Through a post on the News Tab (thanks Bobby32), I came across an interesting “local food tourism” piece in the New York Times, featuring Krishnendu Ray, a Professor of Food Studies at NYU (can anyone think of a better discipline to be in? I can’t).
Professor Ray is the author of an intriguing-looking book called The Migrant’s Table: Meals and Memories in Bengali-American Households.
The Times has the cerebral Prof. Ray go on a tour of a series of very different Desi restaurants around New York City, beginning with high-end fusion food in Manhattan (Angon), passing through Jackson Diner (a cross-over favorite), stopping by the Ganesh Temple Canteen in Flushing (intriguing choice), and ending at a working class place in Brooklyn called Pakiza.
Ray’s comments are really intriguing. First there is a general, theoretical comment about the function of the Desi restaurant as a space of cross-cultural interaction in American cities:
“The immigrant body is a displaced body — it reveals its habits much more than a body at home, because you can see the social friction,†Mr. Ray said. “The ethnic restaurant is one of the few places where the native and the immigrant interact substantively in our society.â€
Interesting — and possibly true. (Thoughts?) I think what Ray is getting at here is the fact that how we eat is both more intimate and harder to conceal than other aspects of cultural difference. In many other spheres, adaptation and mimicry can be pretty straightforward: you buy a certain kind of suit and shoes, and fit in at a workplace or school, more or less. But eating is closer to home, and the Indian restaurant in particular is a space where “old habits” (like, say, eating with one’s hands) can come out safely. But, as Ray also points out, the rules are somewhat different when the Indian restaurant in question has a mix of Desi and non-Desi patrons.
On $6 for a tiny, pyramid-shaped mound of Bhel Puri at Devi, Ray says:
“We like this very clever insider joke,†Mr. Ray continued. “We are taking something cheap and from the street, and reducing the quantity, turning it into a pyramid, putting it on a big plate, and all these white guys are paying 20 bucks for it.†(link)
Heh. His bewilderment at the idea of veal at a restaurant named “Devi,” as well as at the ingenious preposterousness of “Masala Schnitzel” is also worth a look. I also agree with him about the greatness of Saravanaas, on Lexington Avenue, and on a few other things as well.
OMG!! My fave topic. Some things:
Chi! ‘Deep-mama! We eat with our fingers, not our HANDS. Geez.
The temple has the best food hands down, other than my mother’s kitchen. And, unlike Vatan (no I don’t want kheema in my samosa thankyouverymuch), they’re ACTUALLY vegetarian. Anyway, Vatan’s closed for reno for a while. Thank god, because I am so over their fake-village decor. Vomit.
Anyone know a good place to get pau bhaji that’s not Bombay Talkie?
You can shoot me down, but I don’t trust Indian food that’s not made by a brown (of any persuasion) person.
Coromandel in New Rochelle is great, but you always leave REEKING of onions. Like, even more than the usual reek.
Tamarind is really good, but also quite pricey.
I’m drooling. I can’t even handle this.
. Anyone know a good place to get pau bhaji that’s not Bombay Talkie?
Well there’s my house — in the Philly suburbs! I would invite you all over, but I don’t think you would fit.
(My better half grew up in Bombay… 😉
aaahhhhhh, I heart Amardeep! Thank you for your always-da-best posts!!
This is the perfect post to air out a puzzle I’ve had for a long, long time. How come two Indian restaurants, with pretty much the same menu options (both have the standard dosa-idli etc kind of food + thalis), similar price-points, same level of non-ambience and non-service, in the same locality, have Disparate levels of non-desi clientele?
For example, here in Atlanta, there’s an Udipi Cafe and the Saravana Bhavan (the one Ardy/anantha were talking about). The Udipi place has some 70% non-desi crowd, and the Saravana Bhavan has about 50% (just guesses based on what I see – we’re evidently Very frequent visitors to both places :-)). They’re both VERY similar, except that the udipi has more kannadiga food, and the saravana bhavan has slightly more tamilian influences – but I wouldn’t expect most non-desis to notice that or care.
