist together. Certainly our little restaurant does not give too much to other Indian restaurants to worry about. It is small, and hence a place where Hemant and I can touch each dish with our hands.

i'm sure diwan will continue to be an incredible restaurant. however, i just know from my heart that this new restaurant won't be one to miss.

[anil]

SOG

[skchai]

Suvir - I've already sent my congratulations via email, but it bears repeating: congratulations.

One thing that impresses about the menu is the extent to which each dish provides a truly unique set of tastes and textures, yet there is an overall balance to each section of the menu. While the tendency is towards the creative and the regional, there are also restaurant comfort foods like butter chicken and saag (although I'm sure they are prepared in your own special way). Furthermore, there seem to be a number of items that wouldn't be found on any menu I've seen in the U.S. (N.Y. may be different), each provides a connection with something more familiar, combining familiar ingredients with unfamiliar techniques, or vice-versa. Hence there is nothing that would be "threatening" even to the uninitiated.

I am certain that a great deal of thought went into selecting each and every item on the menu. All this without having tasted it - which I hope to get around to soon enough! I am sure that given the skill you and Hemant Mathur bring to the kitchen, the execution will be as flawless as the planning.

[Monica Bhide]

Suvir, I have been out.. just logged on and read about your new place... sounds inviting! Best wishes to you and Hemant for much success. The next time I am in NYC -- in two weeks -- I will surely stop by for a treat.

[Suvir Saran]

i just know from my heart that this new restaurant won't be one to miss.

Thanks Tommy for your kind encouraging words.

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir - I've already sent my congratulations via email, but it bears repeating: congratulations.

One thing that impresses about the menu is the extent to which each dish  provides a truly unique set of tastes and textures, yet there is an overall balance to each section of the menu.  While the tendency is towards the creative and the regional, there are also restaurant comfort foods like butter chicken and saag (although I'm sure they are prepared in your own special way).  Furthermore, there seem to be a number of items that wouldn't be found on any menu I've seen in the U.S. (N.Y. may be different), each provides a connection with something more familiar, combining familiar ingredients with unfamiliar techniques, or vice-versa.  Hence there is nothing that would be "threatening" even to the uninitiated. 

I am certain that a great deal of thought went into selecting each and every item on the menu.  All this without having tasted it - which I hope to get around to soon enough!  I am sure that given the skill you and Hemant Mathur bring to the kitchen, the execution will be as flawless as the planning.

Thanks for the wishes both here and in your email.

Thanks for going through the menu in such depth and sharing your feedback. I have come to think of you as our resident food anthropologist.. your posts are always so well researched and well written.

I was wondering when someone would pick up on the inclusion of the butter chicken and the saag. I could just as well have done without them, but also realize that many come looking for these. Hemant and I try and send small tastes of other dishes out to such people. To give them a chance to explore other flavors and textures associated with India. But certainly there are many that will order these alongside several other dishes... as they are addicted to these. Just last night, a single diner came in, and they ordered 3 main course dishes. One was the saag. It was fascinating to see this diner go through our menu as if they were researching it for something (maybe they were). We sent out some of the other newer dishes with both courses.. .and gave this diner a deeper foray into our menu. They seemed delighted and were calling friends sitting at the table and telling them about this new find. They ordered the saag as their way of rating our saag against what they have come about to find acceptable and tasty to them.

It is easy to find new items to place on menus in NYC. I wish Hemant and I Could take credit for being really too out there in terms of that. Menus in regards to Indian restaurants are quite limited it seems. There is still so much to share in the US from the large culinary wealth of the Indian sub-continent. It would take decades before we run out of classics alone, and then there will always be those dishes we create and adapt and develop in our own kitchen. We were both hoping to create a menu that would be a departure from our own past and yet be connected to it as we always are to things we have experienced. It was this that made us consider dishes that we would find a connection with in our daily lives today. Even the dishes that seem new, and there are more than just a couple, are dishes that between Hemant and my world, are prepared often and enjoyed as modern classics. Some dishes become instant hits and favorites. The Amma Salad and the Spinach Chaat are two examples that come to mind right away.

