Reawakening Sitar
By Todd Lyon
From the New Haven Register
 | The staff at Sitar: Ashley Andao, left, owner Inderjit Singh with the Thali, Avtar Singh,
M.B. Singh, and Sukhbir Kaur, the owner’s wife.
Mara Lavitt/Register galleries |
I’m spoiled. I spent the better part of my formative years in lower Manhattan, being bombarded, seduced and enlightened by the wonders of the world.
It was the ’80s, and there was a cultural revolution going on. Art was everywhere; on the streets, in upstart galleries and after-hours clubs, in tiny apartments, raw lofts, abandoned buildings. And everyone — at least, everyone I knew — was poor.
Free cheese and jug wine at openings could pass for dinner in a pinch. But when cash-strapped bohemians needed real food, we found salvation in a narrow East Village neighborhood known as Little India. There, shoulder to shoulder, was a cluster of Indian eateries, all small, dark and subterranean, with creaky furniture and style-starved decor. Their menus were nearly identical — we half-wondered if there was one giant kitchen shared by every restaurant on the block — and their prices were poverty-friendly.
Man, that food tasted good. For a few damp dollars and a handful of change, we could fill our senses and our bellies, inhaling fragrant mixtures of spinach and nuts, chicken and curry, lentils and eggplant and yogurt and lamb. "Breads" were puffy pillows, crispy disks or turnovers stuffed with potatoes and peas; sauces were dreamy and mild, kissed with cream and coconut, or violently spicy, packing enough heat to make lips swell and foreheads drip.
When I moved back to New Haven in the ’90s, I visited local Indian places, but the food seemed pale, unconvincing. Not terrible, mind you. Never terrible. But I’ll tell you that, in all my years as a restaurant columnist, only one Indian restaurant — Zaroka on York Street — inspired me enough to praise it in print. And that was three years ago.
With all this build-up, you’re probably expecting me to announce that Sitar, our city’s newest Indian eatery, is the answer to my New York prayers.
Not quite. But it comes darn close, and in fact it was a recent dinner at Sitar that unlocked the flood of memories that I just spilled in your lap.
Sitar opened two months ago on Grove Street near the corner of Orange, in a space that was briefly occupied by Gusto, an Italian eatery. Its red awnings frame storefront windows that advertise Free Delivery; Beer and Wine; Catering and a Lunch Buffet for $6.95, seven days a week.
The interior is plain, but not unpleasant: A room full of chairs and tables is defined on one side by a long counter and a service area where the buffet action takes place.
Before I launch into culinary details, let me tell you about Sitar’s history. It’s owned by Inderjit Singh, who came to this country from his native Punjab back in 1980. After paying his dues in New York, he and his brothers opened the original Sitar in Boston. In 1990, they relocated to Springfield, Mass., where Sitar continues to thrive. Inderjit expanded into Connecticut in 1997, opening yet another Sitar on Route 1 in Branford; he sold that business in 2002 and returned to India for a few years in order to attend to his "various properties" there.
He’d had his eye on New Haven for some time, and when the Grove Street space became available, he came back to the U.S. With the help of his wife, Sukhbir Kaur, and various other family members, the fourth incarnation of Sitar was born.
I took two friends and one boyfriend there last week, and here’s my report. First, the service at Sitar — provided by the smiling Ashley Andao, who also manages the place — is swift, friendly and virtually flawless. (I later learned that Ashley spent six years waiting tables on a cruise ship, which explained everything.) We were welcomed with a complimentary plate of papadam (spicy lentil crisps, better than average) and a trio of traditional sauces. Our drink choices were surprising: besides bottled beer from India and elsewhere, there was a lovely wine list with an array of highly-drinkable bottles — including a Chateauneuf du Pape, if you can believe it — at oh-so-reasonable prices. Then, we were introduced to the wines of India. There’s only three of them, so far, all made by one producer, Sula Vineyards. We gambled $22 on a bottle of its ’04 Shiraz, and found it to be rich and complex, a fine companion for the meal we were about to receive.
Sitar’s menu is long and complicated, as Indian menus tend to be, and offers an assortment of dishes from various regions. Many are familiar (samosas, tandoori chicken, lamb curry, chicken tikka masala), and some are not (pudeena nan, curried snapper, goat korma). What stands out is Sitar’s commitment to quality. "We make our own yogurt, cheese, ice cream, we do it all," explains Inderjit. His attention to detail is such that customers can customize the spiciness of their meal by ordering on a scale of one to 10 — one being extra-mild, 10 being extra-hot. "Some people ask for 11," he laughs.
I had the privilege of visiting chefs Avtar Singh and Mahtinder Pal in Sitar’s spotless kitchen. I watched as nan bread dough was kneaded, rolled and tossed in the air, pizza-pie style, then slapped on an inner wall of a tandoori oven (which looks something like a potter’s kiln and runs temperatures of 500 to 700 degrees). In less that two minutes, the bread was puffy and ready to serve.
I can’t imagine how long it takes to prepare Sitar’s main dishes. My entree of Lamb Korma, with tender chunks of lamb in a gravy made with cream, nuts, herbs and spices, tasted as if it had been simmering for hours, even days. Goat Curry, Chicken Vindaloo and Saag Paneer were also impressive, as were all of Sitar’s breads, but the Korma was the stand-out dish of the evening; when I returned a week later, I was compelled to order it again.
I’ve not yet tried Sitar’s lunch buffet, but Ashley tells me that it’s the restaurant’s biggest draw. He’s delighted — and amused — when customers fill their plates three, four or even five times. "People like it because we make everything fresh, every day, specifically for the buffet," he explains. And, because buffet offerings change daily, the element of surprise is always there.
I hope that some of Sitar’s regulars are budding artists on a budget. As for the rest of you, you’ll appreciate Sitar not only for its excellent value (lunch dishes start at $5; at dinner, the average entree is $12), but for the care taken by management and staff to ensure, as it says on the menu, "a most pleasurable dining experience."
Todd Lyon of New Haven is a freelance writer. |
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