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Thinking Outside the Pani Puri |
By
Lavina Melwani |
| Brash young desi entrepreneurs
flavor the American dining scene. |
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Vodka Pani Puri! Yes, this unlikely
pairing has debuted in New York, symbolic
of the new India being introduced to
the American public. Forget Kiplingesque
elephants, huge ornate wooden doors
and bronze murals that have represented
generic Indian décor in the hospitality
industry until now. Dancing apsaras,
many, many sitars and kama sutra touches
have been the shorthand for an American
stereotype of India. Today’s America
is being curried by contemporary India
— edgy, idiosyncratic and hip.
A new breed of hybrid entrepreneurs,
many born in this country but still
connected to India by invisible bonds,
are setting their mark on the entertainment
and dining-out scene. Some are reinterpreting
India for the mainstream while others
are exploring and invading the mainstream
scene itself, from Atlanta to Arkansas
to Texas — be it with Italian
or Mediterranean cuisine, franchising
popular dining concepts and sometimes
creating their own, bringing their financial
smarts and technical savvy to new ventures.
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Many of these second generation Indians
grew up in two parallel worlds, living
in America, but traveling back to the
homeland so often that they are in tune
with the happening India of today.
Hemant Phul of New York is one such entrepreneur.
He came to the United States as a teen
with his parents, but visited India frequently
and later married a woman from Bombay.
“My wife Bhavna likes to party
and we found out that there is a lack
of decent places for Indians to party,”
he says. “This whole party scene,
which was in Bombay, was missing for a
lot of the Indians over here.”
So he decided to open up Earth NYC, a
Bombay style lounge in Manhattan, and
tapped his friend, fashion designer Manish
Malhotra to design the space.
“What we were trying to do was
replicate Bombay nightlife in New York,”
he recalls. “I really partied hard
in Bombay. Everyone living there, at that
age, wants to go out and party.”
On opening night, New York’s Bombay
crowd turned out in full force. He says:
“They party hard — and even
in the blizzard we had a full house till
4 a.m. That’s the Bombay crowd!
There’s 12 or 14 inches of snow
outside — and they’re out
partying.”
Indian Americans, partying and in type
of lounge? Phul says, “I think so.
Everything Indian here is so kitsch. It
is so India in your face. You open up
an Indian restaurant — there are
thals on the wall, there are palatial
doors or ornate objects everywhere. You
know, that’s not India.
“The real Bombay scene is not like
that; it’s very different. The perception
of India should change in the minds of
the westerners. We can be hip and cool
also. The Americans are getting quite
sophisticated. It doesn’t have to
be snake charmers all the time.”
While Earth NYC is a place to gather,
a watering hole, it also offers Bombay-centric
snacks. “Indian food has become
a destination thing where you might try
it once a month but not on an everyday
basis. That’s not what people do
in Bombay. There are light foods available
so I’ve brought in the street foods
of Bombay. That’s what I’m
serving till 4 in the morning, whether
it’s vada pao, masala pao, whether
it’s frankies, chicken lollipops,
Manchurian — anything you can imagine
on the streets of Bombay. If it’s
not on the streets, it won’t be
on the menu.”
How about Vodka Pani Puri? Now that’s
not served on the streets of Bombay, is
it? Not losing his cool, Phul retorts,
“Vodka isn’t — pani
puri is. That’s our twist to it!
A lot of people ask me so what Indian
cocktails are you making. I tell them
there are no Indian cocktails. We don’t
put rose water in our martinis, we don’t
put mangoes in our martinis. A martini
is a martini is a martini, no matter where
you go!”
As a teenager, Phul’s first job
was packing meat in New York’s meat
packing district, after which he worked
in Indian restaurants as busboy, waiter
and then manager. So he’s soiled
his hands? “Yes, absolutely. I’ve
done dishes, I’ve done all that
good stuff.”
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Although he went into IT and worked as
the chief technology officer in advertising,
the restaurant business was always on
his mind. He says, “Once you know
it you always yearn to go back because
you know exactly what’s involved
and there’s a lot of energy.”
While Phul’s NYC Earth is the new
kid on the block, young Indian Americans
have been trying to bring the India they
know to the cities they now inhabit. A
few years back Payal Saha introduced the
well loved street food, kati rolls, to
Manhattan.
The Kati Roll Co. is small, crowded and
the waiting line stretches down to the
sidewalk. Yet, with its orange exposed
brick walls, Bollywood film posters and
friends clustered around copper tables,
it’s a happy, energetic place. After
all, this is where you get a taste of
a unique Indian street food right in the
middle of New York. Situated in the frenetic
West Village, the tiny spot is surrounded
by countless other eateries with idiosyncratic
names and food offerings.
