This San Ramon Mall Might Be a New Destination for Indian Cuisine in the East Bay
Chefs and brothers Sujan and Pujan Sarkar — the former of whom took Chicago's Indienne to one-Michelin-star status — worked with Kapoor to get a comfort food menu with fine dining approaches ready, while Tiya's Eater Award-winning bartender Izler Thomas came in for drinks. Broadly, the menu and approach reflect all three's memories of eating and living in India. 'The menu isn't just food,' Kapoor says, 'it's a lived experience that I've been through and they've been through.'
The Bishop Ranch restaurant — referred to as an Indian bar and canteen by the team — will cover all of the regions of India in various ways. As the country is enormous, that survey will take time, convenient as the restaurant's menu will rotate seasonally. A jackfruit cutlet on the debut menu is a play on the common Calcutta street food, Kapoor says, the home region to both Sujan and Pujan. A dry-aged beef dish nods to coastal Karnataka while a Champaran mutton, cooked in an Indian clay pot, showcases the Bihari region of Kapoor's childhood. Bengali fish paturi stars, too, a lighter affair steamed in banana leaf with heavy mustard flavors. Chaat and all kinds of street snacks will dot the scene, too. Across the board, the idea is to plant a big flag for Indian cuisine; the name is a reclamation of the term given to British colonists and their infamous footmen, but khaki itself — a derivative of the Urdu word for soil — is a color brought to the world from India.
Neetu Laddha
Neetu Laddha
Therefore the menu and ambiance pay homage to the era in which India separated itself from colonial rule, the '60s and '70s. Bright, zany colors and tastes that took charge during that time are center stage. Drinks follow suit, showcased with pride at a 14-seater bar. There'll be a Negroni incorporating truffle and goat cheese, which arrives with a cracker, perhaps topping Thomas's Parmesan and sourdough-infused drink at Tiya. Bengal's panch phoron spice, made for pickling, will star in a grapefruit tequila cocktail, riffing on a paloma. Another drink relies on clarified vanilla ice cream, basil, yuzu, and elderflower. Thomas's brother, Roger Thomas, is joining the team here, while Kapoor pitched in thanks to his experience at Curry Up Now's Mortar & Pestle cocktail curation.
Kapoor says this former Curry Up Now outpost did decent, but not the numbers he wanted to hit. COVID cratered Bishop Ranch, the workers in the area drying up. He and Sujan were already pals, and he broached the idea of collaborating in 2024. Indian design firm Curry Fwd, the same team behind Tiya's build out, handled the aesthetic which includes three different kinds of hand-drawn wallpapers. They hope the restaurant will be a familiar member of the community, not a place just for anniversaries. Kapoor says while he loves many of the upscale Indian restaurants in town, his favorite San Francisco restaurant is Ernest. He feels it is a restaurant well worth the price, pointing to the reliable $95 tasting menu; Besharam and Heena Patel's cooking shine as well-made and affordable, too.
'We are not in the education business. We're not trying to educate people on how to eat Indian food,' Kapoor says. 'But it's very important to look back and say, 'Okay, this is what we set out to do.' The food's not just for people who make $200,000. The food's got to be honest, man.'
Khaki (6000 Bollinger Canyon Road) will open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with lunch hours to follow.
Neetu Laddha
Eater SF
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