A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Star, GTA section:
McLentils and rice
Exported South Asian fast-food chains are heating up across Greater Toronto
Patrons come from as far as Georgia for a taste of home, Prithi Yelaja reports
Jul. 20, 2006. 07:00 AM
PRITHI YELAJA
STAFF REPORTER
A decade after McDonald's introduced North American-style fast food to India, desi chains are returning the favour — with a whole different flavour.
At the vegetarian Komala's in Scarborough, the Indian version of a happy meal is a dosa, a crepe made from ground rice with a choice of stuffings. (Sorry, kids, the plastic toys haven't arrived yet, but will soon.)
Want fries with that? Not here, but maybe you'd like idly instead — a fluffy round dumpling made of ground rice — or vada, a lentil-flour doughnut. And to wash it all down? A mango lassi — a shake made with mango pulp and yogourt.
Oh, and move over, Ronald McDonald. The 50-year-old family-run chain even has its own mascot: a stick-legged, tanned and grinning Mr. Dosa.
"We're the McDonald's of India. The concept is the same. It's fast food for people on the go," says Sushma Khinvasara, who emigrated from Poona in 1997 and opened Komala's here last fall. "The only difference is we're vegetarian and we don't use anything frozen. Everything is made fresh."
Another well-recognized Indian brand draws customers to Saravanaa Bhavan, a family-style chain eatery that's tucked into a Mississauga strip mall alongside Quizno's and KFC, but offering vegetarian food.
A regular at Saravanaa, Jemini Patel didn't even know it was part of a popular chain based in Chennai (formerly Madras) until she stumbled into an outlet in India while on vacation there.
"The menu was the same. The taste was the same. The service was the same. I thought, oh my goodness, this is exactly like our favourite restaurant in Mississauga," says Patel, who works in customer service for Cartier.
Hostess Ranga Raja greets Saravanaa customers dressed in a bright orange silk sari, palms pressed together in the traditional Indian way — which may explain why she's affectionately known as the Vanakkam Lady. Vanakkam is Tamil for welcome.
"This is as close to home cooking as you can get," says Raja, a former Times of India journalist who emigrated from Bangalore in 2003 and manages the two Saravanaa outlets here. The other is in Scarborough.
Other franchises from Chennai that are firing up kitchens in the GTA include Wangs Kitchen in Mississauga, with its fusion of Indian/Chinese food, and Anjappar Chettinad, with outlets in Scarborough and Brampton, which specializes in non-vegetarian South Indian dishes.
Catering to the taste buds of immigrants hankering for a taste of home is a booming business and has all of the chains planning to open more GTA outlets by the end of this year.
Taking a leaf from McDonald's, the secret to their success is perfect uniformity, with chefs and spices brought over from India to recreate the exact taste of the brand.
Komala's cooks, for example, all train at the company's school in Chennai.
"The biggest draw is the brand name for sure, because it's such a successful chain back home. When people see it, they know exactly what they're getting," says Anjappar owner Gopal Arumugam.
He sees the century-old, family-run business specializing in food from the Chettinad coastal region as the Kelsey's of India — or maybe The Keg.
"The Indian diaspora is big, rich and it's a lucrative market to service their needs," he adds.
For proof of that, he only needs to point to the crowds on long weekends, when police have to be called in to direct traffic in the parking lot jammed with Tamil visitors from as far as Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Michigan, loading up coolers full of Anjappar's food to take home with them.
Why do all the new restaurant imports hail from Chennai?
The Toronto restaurant market, it appears, was already saturated with North Indian restaurants years ago.
But there was a gap in South Indian fare and a growing demand from Tamil immigrants who've arrived more recently, says Pradeep Thankappan, who gave up his engineering job to invest in two Saravanaa Bhavan outlets as well as a Wangs Kitchen franchise.
Bringing the chains here initially was a tough sell, he adds. Owners of the 25-year-old family-run Saravanaa already had outlets in California, but were doubtful when he suggested Toronto.
"They were skeptical because of the weather. They think of Canada as one big ice-covered land, so they said, `How are you going to sell crispy dosas there?'" chuckles Thankappan, who had left Chennai in 2001 and pitched the idea because he missed the authentic taste of home.
All the Indian imports offer casual sit-down dining and use traditional stainless-steel plates — except Komala's, where food is prepared assembly-line style, in a setting with classic fast-food ambience. Employees wear uniforms and food is served on trays with disposable plates and utensils.
Saravanaa's specialty is its 20-item thali (a sort of combo meal that includes various vegetable dishes, rice, pappadum and pickle) while customers swear by Anjappar's chicken and mutton biryanis (rice-based dishes) and line up for Wangs' chili chicken and fried ice cream. All of them are doing a brisk catering business as well.
While the initial target market for the chain was the 75,000-strong Tamil community in the GTA, they have quickly attracted a fan base among mainstream foodies looking for a change from the typical north-Indian menu offerings of butter chicken, naan and samosa.
A Caucasian family booked Anjappar for a birthday party for 150 people recently.
With its bright yellow walls adorned with Indian artwork, Tamil-speaking waiters and Tamil music wailing from overhead speakers, Anjappar is "a home away from home," says Gopikannan Arunachalam, 29, who emigrated from Chennai in 2002.
"I grew up eating that food, so I was very happy when they opened here," says the law clerk, who makes the 45-minute drive from North York with his wife most weekends to dine there.
"Their food is awesome — it has a flavour and aroma that makes my mouth water as I talk about it."
____________________________________________________
I'd wish they'd open a store in downtown. Trekking 45 mins to the burbs just for Indian fastfood sound a little excessive.
