For years I have been telling friends that what the U.S. needs more than ANYTHING right now is an Indian fast-food chain. If I am going to be convinced by advertisers to slowly poison myself with grease then I would much rather do so
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Puff puff…give |
The Hot Breads chain has had great success in India, but the company is really hoping to put the hot in Hot Breads as it begins franchising in the United States.
“We have great plans of opening up Hot Breads here,” said M. Mahadevan, who first launched the Hot Bread chain in Chennai, India, in 1988. “We have a plan here for nice growth.”
With over 20 locations in India in cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi and Pondichery, two in Bangladesh, four in Nepal, one in Paris and about 40 in the Middle East, there is no reason to think Hot Breads won’t fly in the United States…Hot Breads features bakery items such as croissants and pastries with an Indian twist. In India, Hot Breads is touted for its French baking traditions, but in the United States it is the connection with India, and its pastries filled with spicy vegetables and meat fillings, that have connected with the India American customers. [Link]
Now please don’t get me wrong. Looking at their menu you will see that this is just a baby step. The food they serve seems to be sort of an Indian-French hybrid. The Taj Mahal wasn’t built in a day however. If enough people eat this stuff then maybe an establishment like Kati Roll will decide to franchise as well. Just imagine a bouncer at every highway truck stop trying to fend off paneer lovers and keep the peace.
Mahadevan said that Hot Breads has scored as a brand that Indian Americans are familiar with from India. He added that it gives Indian Americans a sense of belonging here because they can visit a store, smell the curry and Desi coffee and be reminded of Hot Breads they have visited in India. [Link]
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I’m sorry, did he just say “smell the curry?” Oh oh, he’s losing me. Pull me back in Mahadevan, pull me back.
According to Arun Dua, Hot Breads’ operations manager the plan is to change the bakery concept into more of a bakery café concept. This will include changing the menu to include popular lunch items such as chicken panini sandwiches. Hot Breads is also adding a chocolate menu and working on producing its own brand of gourmet Indian coffee.“I like the concept of a company that is established and is coming to the U.S. and facing the challenge of coming to another country and making it successful,” he added. “I like the fact that we are in a business were we really have no competitors. No one else is doing what we are doing, the way we are doing it.” [Link]
It might not happen in my lifetime but I hope that my unborn obese children are able to enjoy drive-thru samosas someday.
Harold & Kumar Go to Hot Bread.
I loooove their chicken tikka masala sandwiches down here in Houston. Yumm.
What?? They have a Houston location? We just picked the site of the January 2007 meet-up.
I was just coming on to ask if there wasn’t one in Houston, since I’d been there last time I visited. It’s good!
Great caption.
There’s one in Iselin, NJ in the strip mall that houses Apna Bazaar. I wonder if its a real franchisee or a knock-off. Its not listed on Hot Breads website.
What? A Houston meetup before an Austin one?
I think there’s certainly a market here in the US. Just like in the U.K., lamb/chicken curry pasties..mmmmm
i’ve been to the houston one as well. in fact i filled a cooler with a sampler of their products and served them up later that day to a bunch of friends in new orleans. the consensus was that the keema pizza was a winner. some of the items were a little odd, but overall it was tasty stuff.
the actual menu available at each franchise is different, by the way. they tweak it to match the demographics of the local desi population. so more veg options in guju heavy areas, etc. i don’t think they have a fish croissant yet for us bengalis, however.
my understanding is that the concept stems the chain having been started back when croissant bakeries were the big thing in american fast food — like when au bon pain was expanding and similar chains starting. the brother replicated the concept in madras, and things grew from there.
the brilliant and eccentric food critic robb walsh, who writes for the houston press, is the one who turned me onto hot breads. he wrote about them a couple years ago here. it’s part of what he calls reverse globalization — by which he means fast food chains set up on the american model in other countries, now opening their own branches in the u.s. another example is pollo campero from guatemala. some really really good central american fried chicken and sides, served in a place that looks exactly like a mcdonalds or burger king. one evening robb took me around houston to various such eateries; the night finished with us picking chanterelle mushrooms under live oak trees in strangers’ front yards.
peace
I want my Vada Pav in America!
