<\/p>\n
Pippal\u2019s Carolina and Jatin Grewal marry theatrical style with traditional Indian fare in Dublin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neetu Laddha<\/p>\n
An actor by trade who transitioned to restaurants, Jatin Grewal was once asked why he was attracted to such a difficult, all-consuming industry.<\/p>\n
Grewal, who worked in movies and as a model in India for more than a decade before moving to the United States in 2018, responded that restaurants reminded him of the film industry. \u201cA film takes a year, sometimes years, to make, and so much work goes into it. And then finally it opens, and people either accept it or reject it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s similar to fine dining. They both take a lot of time to create, but I think that\u2019s the most satisfying part.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Pippal, which opened in Dublin in October, Grewal has released the equivalent of a blockbuster in the Tri-Valley. There\u2019s an unmistakable cinematic feel to this restaurant in everything from the decor to the drinks to the food. The underlit C-shaped bar, highlighted by natural quartzite, is framed theatrically by lush dark green curtains concealing the shopping center outside. Named after notable regions of India, Pippal\u2019s cocktails are little vignettes unto themselves with thoughtful ingredients and details offering insight into the country\u2019s rich history. The Jim Corbett, for example, references the famed Anglo-Indian hunter and 20th-century author who killed several man-eating tigers in Northern India, while the Gurgaon Border, a play on an old-fashioned using ghee butter and chocolate bitters, comes affixed (via the world\u2019s smallest clothespin) with a side of caramel popcorn. And the food, led by executive chef Munish Rana, is both intricately conceived and plated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The menu at Pippal offers creative takes on regional Indian favorites.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neetu Laddha<\/p>\n
The showiest dish has to be the live chaat trolley, a reinterpretation of Indian street-side-style snacks that\u2019s assembled at the table. Pieces of dhokla (a savory Indian sponge cake), papadi chickpea crackers, and tempura-fried spinach leaves are assembled atop dollops of yogurt, pureed mint, and tamarind chutney, along with liquefied \u201cdhokla water.\u201d They are then blanketed with crunchy sev (fried chickpea sticks), pomegranate seeds, and billowing crumbles of yogurt frozen by liquid nitrogen. It\u2019s quite a production, worthy of the most elaborate Bollywood dance number, but also one that manages to pull together all the ingredients into an exciting whole that smartly juggles flavor, texture, and temperature.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the presentation is contemporary, Grewal insists that the restaurant\u2019s food is traditional regional Indian, inspired by his culinary explorations while traveling throughout the country for his modeling and film work. And I do get his point in that the cuisine\u2019s core palate, a vibrant balance of seemingly disparate notes of sweet, salt, savory, and spice, remains intact\u2014even if some dishes might be unfamiliar at first glance. Paneer, the dense Indian cheese most often seen cubed and grilled in tikka masala curry, gets a new look here: It\u2019s pressed and layered into lasagna-like bars and drizzled with yogurt before being enveloped in a roasted tomato gravy poured at the table. It\u2019s a creative rendition, albeit one that couldn\u2019t change the cheese\u2019s inherent dryness, amplified in my mind by the visual comparison to saucy lasagna. The Parsi fish curry, however, earns two thumbs up. The white-bass-like, boneless fillet is steamed in banana leaf, which is slit along the top tableside to reveal tender, flaky fish. It\u2019s then bathed in a mustard-accented coconut-coriander gravy that provides a perfect sweet-tart-spicy complement to the seafood. The lamb burrah kebab is another winner that plays against type. Rather than doing a traditional spicy, tandoor-roasted lamb chop, the kitchen first minces the lamb and shapes it back onto the bone before breading the faux chop with Indian spices and frying it to golden crispiness. The result is almost like a South Asian croquette, with a seasoned crust concealing meat that practically melts in the mouth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fish bhel features tuna, puffed rice, and chutney.<\/p>\n
Neetu Laddha<\/p>\n
However, the Lucknowi chicken biryani provided perhaps the biggest head fake. Of course, we should have known better than to expect a standard rendition of what is typically a straightforward mix of rice and chicken. What arrived instead was a whole Cornish hen slathered with mild curry on a gold oval dish that evokes a roasting pan, filled by basmati rice mixed with an aromatic bouquet of cashews, fried onions, goji berries, pomegranate seeds, currants, and fragrant coriander. Between the pan, the autumnal red pomegranate, and the bird\u2019s turkey-like presentation, it reminded me of nothing less than an Indian-inspired Thanksgiving feast. The portion size is also feast-like, offering more than enough moist meat and rice to split between two or three diners, along with cooling raita and spicier curry dipping sauces to accent each bite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For dessert, try the picturesque payasam. This delicately sweet, creamy South Indian rice pudding is spiked with pistachio crumbles and centered by a disc of frozen yogurt topped by crispy wheat vermicelli swirled with rose syrup. Decadent chocolate cake this is not, but it does deliver a light, satisfying final act to the spice-packed dining adventure that preceded it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The siddu is made from steamed and fermented bread filled with walnuts and peas.<\/p>\n
Neetu Laddha<\/p>\n
From start to finish, drinks to dessert, Pippal clearly aspires to present an elevated Indian dining experience, a goal Grewal doesn\u2019t shy away from. He says he saw the need for it when he first moved to the East Bay, teaming up with the Rivaaz hospitality group to open the first Pippal in Emeryville two years ago. He considers that \u201ca stepping stone\u201d to this larger follow-up in Dublin, where Grewal lives, home to a burgeoning Indian population in the greater Tri-Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pippal blends traditional Indian cuisine with elegant dining in Dublin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neetu Laddha<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a model and actor, you\u2019re always in glamorous areas and eating at nice restaurants,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I came, I sa<\/p>\n
w that kind of food and restaurant wasn\u2019t really here yet. It\u2019s mostly mom-and-pop places that were lacking the glamour and finesse you find in India. The food scene is changing, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to accomplish here. I\u2019m trying to bring it up a level to where it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
But is the area ready? Wisely, the restaurant remains aware of its suburban surroundings: There is a kids\u2019 menu (several families were dining on our visit), service is affable and helpful, and hours recently expanded to include lunch every day. On the flip side, Pippal also plans to roll out a special chef\u2019s tasting menu that will be served in the private dining room, a move that will undoubtedly open up the restaurant to more scrutiny. Grewal is ready to face the naysayers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very easy to criticize, but it is what it is\u2014I can\u2019t escape that,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked extremely hard and are very happy with how it turned out. So far, people are showing us a lot of love.\u201d pippaldublin.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pippal\u2019s Carolina and Jatin Grewal marry theatrical style with traditional Indian fare in Dublin.\u00a0 Neetu Laddha An actor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7626,80469,80468,80470,143,145,144,80467],"class_list":{"0":"post-167125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-dublin","9":"tag-indian-food","10":"tag-jatin-grewal","11":"tag-munish-rana","12":"tag-oakland","13":"tag-oakland-headlines","14":"tag-oakland-news","15":"tag-pippal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}