AoD
McLentils and rice
Exported South Asian fast-food chains are heating up across Greater Toronto
Patrons come from as far as Georgia for a taste of home, Prithi Yelaja reports
Jul. 20, 2006. 07:00 AM
PRITHI YELAJA
STAFF REPORTER
A decade after McDonald's introduced North American-style fast food to India, desi chains are returning the favour — with a whole different flavour.
At the vegetarian Komala's in Scarborough, the Indian version of a happy meal is a dosa, a crepe made from ground rice with a choice of stuffings. (Sorry, kids, the plastic toys haven't arrived yet, but will soon.)
Want fries with that? Not here, but maybe you'd like idly instead — a fluffy round dumpling made of ground rice — or vada, a lentil-flour doughnut. And to wash it all down? A mango lassi — a shake made with mango pulp and yogourt.
Oh, and move over, Ronald McDonald. The 50-year-old family-run chain even has its own mascot: a stick-legged, tanned and grinning Mr. Dosa.
"We're the McDonald's of India. The concept is the same. It's fast food for people on the go," says Sushma Khinvasara, who emigrated from Poona in 1997 and opened Komala's here last fall. "The only difference is we're vegetarian and we don't use anything frozen. Everything is made fresh."
Another well-recognized Indian brand draws customers to Saravanaa Bhavan, a family-style chain eatery that's tucked into a Mississauga strip mall alongside Quizno's and KFC, but offering vegetarian food.
A regular at Saravanaa, Jemini Patel didn't even know it was part of a popular chain based in Chennai (formerly Madras) until she stumbled into an outlet in India while on vacation there.
"The menu was the same. The taste was the same. The service was the same. I thought, oh my goodness, this is exactly like our favourite restaurant in Mississauga," says Patel, who works in customer service for Cartier.
Hostess Ranga Raja greets Saravanaa customers dressed in a bright orange silk sari, palms pressed together in the traditional Indian way — which may explain why she's affectionately known as the Vanakkam Lady. Vanakkam is Tamil for welcome.
"This is as close to home cooking as you can get," says Raja, a former Times of India journalist who emigrated from Bangalore in 2003 and manages the two Saravanaa outlets here. The other is in Scarborough.
Other franchises from Chennai that are firing up kitchens in the GTA include Wangs Kitchen in Mississauga, with its fusion of Indian/Chinese food, and Anjappar Chettinad, with outlets in Scarborough and Brampton, which specializes in non-vegetarian South Indian dishes.
Catering to the taste buds of immigrants hankering for a taste of home is a booming business and has all of the chains planning to open more GTA outlets by the end of this year.
Taking a leaf from McDonald's, the secret to their success is perfect uniformity, with chefs and spices brought over from India to recreate the exact taste of the brand.
Komala's cooks, for example, all train at the company's school in Chennai.
"The biggest draw is the brand name for sure, because it's such a successful chain back home. When people see it, they know exactly what they're getting," says Anjappar owner Gopal Arumugam.
He sees the century-old, family-run business specializing in food from the Chettinad coastal region as the Kelsey's of India — or maybe The Keg.
"The Indian diaspora is big, rich and it's a lucrative market to service their needs," he adds.
For proof of that, he only needs to point to the crowds on long weekends, when police have to be called in to direct traffic in the parking lot jammed with Tamil visitors from as far as Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Michigan, loading up coolers full of Anjappar's food to take home with them.
Why do all the new restaurant imports hail from Chennai?
The Toronto restaurant market, it appears, was already saturated with North Indian restaurants years ago.
But there was a gap in South Indian fare and a growing demand from Tamil immigrants who've arrived more recently, says Pradeep Thankappan, who gave up his engineering job to invest in two Saravanaa Bhavan outlets as well as a Wangs Kitchen franchise.
Bringing the chains here initially was a tough sell, he adds. Owners of the 25-year-old family-run Saravanaa already had outlets in California, but were doubtful when he suggested Toronto.
"They were skeptical because of the weather. They think of Canada as one big ice-covered land, so they said, `How are you going to sell crispy dosas there?'" chuckles Thankappan, who had left Chennai in 2001 and pitched the idea because he missed the authentic taste of home.
All the Indian imports offer casual sit-down dining and use traditional stainless-steel plates — except Komala's, where food is prepared assembly-line style, in a setting with classic fast-food ambience. Employees wear uniforms and food is served on trays with disposable plates and utensils.
Saravanaa's specialty is its 20-item thali (a sort of combo meal that includes various vegetable dishes, rice, pappadum and pickle) while customers swear by Anjappar's chicken and mutton biryanis (rice-based dishes) and line up for Wangs' chili chicken and fried ice cream. All of them are doing a brisk catering business as well.
While the initial target market for the chain was the 75,000-strong Tamil community in the GTA, they have quickly attracted a fan base among mainstream foodies looking for a change from the typical north-Indian menu offerings of butter chicken, naan and samosa.
A Caucasian family booked Anjappar for a birthday party for 150 people recently.
With its bright yellow walls adorned with Indian artwork, Tamil-speaking waiters and Tamil music wailing from overhead speakers, Anjappar is "a home away from home," says Gopikannan Arunachalam, 29, who emigrated from Chennai in 2002.
"I grew up eating that food, so I was very happy when they opened here," says the law clerk, who makes the 45-minute drive from North York with his wife most weekends to dine there.
"Their food is awesome — it has a flavour and aroma that makes my mouth water as I talk about it."
____________________________________________________
I'd wish they'd open a store in downtown. Trekking 45 mins to the burbs just for Indian fastfood sound a little excessive.
AoD