Sudhir Seth

Some interesting insight into the world of Essential Amino Acids on links below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qh3TqvSSO...rPsHo4#PPA34,M1

http://www.india4u.com/Health/calories_in_...and_legumes.asp

For some strange reason I have been unable to fathom, our forefathers declared cow's milk and its products to be OK but eating beef against the religion. Maybe since the country's economy was agriculture based and killing cows would have killed all Oxen which were the only animals used to plough the field. There are sects in India who have thrived on just grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables-- can't say how much a non-dairy diet takes away from an overall balanced diet.

Within a block or so is a new Indian restaurant, The Saffron Lounge. They opened two weeks ago (I think), but I haven't been there yet. Reluctant to waste an opportunity to eat at Passage to India. Has anyone tried Saffron yet?

Saffron Lounge has closed in less than 5 weeks since opening and has been replaced by an Italian restaurant Buono Sera.

I think that's a little weird, and it makes me think that a lot of allergies are blown out of proportion.

NO it is not blown out of proportion, allergies can be fatal especially at a younger age. We learn the right and timely responses as we grow older and learn to avoid with choices as we become more knowledgeable about hidden ingredients. In my restaurant we take even a Decaf order very seriously and make sure that the French press is washed thoroughly between orders. I have started using recipes with no peanuts with the exception of one Baby Eggplant dish which the menu clearly states.

Not being from the medical profession all I can say is that our life style and culture have led us to the usage of way too many additives in the food- starting from preservatives for those easy reheatable dinners to artificial coloring, flavoring and texture control products like sgl4. The list is endless with the fertilizers and now genetic engineering. Another thing that Refrigerated transport has brought in is the NON seaasonal products being available everywhere right round the year. Back in India we learnt to live with nature and eat the very things that can grow in th local environs. It is kind of if anything grows in your local area it has done so by breathing in the very air and consuming the same water that you do, so it will be good for your health and body.

I also read recently that having a pet in the house helps infants a lot in becoming resilient to a host of allergies since the pets bring in a light dose of allergens from outside and the child's immune system starts becoming used to those particular irritants.

Just my .03 cents.

We will be open on Thanksgiving and have a Turkey Special as follows

THANKSGIVING SPECIAL

CHARBROILED TURKEY

Tender marinated turkey breasts broiled in the charcoal tandoor oven, served with Cranberry chutney

ALOO DO PIAZA

Red bliss potatoes sautéed with caramelized scallion greens and flavored with cumin

KADDU KI BHAJI

Pumpkin tempered with fenugreek and seasoned with raw mango and shaved jaggery

ZAFRANI PULAO

Long grain basmati flavored with saffron and studded with raisins and nuts

DESSERT

GAJAR HALWA

Cardamom flavored carrot pudding with almonds, pistachio and raisins

$15.95/person

Worked at the Bombay Club for 5 years as the Executive Chef and in my opinion it is the Grandest dining hall amongst all Indian restaurants in this area.

Went for DimSum with adventurous daughter in tow and had mixed experience like at any other restaurant-all shades between excellent and truly bad. Ordered all of below, and without getting in any controversy must state that have spent 3 months in Shanghai and learnt to love authentic food of that area at least.

Steamed Shrimp dumpling--Good

Steamed pork dumpling-- A little bland for my taste

Steamed Spare ribs/BB sauce-- too much fat,Blackbeans non existent, should change the name of the dish

Pan fried turnip cake--humongous portion size; should have been more crisp

Steamed roast pork bun--too sweet and doughy for us

Pan fried chives/shrimp/pork dumplings--EXCELLENT, light, flavorful

Spring rolls--I think ticked by mistake and regretted it, dripping with grease and over fried

Shrimp rice noodle crepe--good, tasty had never eaten that before

Steamed vegetable crystal dumpling--very good, a must order for us on next visit

Service flags--saw a large group occupying the 4 large round tables and requested to bring atleast

two-three of our orders out and then take their own time for the rest, but NO, all 9 things landed on our

table after 35 minutes. Was suggested Kirin with the food and quite enjoyed it. From now on am going to mix and match beers irrespective of the cuisine.

Tea was poured the moment we sat down without our asking and then we were billed 0.75 each. Not a big amount but the server showed us the fine print on the card where they total the dim sum prices at the end. Like I wrote not a huge amount but the practise looks shady.

Overall will go again on a weekend to try more from their cart service.

Lucky the daughter is a light eater, I polished off everything; the only thing left was a plate of 2.5 greasy spring rolls.

I would really appreciate if all those people who took photos of the event could email me the same at

passagetoindia@comcast.net

Many thanks in advance.

I always take such requests in the right spirit and am always willing to share any recipes. I think Mr. Landrum said it best.

Also the creation of a dish is in years of practise and mere words of a recipe do not translate into a great dish. Not only do I email the recipe but always suggest stores for the ingredients and sometimes even pack a little bit of the more difficult to find ingredients.

((3)  Finally, I looked at the Passage to India web site, and did not see the mustard-brushed fish on there.  I will be a sad, sad diner if I never have that dish again.

The dish you liked so much is under the Eastern Cuisine--

SHORSHE BATA MAACHH.

I am not tech savvy enough to create a PDF file of the menu, but can email you as an attachment.

Sudhir

Thanks to all who made it last night to the Regional Foods of India dinner. I hope you all liked what was served and am eager to get any feedback to improve further on food and service alike.

For all those with dietary restrictions -- I trust that we were able to substitute items to your satisfaction inspite of the lengthy menu that my team had prepared.

Chef Sudhir Seth

You all are welcome to come from 4.45pm onwards, and you could order your drinks while you mingle with the rest of the early birds. I intend to start bringing out the food around 5.30-5.45. There is a lot of food -in four services, and I want everyone to sit back and enjoy and not feel rushed.

I know we have a deadline of sorts for people who have to go watch the Iron Chefs battle it out, and I intend serving the final course around 8.00.

If you folks want, Monica and I could answer some of your questions in between the courses (I have successfully coerced my wife Sonali to come and assist in that).

And for those who had wanted to come but had some scheduling conflict we could plan another event in summers.

Sudhir

A big WELCOME to all the DR.Com folks who have registered for the May 7th Dinner at Passage to India in Bethesda. I am sure you all will enjoy the Fun-N-Food

time at my restaurant.

If there are any who have Allergies/ food intolerance/ or dietary restrictions please feel free to PM or email me and we will try to offer you alternates. I cannot promise that all requests will be met but we will surely give it our best shot.

Looking forward to a fun filled UH food filled evening.

One of my guests surprised me with this review out in yesterday's Gazette which I had forgotten about. To read, cut and paste the following

http://www.gazette.net/stories/030106/ente...854_31951.shtml

But we're both vegetarians and for the drive we probably won't return often when Woodlands is closer. Too bad - I think the chef lives in our area? Maybe he can be persuaded to open a restaurant in suburbia!

Would love to branch out but their has to be enough Indian food sensitized palates to provide a critical mass effect, to get any ethnic restaurant rolling forward. Believe me, I have been actively looking for an economically viable location in Bowie, Silver Spring north and College Park areas, in addition to far flung Virginia etc.

Since you both are vegetarians (and on multiple other requests) for more variety we will be shortly posting on our website and make an addendum available to our menu of all the items that the kitchen can prepare in addition to our already varied veggie selection.

Sudhir

Here is the link to the BCC website for a list of restaurants participating

http://www.bccchamber.org/restaurants/restaurantweek.shtml

I have a question for you, foodjunkie (is this Chef Seth?) I have been to your restaurant several times, and enjoyed it greatly. But I doubt that my total for an appetizer, entree and dessert actually got to $30. If I remember correctly, your "special dinners" which were 3 courses were under $25. What kind of special menu are you going to do for RW?

Kind of a larger question for others to chime in on as well. I think 75% of the places on the BCC RW list I wouldn't normally have to spend $30 for a 3-course meal there.

The RW menu at my place would work out to $26 working on average pricing for Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. In addition to the three courses we are serving freshly baked NAAN, our extremely popular MAH KI DAL(black lentils) and RAITA.

Of course, some guests who are vegetarians, might feel that they are being charged more since vegetarian entrees are less expensive. The restaurants have to strike a balance on a difficult high beam act - trying not to seemingly charge exorbitantly for expensive seafood and at the same time have some semblance of sanity on the pricing structure of the menu as a whole. Restaurant week is an opportunity for a restaurant to be able to offer more for less only if the response is good since there is an additional marketing cost involved.

Hope this answers your concerns.

I have a small Indian restaurant in Bethesda, PASSAGE TO INDIA at 4931 Cordell Ave. where we try to bring in the cuisines from different regions of India.

I just signed up for the RW in Jan 23-29. Last time was a partial success- poor marketing inspite of BCC and Washington Post involvement but well received by the few patrons nevertheless.

Am told that this more places are joining so we might get better coverage. Though you are right BCC should mark their calendars for 'save the date'.

Quite like the new look of the 100 best layout, though with the ads and pictures can be a difficult read. Especially interesting are the comments like WHAT YOU'LL LOVE and WHAT YOU WON'T.

Wish the Post and Washingtonian came up with their recs 6 months apart to give us folks enough time.