A Nosh tipster let us know that the College Avenue location of Jot Mahal, a longtime Berkeley institution for vegetarian Indian food, has closed. Ownership confirmed the closure over the phone and also shared that a new Indian spot, Chandni Chowk, has already taken its place as of Oct. 28. Jot Mahal is still up and running at the corner of Shattuck and Cedar in Berkeley, but 3211 College Ave. (at Alcatraz) is now closed.
In her review last year of the chic new Indian restaurant Bungalow in Manhattan, interim New York Timesfood critic Priya Krishna hopefully asked, "Are we done with the butter-chicken era of Indian restaurants?" It is the opening sentence, the seam from which the rest of the review drapes. Bungalow earned three stars for what it is (beautiful, playful, technically dazzling) but also for what it isn't, which is a restaurant that serves butter chicken.