Gourmands in Salt Lake City can savor Indian food in a famous culinary area.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Known as something of a culinary capital in the US, the American Fork area of Utah has finally opened its first ever Indian restaurant.
The city is home to over 100 restaurants, all of which span the spectrum from Chinese to Italian, Mexican to Middle Eastern.
Now, the Ganesh Indian Cuisine restaurant in the Utah capital is the first from the sub-continent to stake its claim there. Before, the closest such eateries were in the Draper, Orem, and Provo suburbs of Salt Lake City.
The restaurant has been warmly received by critics and general patrons alike, and has a four star (out of five) rating already on Google. The restaurant is run by Lakireddy Vikayalakshmi, whose father-in-law is a restaurant veteran, having established Indian restaurants in California dating back for the last 20 years. All the chefs employed at the restaurant are Indian, too.
The menu at the restaurant has vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare. As is the case with nearly all Indian restaurants, lunch features an all-you-can-eat buffet. The restaurant is closed on Sundays, which is the norm for several eateries and retail outlets throughout Utah, a highly religious state.
Since 2000, roughly 1,200 Indian restaurants have been established in the US, with their popularity increasing year after year. In 2013, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle celebrated his birthday at an Indian restaurant called Rasika, located on the west side of Washington, DC.
The town of American Fork is situated near the Utah capital of Salt Lake City, and has a relatively low Asian population of just 0.9%, out of population of roughly 26,000. It is the hometown of Utah’s current state governor, Republican Gary Herbert.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com