There is non-stop traffic on this street
and the people who head up the stairs
to this little restaurant come for its
single item — kati rolls, succulent
soft parathas, stuffed with unda (egg),
chicken tikka, beef tikka, achari paneer
or aloo masala.
Saha’s inspiration came from eating
kati rolls during her childhood in Calcutta,
where they are the most celebrated street
food. The Kati Roll Company is doing so
well that Saha is opening a second one
in the diamond district. This year she’s
also ventured into fine dining with Babu,
a restaurant devoted completely to Calcutta
food .
“I don’t even have one thing
on the menu which is not from Calcutta.
It’s a very mixed menu to reflect
the city’s multicultural makeup,”
she says. “Thus you have traditional
Bangla food, Indian Chinese (the country’s
oldest Chinatown is in Calcutta) —
there’s also club food or continental
food — known as Anglo-Indian food
because of the British influence. Then
there are also dishes particular to Calcutta’s
Muslim population, such as a biryani with
potatoes, and chicken Rezala, which has
a yogurt base.”
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If you walk into this new restaurant
you’ll be hard pressed to
say it’s Indian. The décor
is simple with some colonial influences,
but nothing overtly Indian about
it. Her frequent visits to Calcutta
have kept her on top of the dining
habits in her hometown and people’s
changing lifestyles: “There’s
lots of changes domestically.
Earlier there were very few restaurants
for Bangla food, but now people
are eating out more and there
are at least four good restaurants
all serving the traditional dishes.”
Most of her clients are drawn
from the mainstream and Saha is
trying some innovative marketing.
For the past few weeks she’s
listed no prices on the menu and
patrons are invited to pay whatever
they think the meal is worth.
She introduced the concept so
diners would not have to pay for
the birth pangs or staff errors,
but surprisingly, most people
have been paying about what she
thinks would have been her real
price
Bringing the home cuisine to America
but from a new perspective has
also been the motivation of Sunitha
Ramaiah’s Bombay Talkie.
Ramaiah, a lawyer turned restaurateur,
admits that she had a vision of
a modern take on an Indian teashop
for a very, very long time and
what made her choose the present
time was her involvement in the
venture capital industry. She
recalls a report that American
and international venture capital
companies abroad were investing
in companies in India so that
they could create franchises all
over the world.
“So my thinking was, instead
of getting a franchise from India,
why not create my own franchise
here?” says Ramaiah. “We
do not have prepackaged goods
for standardized recipes, so I
thought why not have fresh, healthy
foods and create my own business?”
In its hip New York incarnation,
Bombay Talkie is more of a teahouse
than a tea-stall, and it is located
in a two-story 18th century building
in Chelsea, the happening downtown
area with galleries, nightclubs
and stylish shopping. Ramaiah
decided to keep the design clean
and starkly modern, hiring noted
architect Thomas Juul-Hansen,
who has designed restaurants like
66 and all of David Yurman’s
fashionable retail stores.
She wanted to invoke the spirit
of the Indian dhaba or tea-stall
and commissioned J.P. Krishna,
India’s leading billboard
artist, to paint six huge canvases
inspired by Bollywood posters,
such as Zeenat Aman in Satyam,
Shivam, Sundaram and Rekha in
Umrao Jaan.
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Ramaiah got the pros in
the business involved:
Jehangir Mehta was consulting
chef and Didier Virot
of Aix restaurant created
the wine list. Executive
chef Subu Mukherjee and
executive sous chef, Gabriel
D’Costa offer a
mix of street foods, roadside
offerings and curbside
treats.
The menu is a blend of
simple, yet eclectic authentic
Indian street foods as
well as soups and salads
and brunch dishes that
are India-inspired. In
the street bites, there
are dosas, papdi chat,
kathi rolls and that all
time rest stop favorite,
Kolivada Macchi, crispy
red snapper with shoestring
potatoes. You can also
find teas, sandwiches
and light snacks in a
section titled The Return
of the Raj.
The dinner menu has
roadside favorites like
Chicken Chettinad, (Sauteed
chicken in red chilies
and cardamom), Chicken
Dhaniwal Korma (Ginger,
poppy and melon seed chicken
in a cilantro cream sauce),
Nargisi Kofta (Scotch
eggs enveloped in lamb
with a rose water cashew
sauce) and Nilgiri Coconut
Kebabs (Lamb meatballs
in a South Indian sauce
of coconut and mustard
seeds.)
