"At San Ramon's City Center Bishop Ranch, what was once Curry Up Now, a fast-casual Indian restaurant, has closed, remodeled, hired a Michelin-star chef, re-designed the menu, tried to upscale everything from food to service and re-opened this August as Khaki Bar and Indian Canteen, an unlikely fine-dining restaurant in the middle of a mall. "We looked at the East Bay and said, 'there aren't any fine dining Indian situations available,'" said owner Akash Kapoor."
"Meanwhile, across the Bay, chef brothers Pujan and Sujan Sarkar had just opened Tiya, a fine dining Indian restaurant in San Francisco that has acquired a tidy 4.7-star Google rating since it debuted in 2024. The Michelin guide recently praised Tiya for its "California edge to an intriguing contemporary take on Indian cuisine." Kapoor started to dream of opening a similar restaurant in the East Bay. "I met with Sujan a year ago," he said. "It took a year to put the dream into reality.""
"The Delhi classic butter chicken ($25) comes with tandoor-charred boneless chicken thighs in a creamy tomato and red pepper sauce because "we wanted to do a rustic butter chicken, not what you get within smooth Curry," Kapoor said. "It's rustic, classic, 1950s butter chicken when it was first introduced to the world." The chefs traveled extensively through regional parts of India to learn from people cooking in small villages and outdoor fireplaces, then brought those ideas back to the Bay Area."
Khaki Bar and Indian Canteen opened in San Ramon’s City Center Bishop Ranch after Curry Up Now closed and underwent a major remodel and repositioning. Owner Akash Kapoor recruited Michelin-starred chef Sujan Sarkar and his brother Pujan to redesign the menu and elevate service. The menu reimagines classic Indian dishes with refined techniques and California influences, emphasizing rustic preparation and regional traditions. Signature items include a tandoor-charred butter chicken served in a creamy tomato and red pepper sauce. The chefs researched village and outdoor cooking across India and incorporated Bengali elements alongside broader regional flavors to create comfort food with contemporary flair.
Read at The Mercury News
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