Magnificent Indian Food

Anita Jaisinghani is an incredible person. I first ran into her work many, many years ago, when she worked at Cafe Annie as pastry chef for two years. In 2001, she opened Indika out on Memorial Drive. Fran and I didn't like to go way out to eat, but we sure enjoyed Indika. She moved Indika to Montrose in 2016. This was before we moved to Montrose! I can't give Indika the credit for us moving nearby, but we sure ate there a lot when we did (in 2018). Indika closed recently. We loved the food, and we loved our regular waiter, Rusty. Now, she runs only Pondicheri, which opened in 2011 on Kirby Avenue and Westheimer.

As I said above, Anita is a fantastic person. She is Canadian, and I am a big fan of Canada, but this is not what makes her so special. She is a kind and caring person who is very talented. The name of the restaurant is due to a French colony in India in the 1700s with the same name. She says on her website:

I loved the word Pondicheri also because it had a strong feminine feel and a warmth to it.

I spoke with her when I ate there earlier this year. She cares about her customers and her workers, and she cares about making healthy food. She has also written a book, Masala:

Today, on my walk home from visiting the dermatologist for my annual check-up, I stopped for lunch and had mushroom lamb keema (braised mushrooms with ground lamb, carrot Paratha and a fried egg:

I always liked Indika and was sad to see it go. I short-changed myself by thinking Pondicheri wasn't dinner-worthy, but it is. It does a fantastic job. Its bakery is very special too.