Tea is understandably
the raison d’etre
for a tea shop and Ramaiah
has brought in the flavors
of India — Nilgiri
tea, Darjeeling tea and
Assam green tea, as well
as South Indian Filter
Kofi and Cardamom Coffee.
Desserts are definitely
very New York with a touch
of India, and include
Mariebelle Cardamom Ganache
— dark chocolate
terrine infused with a
pot of dark chocolate
sauce and garnished with
pistachio. Now how many
dhabas would serve you
that?
There are also some fun
drinks which you won’t
find in a tea-stall in
Ooty — cocktails
named after popular Bollywood
movies! So you could try
Ankur — The Seedling
— fresh pomegranate
seeds and juice, premium
tequila, Rose’s
lime cordial and Cointreau.
And if you’re suffering
from unrequited love,
try Umrao Jaan, composed
of Bombay Gin, limejuice
and saffron syrup —
guaranteed to drown out
your sorrows.
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An eclectic mix
of cultures, Bombay
Talkie doesn’t
hit you over the
head with carved
elephants and
ornate doors.
While black and
white Hindi film
classics from
the 50’s
and 60’s
play on the large
flat TV, global
music has been
incorporated into
the tracks by
Grammy award winning
producer Andres
Levin of Fun Machine
for ambiance.
The young servers
at the 65-seat
restaurant are
also quite international,
dressed in hip
tunics and pants
designed by Sorelle
Firenze. When
it came to designing
the menus, Ramaiah
turned to another
very New York
influence, Vogue
design director
Anna Penford,
who also designed
the logo for Bombay
Talkie.
The end result
is very much a
blend of Ramaiah’s
childhood in Ooty,
her growing up
in this country
and her American
education. She
says, “There’s
a different kind
of energy. It’s
not as if you’re
taking India and
transplanting
it here. It’s
kind of translated
for the people
here. I guess
that’s partly
because we’ve
spent so much
of our lives in
America that it’s
sort of natural
because we grew
up on two different
continents and
two different
countries.”
Ramaiah has kept
her prices down.
She says, “I
worked in a law
firm. I had many
friends who worked
in banking and
other professions.
And nobody at
the end of the
day wanted to
go home and cook.
So we went out
and we ate out
all the time.
The problem was
that nobody wanted
to pay like $50
per person every
day on a meal.”
She said she wanted
to create a space
where people would
come over and
over again because
they liked the
food and it was
affordable: “It
suits the American
market, because
people do love
to eat out in
New York, especially
young people,
and why should
they have to pay
a fortune to do
so?”
Her goal is to
make Bombay Talkie
a viable franchise.
She says: “My
job has always
been to grow this
business, to get
into the pre-packaged
market, all sorts
of things. Whether
I succeed or not,
that’s up
to God, but these
are my plans.”
If Ramaiah gave
up the world of
law for that of
chai, Nandini
Mukherjee, a Calcuttan,
left architecture
and design to
bake bread! “I
come from a family
where cooking
was considered
on par with any
other art form,”
she says. “My
year at Parsons
was spent experiencing
and exploring
the fascinating
New York City
budget gourmet
scene.”
She says that
while she enjoyed
great meals from
all over the globe
in New York City,
the Indian food
was disappointing:
“The choice
was between two
day old mass-manufactured
curry at prices
that you could
afford or formal,
sit-down wonderful
meals that you’d
have to spend
days saving for.
It was during
those days that
an idea called
Indian Bread Co
started taking
shape. I dreamt
of a fast-casual
Indian café
serving fresh,
flavorful, hassle-free
Indian food.”
She started the
Indian Bread Company
in 2003 with her
partner Rupali
Sethi, whom she
had met at New
York’s Parsons
School of Design.
The New York Times
commented: “You
probably could
not find a naanwich
or a naanini on
the streets of
Delhi, but you
can in Greenwich
Village, now that
Indian Bread Co.
is making creative
use of naan, the
traditional Indian
flatbread …
stuffed parathas
are like quesadilla
and the kati roll
is essentially
a wrap, but a
delicious one.”
Asked as to how
her establishment
is different from
those owned by
first generation
Indian Americans,
Mukherjee says,
“Though
India has a wide
variety of distinctive
breads, in most
Indian restaurants
Indian breads
are relegated
to being add-ons
to the main meal.
The idea was to
give Indian breads
the center stage
— our take
on the bread café
culture that we
see around us.
We wanted a fast-casual
Indian café
that reflects
the mindset of
the global Indian
who enjoys parathas
as much as paninis.”
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While
the naan
and the
paratha
in all
their
avatars
are kings
at Indian
Bread
Co., there
are also
sides
like chick
pea chaat
and yellow
dal soup.