One of my abiding passions is to open a Haldiram Bhujiawala franchise store bang on Times Sq. I mean, if you can sell Jamba Juice there, you sure can sell Kaju katli.
Wow, this is very nice. I’ll raise your reminisces and say how I remember when Hot Breads first opened in Madras (Alsa Mall I think ?) a long time ago 🙂
Also has it been mentioned that Hot Breads is a natural extension of the very (south?) indian “puff” ? “Puffs” are available at every little bakery in tamilnadu. Does the “puff” exist anywhere else in the world ? I love this cross-cuisine back-and-forth.
That is a great anecdote, Siddhartha M.
happy to share, MD. also happy to give some props to houston, a city that gets little respect but is quite fascinating if you take the time to let it grow on you…
Puffs??!
What happened to pattis?
VERY true. Soon to be our southern-most bureau.
ashvin, #12:
yep, i think the first hot breads was in alsa mall – early 1990s, it used to be sooo crowded but those cakes, hot buns, and puffs were so worth the wait!
oooh, thousands of miles away from the nearest ‘Bangalore Bakery’ in madras, i am just CRAVING a puff! i’ll have to make do with an empanada. 🙁
Wow, this is very nice. I’ll raise your reminisces and say how I remember when Hot Breads first opened in Madras (Alsa Mall I think ?) a long time ago 🙂
Yes, it was! Loved it then, and I was jumping with sheer joy seeing one at walking distance from my home in Northern VA. Love the “puffs” and the easily available black forest cake. Folks here don’t believe me when I say the “black forest cake” is available in madras as easily as a hotdog in the usa! Vada Pav is yumm-yumm!
Yeah, you get puffs everywhere- Here’s how you can make at home: buy the :pepperidge puff pastry shells in any grocery store Thaw a little, roll a little cut into squares, dust with flour Make-your stuffing , fold over the pastry shell and bake at 400f till golden brown. My fave stuffing: saute onions and green chillies, with li’ll tangy tamrind, salt, a pinch of chilli powder, toss in a boiled egg
we have one here in ‘hotlanta’ 😉
Can someone please tell me where in Houston it is? I can’t believe I’ve missing out for so long…
DesidudeinAustin writes:
I mean, if you can sell Jamba Juice there, you sure can sell Kaju katli.
Speaking of Jamba Juice, I am thinking of opening up a Jamba Juice-esque venture with Desi drinks. I’m thinking of naming it “Lassi.” This name is a winner, because Desis will understand “Lassi” as in Mango Lassi whereas all the non-Desis will see interpret “Lassi” as “girl”. Guaranteed to draw diverse crowds.
In my shop, I will offer Mango Lassi, of course, as well as chhaas, panha, Thumbs up, and other drinks. In addition, no Desi shop is complete without good old kulfi.
In terms of this new Desi fast food concept, I’d like to see puffs with Paneer, not with meat. Puffs with meat- that is gross. It will be too heavy and greasy.
Hot Breads is also adding a chocolate menu:
What are they going to do, make chocolate filled parathas? Pani puris with chocolate in lieu of pani?
su rocks! Sepia Kitchen forges ahead, unsanctioned by tabs!
Abhi, Best Caption Ever. “how you gonna get fired on your day off??”
5700 hillcroft. in a strip mall with a south indian vegetarian joint and a couple of halal butchers, among other delights.
Yup…on Hillcroft. right next to the Iranian Shish kabob place (Darband).
Why, oh why do we have to wait till Jan 2007 for the SM meetup in our H’town?
Wait…it does seem like there ARE a few people from Houston out here. Why don’t we have a sub-meetup sometime? At…er…Hot Breads, maybe? 🙂
Yay! DD great idea- lets have a recipe tab- YUMM!
