name a new restaurant

[Luckylies]

who is the chef?

what is a signature dish?

what beverages will be served?

what is the price point?

is the decor mixed or leaning in one direction

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The chef is a 32 year old who is trained in Thailand's culinary school and has been cooking Indian and Thai food for about five years. He is very talented. As far as beverages go we will serve fine wines, asian inspired cocktails and also a fairly decent selection of beers from around the globe concentrating on southeast asia. Price will be mid range to upscale. Not to pricey. Decor will be contemprary with subtle influences on India and Thailand.

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Cassia sounds really nice. It sounds upscale, the kind of place to have a fine meal. Very distinctive and distinguished for no particular reason...

or for corny . ThaiIn pronounced: tie in. get it? fusion? nyuk nyuk...

[Pontormo]

Buddha's Hand

'Fingered Citron' [...] ('Buddha's Hand', or 'Buddha's Fingers'; C. medica var. sarcodactylus Swing.); called fu shou in China, bushukon in Japan, limau jari, jeruk tangan, limau kerat lingtang, in Malaya; djerook tangan in Indonesia; som-mu in Thailand; phât thu in Vietnam. [...] The fruit is highly fragrant and is placed as an offering on temple altars. [...] In India, there are several named types, in addition to the 'Fingered' [...]

These fruits are gorgeous and bizarre! The suggestion immediately brought to mind something that I once saw in an exhibition devoted to the cults of Indian goddesses at the Sackler Gallery of Art, here, in Washington, D.C.: a stone carved so that it seemed to bear the imprint of Krishna's footprint!

The problem with using a name that derives from religious traditions, is of course, a matter of respecting the piety of their followers. That in mind, I nonetheless searched the internet for those footprints and came up with something more relevant. I'll link an image of it shortly.

First, though, I thought there might be something to this beautiful devotional chant that might inspire you, such as the word:

Sidhu

although I kind of like

Rasane

too, but mostly for its meaning which you will find translated below the verse:

Radhadeti nama nava sundara sidhu mugdham

Krishneti nama madhuradbhuta gadha dugdham

Sarva ksanam surabhi raga himena ramyam

Kritva tad eva piba me rasane kshudarthe.

Glossary:

Radha – Sri Radha; iti – this; nama – name; nava – fresh; sundara – fine; sidhu – nectar; mugdham – intoxitcating; krishna – krishna; iti – this; nama – name; madhura – sweet; adbhuta – amazing; gadha – condensed; dugdham – milk; sarvaksanam – constantly; surabhi – sweet fragrance; raga – strange fits of passion, or deep passion; himena – cool camphor; ramyam – gratifying; kritva – thus mixed; tad – that; eva – only; piba –drink; me – I; rasane – O tongue !; kshuda-arthe – if you are really hungry.

This verse is from Shrila Raghunatha Das Goswami’s Stavavali, in which he addresses his tongue:

"If you are really hungry then take Shri Radha’s name which is like fresh fine intoxicating honey, mix it with Shri Krishna’s name, which is like sweet wonderful condensed cow milk, add to that the sweet fragrance of saffron, cardamon, a little camphor, etc. and mixing all the above drink constantly with deep passion.”

The prayer refers to a fast in which the Lord Krishna's name is meant to satiate all hunger. What I love is the sensuous evocation of all these delicious things that seem antithetical to asceticism, comparable to manna and honey in biblical texts.

(This was taken from the following site.)

Now, the image I mentioned above is:

The Tongue of Gordvardhan

Gordvardhan is a manifestation of Krishna, from what I gather. His tongue is a heavy rock said to have been lodged within a well. Upon discovery, it was enshrined in its own temple which has become an important pilgrimage site.

Edited November 10, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[PAYAL SHARMA]

who is the chef?

what is a signature dish?

what beverages will be served?

what is the price point?

is the decor mixed or leaning in one direction

←

The chef is a 32 year old who is trained in Thailand's culinary school and has been cooking Indian and Thai food for about five years. He is very talented. As far as beverages go we will serve fine wines, asian inspired cocktails and also a fairly decent selection of beers from around the globe concentrating on southeast asia. Price will be mid range to upscale. Not to pricey. Decor will be contemprary with subtle influences on India and Thailand.

←

Cassia sounds really nice. It sounds upscale, the kind of place to have a fine meal. Very distinctive and distinguished for no particular reason...

or for corny . ThaiIn pronounced: tie in. get it? fusion? nyuk nyuk...

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Even I like Cassia. Does have a nice sound.

[WHS]

I'm still stuck on the common thread between India and Thailand. If not an ingredient what about a river, a textile, an element, a sacred word.

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I like this idea. I can't come up with a common thread though. I think "Basmati" is a Hindi word, and it is commonly associated with Thai food, but I'm not sure it's clever enough to be a name of a restaurant. But there has to be some common thread that would make a great restaurant name.

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I was thinking of the types of rices used for each cuisine, jasmine (thai) and basmati (indian) rice.

Jasmati would be a fun name but the name is already owned by Ricetec for a hybrid blend of rice that they market.

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How about playing only jazz music and calling it "Jazzmati"?

[robb]

Hi everybody,  I just need opinions to how to name a new restaurant.  Lot of restaurants these days don't reflect the type of cuisine etc in the name itself.  I need some brainstroming by my fellow    egulleteers for  helping me find a new name for a restaurant we are going to open soon.  Should the name be based on the type of cuisine or theme or location or what else......  Please help.  Thanks...

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You ask how to name a restaurant rather than what the name should be. There is no straightfoward answer to this - it depends on many things. A couple (out of many) ways to look at it:

If this is a neighborhood place rather than something where you are seeking 2 or 3 stars from the NY Times, I'd stick with something that evokes the kind of food you are serving. This will help draw people in and catch the attention of the various passers by.

If you are spending a fair bit to build a restaurant and are more ambitious, you probably have a wider range of options. In this case, I'm personally fond of more obscure names that have a less direct connection with the food.

[chiantiglace]

some hindi words:

Chole = Gorbanzo Beans

Meri Dua = My wishes

Yaadein = Memories

Jamiin = Land

Mubarak Ho = Greetings

Mahan Raja = great king

Triptii = Satisfaction

just thought they were nice words that can be worked around.

[Pan]

How about rasa (taste)? Does Thai use that word?

[*Deborah*]

some hindi words:

<snip>

Mubarak Ho = Greetings

</snip>

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Suggest you don't use anything with the letters "Ho" in the name of your fine dining Indian/Thai restaurant...

Whatever it means in any other language (and means in English, as well), it also means "whore" now, for better or for worse.

[Pan]

Actually, the use of Ho in Chinese names and the expression "Land Ho!" were what struck me. Generational, perhaps?

[chiantiglace]

How about rasa (taste)? Does Thai use that word?

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If Americans won't go to a restaraunt because it has a foreign word "ho" in it that has no relation to "whore" than that is childish. Infact that would be a good way to weed out the morons and lousy clientel I would think. O h look johnny, there restaraunt is called a whore, tehehe, lets not eat there. ugh. Wonder why people hate americans?

[percyn]

The different words having different meaning brings up an important question. Who is the target clientel? Americans or Thai/Indians? I realize that NYC is more cosmopolitan than other cities, but if you are targeting Thai/Indian clientel, you can use words like Sawasdee, which may not have specific meaning to the average person in NYC.

Don't mean to start any flames here, just making a simple marketing point.