What do you think influences non-desis’ Indian restaurant preferences?
I thought he did not praise the Flushing temple food enough.. Speaking of chaat, I was a big fan of Sukhadias in 5th ave until I found out that they actually cook all the stuff in NJ, ship it to Manhattan and reheat it there 😮 I guess I should have known 🙁
We are taking something cheap and from the street, and reducing the quantity, turning it into a pyramid, putting it on a big plate, and all these [fill in the blank] guys are paying 20 bucks for it.
My initial reaction is that this kind of observation is perfect fodder for anyone looking at the sociology/marketing/business of food/restaurants in general. The truth is that all kinds of “peasant cuisines” (or “bourgeois cuisines”, for that matter) — “ethnic” or not — have been upscaled to the point of ridiculousness. But the contemporary restaurant scene is rarely about “value” or getting a “good, square meal”, and it’s also rarely about cultural “authenticity” or reverence for dietary laws, etc.
I also agree with those who pointed out that the statement “The ethnic restaurant is one of the few places where the native and the immigrant interact substantively in our society” is a bit much. On the whole though, I love this kind of thread of inquiry and anthropological observation. Thanks, Amardeep, for bringing the NYT article to our attention.
In my case, price. ^__^ The lunch buffet place is a lot more fun to visit with other budget-conscious grad student friends than the formal “reservation required” place, although the latter has marginally better food.
In Hyderabad, I tried out a lot of local restaurants and ended up finding a favorite place which I visited about twice a week. When I brought friends to that restaurant, they would invariably ask “but why this place?”
I told them it was the place that reminded me of the way Indian restaurant food tasted in the US. ^__^
Well, of course, it must be authentic. 😉
Sukhadia’s is disgusting, by the way – at least the one in Manhattan.
Amardeep: I want to know where your better half eats pau bhaji in Mumbs. I just got back and ate either pau bhaji or pani puri every. single. day. For two weeks. Yum.
Tamasha,
S. says “Khao gali — there’s a walkway that cuts through Azaad maidan.”
Along similar lines, a couple of months ago, I spent 10 days in Portland (OR) and a friend told me about a restaurant called Chennai Masala (in Hillsboro, close to where Intel has its offices). Two of my colleagues (one DBD and the other American) came with me and all of us came back mighty pleased with my choice. We ended up going there 4 of the 10 nights we were in town. It was interesting to see the clientile on one of the nights, a Saturday.
My friends and I spent more than a hour in the restaurant. When we got there, there were 4 other desis. And apart from those four, no other desi stepped into the restaurant while we were there. The restaurant was about 3/4th full with at least 20 americans in there. The reason this odd statistic amazed me was because the food tasted authentic and going by the taste, I’d have expected more desis. Also the decor is not really upmarket. It’s no better than what you would see in a pucca desi neighborhood.
To answer the question of what shapes non-desis’ Indian restaurant preferences – I think its the taste alone. I’d include good service, but seeing that Saravanas in Lexington Ave does attract a substantial non-desi crowd in spite of the less than perfect service, I don’t think that service or the lack there of is an issue at all.
I’ve never had good “indian”//”pakistani” food in a restaurant in america.
during the internet boom i used to go to this tiny east village indian fusion place called raga. it was one of the first indian restaurants to leave authenticity behind and it was cheap as hell too. if it’s still around check out the tandoori fillet mignon.
but ray is right, fusion has been all downhill since with the emperor has no clothes crowd prancing around like the MET on a Thursday night. Devi is overpriced but at least its pow pow spicy. tamarind is going strong with its flintstone sized lamb chops and uncanny wine pairings, but its much much more Indian than french, taking few risks. its bubba’s favorite indian spot too, so needless to say there’s usually some talent at the bar.
the naan at curry in a hurry still rules, imho.
Amardeep, dude. If a family of 4 can fit on a scooter in India, we will find a way to fit. Heh.