I am glad you found the balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar not to tedious. Glad to know we succeeded in sharing what we wanted to. We will continue to work on recipes that bring the same balance to the dishes. Our biggest challenge we always work on, is to prepare Indian food that will inspire the uninitiated to come back and become fans of Indian cuisine. In fact, just last week, a friend asked if she could come to lunch, I asked her to bring along another friend that HATES Indian, Italian, Mexican and Chinese "type" foods.. whatever that means.... and I simply said to her that she was invited only if she could bring this friend of our along. I said to her that I would be hanging my head in shame that if after his meal, he would still hold Indian food as something he hates. Hemant and I had begun racking our brains for what dishes we would serve a man that has such a large blanket hate for so many cuisines. You have used the best word "threat", in describing this dining experience. I agree with you totally. Far too many people feel threatened by the unfamiliar. And they are quick in cutting these things out of their radar.

I am no advocate of cooking without tasting...... there is nothing extraordinary or special about it.. in fact, in my world, it is the "done" thing. I should hope that some day I too will get around to tasting as I cook.., for now, I am happy cooking without a need to taste. And with Hemant, it is great, he is more than willing to taste as we go along... and I have no fears at all.

Our combined skills are only what they could be of any two mortals working together. Whilst we ought to hope we have many a good day, certainly we anticipate tough days, challenging ones, days where the execution is everything but flawless. We shall continue to strive to learn from each other and our mistakes. And we hope that in doing so, we can leave a majority of those that come to our small restaurant with a largely pleasant experience. But again, it is our hope. And we will try our best to deliver on it as fully as we can.

Skchai, thanks for your email and this post. You are one of the group of members (from my limited and mostly focused interaction on eGullet, since there are many forums I am yet to actively participate in) that leaves me yearning for more time on eGullet.

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir, I have been out.. just logged on and read about your new place... sounds inviting! Best wishes to you and Hemant for much success. The next time I am in NYC -- in two weeks -- I will surely stop by for a treat.

Thanks Monica! And see you in NYC during one of your visits.

[Lady T]

Ah. This is wonderful news! I can hardly wait to get back out to NYC to come visit!

[Suvir Saran]

Ah.  This is wonderful news!  I can hardly wait to get back out to NYC to come visit!

You are sweet!

Maybe this will ensure that I finally get to meet Lady T.

[Orik]

i just know from my heart that this new restaurant won't be one to miss.

Thanks Tommy for your kind encouraging words.

well, I know this for a fact

Unfortunately, the assertion that Diwan can stay good is false. It is quite shitty now, but Amma is better than Diwan ever was.

[Suvir Saran]

i just know from my heart that this new restaurant won't be one to miss.

Thanks Tommy for your kind encouraging words.

well, I know this for a fact

Unfortunately, the assertion that Diwan can stay good is false. It is quite shitty now, but Amma is better than Diwan ever was.

You are very kind Orik.

Unfortunately, the food that most people ate at Diwan, the tasting menu, was touched course by course by Hemant's genius. No one else even had any desire to serve that food. Certainly it makes sense that after his departure, things have changed.

We are still getting better each day at Amma, and it is our hope that in the next couple of weeks maybe even three, we can get better placed in the constricted kitchen and also get more used to the space and give you all better food each time you visit.

And yes you know for a fact that we do cook and serve food at Amma. You have been our champion even before we shared this new menu yesterday. Thanks for your patronage. And thanks for coming even as we practiced and tweeked recipes. It was nice to put a face to the words I associate to Orik.

[BettyK]

Congratulations, Suvir! Very happy for you. Wishing you all the best in your new venture. Hope I'll get the chance to eat in your restaurant one day

[jogoode]

Amma

I'm not sure why this hasn't reach the New York forum yet...(maybe it has?)