My fam has started a franchise of Indian restaurants in New Zealand- Little India. They’ve been dreaming of expanding to the US but first, in their words, “we must conquer Australia…”
FYI: There’s a rumor that a Hot Breads will be opening soon on Pioneer Blvd in Artesia, CA
And I think I’ve seen one on Newark Avenue in Jersey City as well.
From the website it seems that Hotbreads are only located in Texas. Are there any locations outside Texas? I hope they dont actually have a ‘curry’ flavored puff because that would be gross.
Does the “puff” exist anywhere else in the world ?
Yes! Curry puffs (filled with curried potato/meat/sardine fillings) are the most common savoury snacks to be found in Malaysia and Singapore. We have had them forever – at least a 100 years – and we have them everywhere from shopping mall chains like this to gas station outlets to the humblest street hawker.
I think originally curry puffs were an asian/eurasian adaptation of the cornish pasty.
desi fast food … Oh… the times that I have gorged on “mutton frankies” on Colaba Causeway in Bombay. Heaven is spicy mutton masala wrapped in a maida roti with a sprinkling of raw onions. Please tell me that they still exist in Bombay!
companies like mickeyd’s or subway go to different countries and adapt local styles of cooking. Like aaloo-tikki burger or chicken-tikka sub, they should bring this all back to US and market it. I am drooling…..
I HAVE A DREAM
Since the Hot Breads website doesn’t mention all the locations that exist, does anyone know if there is one in the NY metro area ?
just googled it …and there seems to be locations in edison & franklin park, NJ & in new hyde park, NY
anyone actually been to these locations?
new hyde park?!?!?? score!
“What are they going to do, make chocolate filled parathas?”
Chocolate burfi, mmmmm. Much as Indian food often increasingly appeals to the western palatte, it always saddens me that Indian sweets (which I maintain are the yummiest in the world) have just not been able to make the great white crossover. The fact that many westerners pronounce burfi “barf-ee” does not help the cause :)…
Yours greedily, fantasizing about GJams and Hot Sams
There are 3 HotBreads shops in NJ. I wonder why they are not listed on the website. The one in Hamilton – Lawrenceville in NJ also serves VadaPav which according to me is better than the one served at Dimple of Iselin. They also serve Bombay Sandwitch, Bhel etc. The pastries are yummy as well.
Go here for a full listing of locations
http://www.hotbreads.com/Location.asp
(and yes, the vada pav is yummy 🙂
Must…find…Houston…Hot Breads…
Going on a known Houston area name – I’d call a desi fast food place based here “Pappadum” – Pappadeaux, Pappasitos…why not?
😉
And not surprisingly, Hot Breads is on Hillcroft. (Time for another Hillcroft browse…)
i am an aerospace engineer , now wants to venture into indian fast food business in usa. need guidance. pradip sood
Hey Guys,,, YOU need to check out the Hot Breads in Maryland.. The best one I have been to.. Love to see all the drools on Hot Breads.. This one is awesome.. Its in Gaithersburg, MD. In Kentlands.. http://www.hotbreadsmddc.com.. They have frankies, Bombay sandwich and Veggie Aloo Burgers.. They do paneer and chicken paninis..There Vada pav is awesome
I am new to MD..But this is one rest I can relate to for all desi foods
We have a Hot Breads in Houston, and their veg sandwhich is really good. Their cake is pretty good too. My wife didn’t believe they’d have a chain here, she thinks its not the real chain as in India, but I think it is. looks the same.
My ‘inner obese child’ delights in the desi fast-food dream…Ah. We at the NC have quoted a blurb of this in our Wise Words sideblog.
I visited the Hot Breads in Schaumburg, IL. Their pastries are excellent, the chat dishes are good. It is well maintained but there was a big crowd and the service was delayed. Probably it was due to the weekend.
I think I will go gain, the price is reasonable and taste is good.
what would you suggest in the menu of an indian fast food chain in US. I would love to see you views. , the primary customers are gora americans and mexicans, secondary customers are desia. All your valuable inputs will be appreciated.