The restaurant
is very
much a
part of
the neighborhood
and Mukherjee
is constantly
adding
new items.
She is
looking
to grow
the company
either
as a private
company
or through
partners.
She says,
“There’s
a sense
of satisfaction
in knowing
that I
have a
vision
and every
single
day is
a step
toward
realizing
it. Ideally,
I’d
like to
see Indian
street
food included
in the
mainstream
American
fast-casual
sector.”
The franchise
golden
egg seems
to be
on the
mind of
many entrepreneurs.
While
many of
their
parents
started
out and
built
their
fortunes
with Burger
Kings
and Dunkin
Donuts
and Blimpies,
the younger
generation
is going
for trendier
ones,
those
popular
with the
younger
set —
or are
going
even one
step further
and inventing
their
own concepts.
The San
Francisco
Bread
Company,
for instance,
didn’t
originate
in California,
but in
Little
Rock,
Arkansas.
This café
where
breads
and pastries
are baked
fresh
every
day wasn’t
the invention
of a California
Girl or
a swinging
surfer,
but that
of Kalpesh
and Ketal
Makan,
whose
parents
hail from
the villages
of Sisodra
and Sevni
in Gujarat.
Kalpesh
was in
the real
estate
business
and Ketal
in information
technology.
She recalls,
“When
the IT
sector
plummeted,
I decided
I wanted
to open
a business
of my
own. We
were weighing
our options
on existing
franchises
and when
we found
out the
start-up
cost and
all the
stipulations,
we decided
to venture
out on
our own.
Little
Rock does
not have
a bakery/café/coffee
house
concept
that is
tied into
one restaurant.
We named
it San
Francisco
because
the trolley
tracks
were being
laid directly
in front
of the
store.
Going
forward,
we had
the vision
of franchising
and the
name ‘San
Francisco’
had more
of a jingle
than ‘Little
Rock.’”
Both
of them
had grown
up in
the hotel
business
and were
always
the franchisee,
never
the franchiser.
Says Ketal:
“We
wanted
to drive
the car
from a
franchiser’s
aspect.
It was
tough
in the
beginning;
we didn’t
have anyone
giving
us a how-to
book on
the business.”
Their
first
store
was near
a busy
convention
center
and the
Makans
believe
it served
as a great
trial
and error
store,
with input
from a
wide variety
of people.
They
now have
a couple
of locations
and have
streamlined
the concept.
“Our
first
store
was financed
by the
bank and
my husband’s
parents
helped
us out
as well,”
says Ketal.
“I
get an
average
of 2-3
emails
a week
on enquiries
about
franchising.
I have
done zero
marketing.”
She says
that almost
two out
of every
three
start-up
restaurants
fail in
the first
year and
their
challenge
has been
to beat
those
statistics.
The Makans
currently
have four
locations,
and five
more are
scheduled
to open
by December
2005.
Ketal
recently
spoke
at the
Leuva
Patidar
Convention
and shared
her story
with young
entrepreneurs.
So the
next time
you want
Marinated
Chicken
Basil
Panini
or a Honey
Pecan
Turkey
Wrap,
the place
to go
is San
Francisco
Bread
Company
—
you may
even end
up getting
a franchise!
A group
of young
people
in Texas
have also
created
their
own interpretation
of Indian
food in
The Clay
Pit. Tinku
Saini,
34, is
the oldest
in the
team which
includes
his wife
Rajina
Pradhan
and his
two cousins
Amnik
and Jasdeep
Saini,
who are
in their
20’s.
When
Tinku
and his
sisters
were growing
up, the
family
owned
an Indian
grocery
store
in St.
Louis
where
they also
sold snacks
and sweets.
It was
while
working
here that
the siblings
got a
firsthand
look at
how happy
food made
people.
After
working
as a journalist
and then
as an
editor
at the
Seattle
Daily
Journal
of Commerce,
Tinku
switched
course,
becoming
manager
at a hip
new restaurant
Chutney’s
in Seattle.
That was
the inspiration
for the
cousins
to open
The Clay
Pit in
Austin,
Texas,
where
Amik lived.
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After opening Clay Pit in Austin in 1988,
they opened a second location in Dallas.
So how is The Clay Pit different from
the scores of Indian restaurants already
on the scene? Tinku says that much of
the Clay Pit concept is modeled on Chutney’s
in Seattle.
The concept is contemporary Indian cuisine,
which Saini defines as traditional and
innovative menu items served in a sophisticated,
fun ambiance with friendly service and
great bar offerings from martinis to mixed
drinks, like Mango Pina Colada to over
80 wines hand-picked to complement the
cuisine.