Our own Suvir Saran has teamed up with his friend and renowned chef Hemant Matthur to open Amma at 246 East 51st Street(212-644-8330). They recently finalized their menu, and their food was lauded by Gael Greene in NY Mag. Almost a month ago, after insisting that Suvir tell me what to order at Diwan, he told me to come to Amma, where, he confided, he and Matthur were now working. He was nice enough to offer an experimental version of the tasting menu. He, and occasionally Hemant, came to my table to explain each dish, all of which were wonderful. My favorites were Stuffed Chicken (which, he explained after the meal, was a dish served in 14-17th century India), the Indo-Chinese Cauliflower, and an assortment from the tandoor - halibut (a Parsi dish served at weddings), prawn, and lamb chop. Unfortunately, I came before the pear chutney. So, since the present menu is different,

let's hear about it! Anyone go yet?

[Suzanne F]

Not in NYC & S, but in Food Media and News and the India forum.

But it's great to hear from someone who has been, even if in the very early stages. You're the first!!

[Anu]

I also heard great things about Amma...I ate there last year and was impressed...Congratulations Suvir, I"m sure great things are in store for you!

I'm really excited to try out how things have changed...Is there a particular change or theme going on? Is it meant to be along the same lines of good homecooked Indian food?

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations, Suvir! Very happy for you. Wishing you all the best in your new venture. Hope I'll get the chance to eat in your restaurant one day 

Many thanks Betty! I hope I can cook for you and your husband. I have always enjoyed your passion for Indian cookery.

[Blondie]

Congratulations, Suvir!! I am *so* there Do I need reservations for lunch?

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations, Suvir!! I am *so* there Do I need reservations for lunch?

Thanks! All you need is to call me... you can email me at chef@suvir.com, and I can ensure that we can serve you a tasting of some of the dinner menu dishes. Let me know.

Reservations are not necessary for lunch.. you can come anytime between 12 and 3 PM.

[jogoode]

You are better with links than I. Thanks...

[claire797]

Congratulations, Suvir!! I am *so* there Do I need reservations for lunch?

Thanks! All you need is to call me... you can email me at chef@suvir.com, and I can ensure that we can serve you a tasting of some of the dinner menu dishes. Let me know.

Reservations are not necessary for lunch.. you can come anytime between 12 and 3 PM.

I'll see you next year when I make my yearly pilgrimage to NYC. WTG Suvir!

[SobaAddict70]

Actually, I live literally right across the street from Amma, and order from there every so often.

Now that Suvir and Hemant have popped onto the local radar, I might do so fairly soon....

Soba

edit: I can never seem to get Hemant's name spelled right.

Edited October 2, 2003 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[tommy]

edit:  I can never seem to get Hemant's name spelled right. 

it is "hemant", right? i think that article got it wrong. or maybe i'm confused as well.

[Suvir Saran]

edit:  I can never seem to get Hemant's name spelled right.

it is "hemant", right? i think that article got it wrong. or maybe i'm confused as well.

"Amma takes on sophisticated airs with its own sommelier and a duo of new chef-partners in the kitchen—gifted tandoori veteran Hemant Mathur (from Diwan Grill and Tamarind) and my friend Suvir Saran, with a preview from his book-in-progress on Indian home cooking."

In her piece in NY Magazine Gael Greene did spell Hemant's name correctly.

[Suvir Saran]

Actually, I live literally right across the street from Amma, and order from there every so often.

Now that Suvir and Hemant have popped onto the local radar, I might do so fairly soon....

Soba

edit:  I can never seem to get Hemant's name spelled right. 

Aaah.... ordering in is really not justice to our food. Certainly some dishes travel better than others.

You spelled Hemant correctly twice.

I hope you will stop by when you find time.....

[Pumpkin Lover]

Hey, is there a menu online that I can peruse?

I'd love to check the restaurant out! - Jayanthi