There was just too much idiocy in this article to enjoy it. The author and the professor seemed to be in competition for how much stupidity they could put into the paper of record. Anyway, is Hot Breads really from Chennai? I thought it was a Bombay place. They’re all over India. I was pretty amazed the first time I saw the logo on a place here. Nanking has 5 or 6 branches around NY/NJ: http://www.nankingrestaurantgroup.com/
Tamasha,
Try Dimple on 30th and 5th, the one in Edison is pretty good and they do a good dabeli. In Bombay I have eaten great pav bhaji at small udupi cafes, Amardeep is right about Khao Galli and there is a khao galli in Ghatkopar west which is excellent as well.
Kinara in Park Slope is quite good. Their chole reminds me of my mother’s. I like Roomali’s rolls, but they take forever to make. And I enjoy eating at Tamarind on special occasions…
AG: The first Hot Breads opened in Chennai in 1988. Here is a Boston Globe article on the chain.
nala @ 43
Ah yes, then the NY Times would write about it and we could debate whether the premise of the restaurant was misogynistic. It would be fun!
One of the things that I noticed about this thread is that the places have not changed substantially in the last 4-5 years. THere are 100’s of desi places and the same ones get written about in our forum and others.
Who are these exotic desi women? The one from Nagaland and Manipur?
Mr. Ray, who emigrated from the Bengal state of Orissa in 1989
You live and learn, courtesy the NY times.
The newspaper of record states “Mr. Ray, who emigrated from the Bengal state of Orissa in 1989 …”. What exactly does that mean?
ROFL!
Excellent idea. someone get working on it. If there aren’t enough Indian women willing to do it, hire Mexican women who look like Hayek.
Where in NYC do you get asli mutton? How about Hyderabadi biryani? Last but not least, paaya (goat trotters-cooked Hyderabad style)? My trips to Hyderabad are not frequent enough and if I can find asli mutton, not that abomination called lamb, my prayers have been half-answered.
Amaun,
I usually buy mutton at the butcher shops on Newark Avenue in Jersey city, it is a short train ride from midtown and downtown. There is also a small Hyderabadi restaurant on Newark Avenue which does a decent biryani, I have never asked them for paaya but I have had paayas at many Pakistani places.
Not to contribute to the devolution of this thread, but I think “Dosa” in San Francisco might have a little of this business model going on. However, if my memory is correct, most of the waitstaff were Anglo women.
Bah! Appropriation!
Anyone ever eat at Madras Cafe in New York city? Pretty good south indian food. Love the masala dosas. Although to be fair Ive never eaten near the temple in Queens.
The food in Dosa is also “Anglo-South Indian fusion” — i.e., it tastes TERRIBLE. The waitstaff also have no idea of what the food on the menu entails. Their business model is not to sell desi food, but rather, to sell Americanized desi food to hipsters.
Exactly what would make it so interesting to Professor Ray, in my opinion. Also, I’d argue that Hipster Desi Food joins a long and illustrious line: Hipster Asian Fusion, Hipster Italian Trattoria, Hipster Sushi Bar, Hipster French Bistro, Hipster White Trash Comfort Food.
See “Authenticity 101” in the course catalog.
23 · Andrew Jackson said
True that! That is why I subscribe to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh feed of his blog.
His posts are always interesting. I think he tracks what I read online, and then blogs about it. This is the third time it has happened, it’s scary!
What do y’all think of Volga and Shalimar on Oak Tree? They have some good chicken makhani and decent lassi. Volga also has Thumz Up that was shipped here no more than a year ago.
The best pau bhaji in Bombay has to be at Amar Juice Centre in Parle (W)
Tamasha (1) : Amardeep was correct, if perhaps by accident. Many South Indians do indeed eat with their hands – which necessitates that the tongue too participate in the food handling. Ask around, and basta de clamar “chi”.
Dimple Restaurant place provides true Desi Food in Edison NJ with a guarantee from that you will never leave dissatisfied and keep returning for more and more.
desi food in edison nj