Good Taste tells you where to stick your fork in the Bay. Today, it’s a thrill to talk about the return of Indian Restaurant Week in SF.
The Diwali edition of San Francisco’s Indian Restaurant Week takes place for two weeks, over November 1-14. Chefs Ashish Tiwari (ROOH), Srijith Gopinath (Copra), Pujan Sarkar (Tiya), Shibiraj Saha (Amber India), Ranjan Dey (New Delhi Restaurant), Thomas George (Bombay Brasserie) are offering tasting menus created especially for the holiday—not to be offered again—beginning at $75 and $85. Reservations can be made on the Indian Restaurant Week site.
This isn’t a wade through a database for discounts kind of restaurant week—it’s carefully curated for excellence and is by invitation. Together, these six immigrant-helmed restaurants represent regions all over India, which has 28 states, all with different culinary expressions.
This week’s joyful Indian Restaurant Week preview party at Taj Campton Place was an exciting chance to see how close-knit these six chefs have become over the past year since launching this biannual event. Their pride in partnering with The Consulate General of India, San Francisco was infectious.
“Ranjan is the real ambassador here!” said Consul General Mr. Satish Sivan of Dey, the organizer of Indian Restaurant Week and chef/owner of San Francisco’s oldest Indian restaurant. It’s true, though: Dey has cooked for countless dignitaries, and doesn’t look unlike Gandhi, a resemblance he jokes about with friends.
“It’s all about unity and diversity,” Dey said. “That’s what the rest of the world is trying to do, and we have been doing it for 5,000 years.”
Several of the chefs remarked that their Diwali menus are inspired by their childhood memories of celebrating the holiday in India. The Indian Restaurant Week menus are where you’ll find them being extra playful.
“Diwali is the festival of light,” said Dey. “A time of joy. New beginnings, family, friendship, and the triumph of life over darkness.” It’s especially well-timed this year.
Something Dey told me last year has sat in my spirit this whole time: he now has colleagues he can call if he needs a proverbial or literal cup of sugar, which is meaningful on a soul level. Indian Restaurant Week will return in the spring to celebrate Holi, the festival of colors and love.
INDIAN RESTAURANT WEEK runs November 1-14. Various Bay Area locations. More info here.