Asked if, as second generation Indian
Americans, they brought something different
to the equation, Saini said: “The
culture of our workplace is not that of
a typical Indian restaurant, where the
owners treat their employees as nothing
more than that. We like to say that people
work with us, not for us. That is true
for chefs, waitstaff, dishwashers, everyone.”
He adds, “Our goal was to bring
Indian food out of the strip mall and
into the mainstream without sacrificing
authenticity. We wanted to create restaurants
that were on par with the great restaurants
of other cuisines from the standpoint
of service, ambiance, bar offerings, and
food quality and presentation.”
All the partners feel uniquely positioned
to do this because of their Indian American
background: “We grew up going to
nice American, Italian, Mexican, Chinese
restaurants and our expectations of service
and ambiance and what a great restaurant
is supposed to be came from those experiences.
When we ate Indian food, we did so mostly
at home and did not go out to Indian restaurants.”
He points out that Indian restaurants
until very recently have been strip-mall
establishments that do not compare to
restaurants of other cuisines: “Even
if the food was good, there is no ambiance
and service. Many of the waiters don’t
even speak English and can’t possibly
explain the huge array of menu items to
non-Indian clientele.”
Bon Appetit magazine listed Clay Pit
in their Best Ethnic Restaurants in 2002,
along with big names like Tabla in New
York.
An important ingredient of their success
was that all the owners worked in key
areas of the restaurant: front of house
managers, cooks, bartenders, and waiters.
“Only in this way were we able to
stay on top of quality control as our
restaurant business grew exponentially
over the years.”
What was the biggest hurdle they had
to overcome? Saini says, “Breaking
through the stereotypes of Indian cuisine
and Indian restaurants. Many people still
think of Indian food as spicy or unhealthy
or too exotic for the mainstream. They
also do not think of Indian restaurants
as having the same class as fine restaurants
in other cuisines.”
While many Indian entrepreneurs have
tried to break that old mold and present
Indian cuisine in a fresh, new way, others
have adopted non-Indian cuisines into
their repertoire. In fact, some young
entrepreneurs ate out so much and liked
what they ate — they decided to
become franchisees of their favorite eateries.
Al Bhakta, Ron Parikh, Jay Patel and
Nik Bhakta all went to college together
in the mid-90’s, in the Dallas area.
They’d often eat out and their haunt
was the Genghis Grill, a lively Asian
stir-fry restaurant.
The friends had formed the Chalak Group
of Companies, focusing on restaurant investment,
and started out by investing in pool halls
and game rooms. When Genghis Grill offered
franchises, the partners opened their
first one. And when the original owners
decided to sell the franchise, the Chalak
Group acquired the entire chain —
there are currently 10 locations in Texas,
Ohio, Colorado, Michigan and Tennessee,
of which three are operated by the Chalak
Group.
Ask Ron Parikh, chief marketing officer
of the group, what attracted them to Genghis
Grill and the answer is simple: “Concept,
concept, concept! It is fun and lively
and easy to operate from a business owner’s
standpoint.” Guests select their
own meats, vegetables and sauces and these
are prepared on a hot grill by chefs who
create some high drama as they prepare
the meals.
Although the partners started out by
taking a small business loan for their
first restaurant, the franchise entity
— Genghis Grill Franchise Concepts,
LP — is totally debt-free. The restaurants
thrive in many different markets and there
are plans to add ten more in the next
two years.
The fun concept is very much what the
partners are all into — Dan Bhakta
and Chet Bhakta are cousins of Al and
Nik, and all are in their 20’s.
Says Parikh, “Our parents all originate
from the state of Gujarat. We are obviously
desis at heart!”
Ask him what’s been the most fun
part of operating the franchises, and
Parikh says, “Doing it together!
We have a one for all, all for one mentality
which is why we have been so successful
to date.” With their education and
different interests, they bring different
strengths to the business.
As more and more young entrepreneurs
come of age, they are juxtaposing the
foods they grew up in India with the foods
they picked up in America — in its
schools, workplace and malls. The resulting
hybrids are bound to be intriguing, spicy
and sometimes plain delicious.
As Nandini Mukherjee of Indian Bread
Co. says, “Given the important role
food plays in our day to day lives, as
well as our festivals, most Indians are
passionate about food. Being involved
in a field related to your passion is
a dream harbored by every human being.
“As more people of our generation
are able to achieve a certain level in
their traditionally chosen careers, they
have the confidence and means to pursue
their dreams.”
And if your dream is to feed naanwich
or kati roll or even Asian stir-fry to
America, go for it! After all, the way
to a nation’s heart is through its
stomach.
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