What is a Calicut lobster curry doing in Charlotte, North Carolina?

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The Calicut mango lobster curry at the restaurant Zamindar’s Clubhouse | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

“Indian diners tell me they finally have a place they are proud to bring their families and business clients to,” says Chef Vamshi Krishna Adi about his new fine-dining restaurant in the financial hub, Charlotte, North Carolina. Zamindar’s Clubhouse is bold, sophisticated, and wants to give the city something it has not seen before. Having already been around the block in New York City, Vamshi turns his attention to parts of the country where Indian food still means amorphous dollops of curry, and not gourmet plated venison shoulder, that was farm raised in green pastures. On an early morning call, we discuss food, family and spices.

Chef Vamshi Krishna Adi hails from Hyderabad | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Vamshi’s story has the ups and downs of a Bollywood movie. Hailing from Hyderabad, he moved to the States in 2017. As he was working and interning in restaurants across America, the COVID 19 pandemic struck . Vamshi was marooned in California with no job, and an industry that had come to a standstill. Born into a middle-class Indian family and carrying the traditional responsibility of his sister’s wedding, he carried a weight on his shoulders. However, fate took him in the other direction. He saw a commercial spot available for rent in New York City.

At just 25, Vamshi opened an Indian 30-seater restaurant called Gazab with his business partner. His family helped with a loan, and he convinced the landlord to give a young chef with no experience (and no citizenship) a lease. Vamshi was not out of the trenches yet. “It was bad in the beginning. We had only five or 10 guests a day. Eventually, I started studying marketing online, alongside cooking in the kitchen. I learnt how to promote a restaurant. I invited bloggers. I made changes to the menu. And after three months it was a big hit.”

His second outing, a fine dining establishment called Ishq won him a recognition in the Michelin Bib Gourmand guide. “Promises of “modern Indian” often bring more flash than flavour, but that is not the case at this welcoming restaurant along Avenue A....The menu is teeming with ideas, and dishes arrive with all the right levels of spice, heat, depth, and nuance,” the guide says.

Zamindar’s Clubhouse is one of the few fine dine Indian establishments in the city of Charlotte | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

For his latest venture, he has the left the razzle dazzle of East Village in Manhattan and moved to New Bern Street in Charlotte.

“Charlotte has one-tenth the population of New York. The clientele is very different. Here they have only heard of butter chicken and biryani.” Zamindar’s Clubhouse has grilled sea bass paturi, lemon chicken from Kasaul, steelhead salmon with coconut poriyal, ghee roast scallops and gongura gobi. Lahsooni oysters, a big hit, are grilled with Amul cheese and topped with sooji rusk crumbs.

“Obviously, we have butter chicken also. But the menu has a selection of regional dishes.