Good Taste is a menu for eating well in the Bay Area. Today, it gives me great joy and verklemft-ness to share the launch announcement of Indian Restaurant Week in San Francisco. Paid subscribers to 48 Hills newsletters receive exclusive local dining tips every Saturday in their inbox!
On Wednesday, Taj Campton Place hosted an intimate event for dignitaries, city officials, and media to announce Indian Restaurant Week, taking place in six fine San Francisco restaurants from October 5-11. Since it’s just before Diwali, which begins on Oct. 20, chefs Ashish Tiwari (ROOH), Srijith Gopinath (Copra), Pujan Sarkar (Tiya), Shibiraj Saha (Amber India), Ranjan Dey (New Delhi Restaurant), Thomas George (Bombay Brasserie) have each created different Diwali-inspired prix fixe menus inspired by their home regions to serve at their respective establishments.
The launch event wasn’t just special because it included a tasting of beautifully composed bites from each, though that was an absolute dream sequence. It was an emotional spotlighting of six immigrant-helmed businesses at the top of their craft, each of whom have contributed positively to the enjoyment of life in the Bay Area. The chefs received certificates of recognition from the mayor, among others.
Last week, my friend Ranjan Dey, whose New Delhi Restaurant is the oldest Indian eatery in San Francisco at almost-37-years-old, invited me to dine with him under the care of Chef Thomas George at the Taj’s year-old Bombay Brasserie. As course after course of incredible seafood and meat dishes appeared at the table, Dey happily told me about how this collective effort to create Indian Restaurant Week has resulted in the formation of a new and supportive community of chefs and restaurateurs who are now looking out for each other in ways big and small. If I used emojis in my work, I’d put an emo, watery-eyed one right here.
Indian Restaurant Week meals cost $75 and/or $95, depending on what each individual restaurant has decided. Reservations are required, and can be made through the official Indian Restaurant Week website, which also shares the details of each menu. There will also be another Indian Restaurant Week in celebration of Holi in the spring.
“India brings its soul to the food,” Dey said of India having its time in the local and global culinary spotlight. “It’s a spiritual thing for us when we are cooking food. We are not just putting something in front of you. We are putting in a spirit of nourishment, where there is a connection from the food to the heart, and that’s what we are bringing to the rest of the world.”
Tamara also publishes the California Eating and Food Book Club newsletters.
