Chef Suni l Srivastava and Anupama Srivastava Husband and wi fe owners of the Verandah Prog ressi ve I nd i an Restau ran t HOUSTON …To l i sten to Chefs Sun i l and Anupama Sri va stava ta l k abou t thei r newest restau ran t, Verandah i n the Upper Ki rby a rea , one i s very qu i ckl y awa re the ven tu re i tsel f ba rel y scra tches the su rface of wha t th i s un i que I nd i an restau ran t represen ts. I f Verandah were a book, th i s book’s cover i s both beau ti fu l and en ti ci ng , encou rag i ng one to expl ore the twi sts and su rpri ses encl osed i nsi de. The coupl e’s desi gn i dea s have transformed the street-l evel restau ran t space i n the Ki rby Col l ecti on bu i l d i ng a t 3300 Ki rby Dri ve i n to a mesmeri zi ng , mu l ti - room d i n i ng l oca ti on . The con tempora ry décor i n each of the rooms offers a wel comi ng comfort, perfect for l ei su re d i n i ng . I nsi de th i s book’s a ttracti ve cover i s an i n tri gu i ng and en terta i n i ng story, tol d i n the pages of Chef Sun i l ’s menus. The d i shes he presen ts a re often cl a ssi cs, fami l i a r names to anyone wi th an understand i ng of I nd i an cu i si ne, yet these d i shes have been rewri tten by the chef’s own hand . “Th i s i s ou r own styl e,” he says. “These a re ou r reci pes. Th i s i s ou r way of doi ng th i ng s. ” And wha t makes th i s l i tera ry compa ri son even more compl ete a re a l l the many chapters of though t the two pu t i n to every facet of pl ann i ng tha t have both crea ted and ma i n ta i ned Verandah a s the one-of-a - ki nd I nd i an restau ran t i t i s. I n t h e c o l o r s , t h e f l o o r i n g , t h e w a l l s a n d e v e n t h e l o f t y c e i l i n g o f t h e m a i n d i n i n g r o o m a r e s y m b o l s o f e a r t h , f i r e , w a t e r , a i r a n d e t h e r , t h e c a r r i e r o f s o u n d . An d i n t h e f o o d i s a s t o r y t h a t m a ke s Ve r a n d a h . Ch e f Su n i l h a s a d d e d a l o t m o r e t h a n a c o l l e c t i o n o f p e r f e c t l y c h o s e n i n g r e d i e n t s . “My a p p r o a c h t o p r e p a r i n g f o o d i s f r e e - s t y l e , ” h e s a ys . “ I a m c omm i t t e d t o t h e a va n t - g a r d e , b u t a t t h e s a m e t i m e , I a m s t i l l f a i t h f u l t o t h e m em o r y o f d i f f e r e n t g e n e r a t i o n s o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s a n c e s t o r s wh o we r e d e d i c a t e d t o f e e d i n g p e o p l e . T h a t m e a n s e a c h t i m e I a m b l e n d i n g h e r b s a n d s p i c e s a n d wo r k i n g t h em i n t o a d i s h , i t m u s t b e t u r n e d i n t o a m a s t e r p i e c e . ” T h e two a r e c e r t a i n l y n o t n ew o n t h e H o u s t o n - a r e a c u l i n a r y s c e n e . T h e y m o ve d t o Su g a r L a n d i n 2 0 0 9 a n d b e g a n wo r k c o n s u l t i n g o n I n d i a n c u i s i n e s , f o l l owe d s o o n i n 2 0 1 0 b y t h e G r e a t W’ Ka n a Ca f é i n Me a d ows P l a c e . I mp l em e n t i n g h i s u s u a l a va n t - g a r d e s t y l e , h i s f o o d m e t wi t h i mm e d i a t e a c c l a i m , a n d t h e c a f é s o o n h a d t h e a t t e n t i o n o f p e o p l e a l l o ve r t h e H o u s t o n a r e a . I n 2 0 1 4 , t h e y o p e n e d a s e c o n d l o c a t i o n i n We s t H o u s t o n o n B r i a r Fo r e s t j u s t e a s t o f E l d r i d g e . #FINEDININGINDIAN | 30 JUNE 2019
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