Indian Restaurant Culture in the West : Fine Dining and QSR ft Chef Srijith Gopinathan (Part 1)

In the world of food, earning a Michelin star is like winning an Oscar - very difficult and very rare. Our guest today has two! Earning two Michelin stars is almost impossible. Only around 140 restaurants in the world hold that distinction. Today we have with us Chef Srijith Gopinathan. His love for food and obsession with detail helped him build a business that includes two of the best Indian restaurants in California - Ettan in Palo Alto and the recently opened Copra in San Francisco. Srijith is the chief culinary officer at Mamu, a company that makes innovative mushroom and chickpea based sustainable alternatives to traditionally meat-based dishes like burgers. Different from other vegetarian substitutes, Mamu's products, while possessing a nice bite and juicy texture, do not imitate meat. He is also part of Little Blue Door, an Indian street food inspired outlet at the State Street Market in Los Altos, California. In today's episode we discuss Srijith's journey from his little village in India to the Maldives and London, and eventually San Francisco. He talks about his passion for farm fresh ingredients and the ever evolving Cal-Indian cuisine and thoughts on the quick service restaurants with an Indian twist. This is part 1 of a two part series Show Notes Copra : https://www.coprarestaurant.com/ Ettan : https://www.ettanrestaurant.com/ Mamu : https://www.eatmamu.com/ Oxford : https://www.oxfordlodi.com/ Little Blue Door : https://www.statestreetmarket.com/menu/little-blue-door/