Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

September 5, 2008 10:55:34 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

The Perils of Opening an Indian Restaurant—in India

Posted Jun 12, 08 3:10 PM CDT in World,  Glossies,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Modern Indian restaurants bent on messing with millennia-old recipes must "coax Indians into accepting the changes they make with beloved dishes," or continue to face the wrath of the "Authenticity Police," writes Shoba Narayan in Gourmet after an evening spent analyzing the paneer at Bangalore's upscale Masala Klub.    

"Opening an Indian restaurant in India isn’t easy," says Narayan, especially if haute cuisine is the goal. Amid a culture "famously possessive" of its food, creative young chefs must battle diners who view pan-Indian food "with deep suspicion." Regional variations in spice tolerance don't help the problem, whose solution, writes Narayan, is to shift the paradigm, rendering diners "too taste-struck to complain."

Source Gourmet

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon
The exterior of the Masala Klub restaurant of the Taj West End Hotel in Bangalore is shown here in this photo provided by Taj Hotel Resorts.   (Taj Hotel Resorts and Palaces)
An Indian cook roasts meat on charcoal in the kitchen of a small restaurant, in Mumbai, India, in this July 26, 2007 photo.   (AP Photo/Rajesh Nirgude)
Long hailed as the comfort food and holy grail of India's Tammil Brahmin people, getting the dish of rasam right(pictured here) is one of the many challenges faced by Indian restaurants offering a pan-Indian...   (Flickr ©, Charles Haynes)
Those who mess with beloved basics such as the dal makhni, pictured here, do so at the risk of facing the wrath of the "Authenticity Police" according to food columnist Shoba Narayan   (Flickr ©)
The Klub Masala restaurant of the Taj West End Hotel in Bangalore is shown at night.   (Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (1 of 3)

Tags

India  • food  • gourmet dining  • dining  • traditions  • spicy food


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular


Other Arts & Living Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »