62 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} For a culinary tour through India that will tantalize your taste buds with layers of spices and surprise you with unexpected ingredients like oysters, asparagus and burrata, there’s no need to leave the Peninsula. At ROOH in Palo Alto, the goal is “to change your perception of Indian food and also show strong women in India,” says Anu Bhambri, who owns the restaurant with husband Vikram Bhambri. The couple loves to eat out, but when they returned from frequent visits to their homeland, they were dismayed that Indian restaurants in the U.S. seemed to lag years behind. “About 20 years behind,” according to Anu. “We want to show the exciting diversity of food of contemporary India,” she says. So instead of serving just north Indian or south Indian food, ROOH showcases the stunning variety of regional dishes, from Mumbai to Goa, Hyderabad to Gujarat. The initial menu was cooked up by Sujan Sarkar, secondplace winner of Food Network’s Chopped and Times of India’s 2016 “Chef of the Year.” ROOH’s current executive chef is Apurva Panchal, a former chef de cuisine at Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai who’s cooked for former President Barack Obama. A must-order on the small plates menu is dahi puri, six fried semolina puffs with avocado, tamarind and onion, topped ). with yogurt mousse and raspberry pieces. Tangy, creamy, sweet and spicy, it’s an irresistible street food in Mumbai. “I lived on dahi puri in India,” says Anu, who recalls her mother making it. “I’d eat it every day.” While pork isn’t often on the menu in Indian restaurants, ROOH’s small plates include barbecue pork ribs with pomegranate sauce, as well as duck seekh kebabs with mixed berry chutney and potato tikki chaat, a crunchy fritter. For a strong starter, try the barbecue oysters, topped with melted Amul cheese, a cult favorite in India that’s made from buffalo milk in Gujarat. Entrees range from a tandoori
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