Sri and Sapra’s Hit Southbay Eater TV Show

December 25, 2021 Comments Off

Actor, singer and dancer, Sapra, teamed up with Sridhar Sambangi, founder of Clorder, Inc., for three episodes of the show “South Bay Eater.” duo visits different restaurants in the South Bay area of California to sample a variety of dishes. You can see the first two installments on YouTube. The third will air Jan. 25, 2022.

The show is focused on health, food, lifestyle and two funny Indian guys in California,” said Sapra. “He’s an experienced restaurant reviewer and I’m not. So he is getting my candid feedback and ratings!

The South Bay area is rich in variety. Pizza parlors can be found next door to Greek eateries. The first episode will feature Mediterranean cuisine. The two discuss topics ranging from the use of spices in the dishes, its health aspects, pricing and authenticity. They even find time for a little friendly competition on a playground and yoga on the beach.

Sapra and Sambangi Sambangi and Sapra will co-produce a short musical project based on India, plus another project that hasn’t yet been named, and a release date is to be announced. It will be the first time that the two have worked on a film together. Sapra will be acting, singing and dancing in the project.

The “South Bay Eater” video series brings to life the variety of diverse cuisines and cultures in the beach cities.Viewers can gain a different perspective of unusual cuisines from the comfort of home, and be entertained by the humorous interaction between Sapra and Sambangi.

Sapra is a rapper, actor and dancer based in Los Angeles, CA. He’s rapped, danced and acted in countless videos that’s garnered millions of views. His work has taken him around the globe and has been seen by millions of people. An international favorite, he’s appeared in numerous videos, short films and in live extravaganzas. He’s also a songwriter of note. Sapra works in Bollywood and U.S. entertainment venues. Connect with him on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

The founder of Clorder, Inc., Sridhar Sambangi has been building SAAS applications for multiple industries for more than 24 years. His focus during the past eight years has been within the hospitality industry, building White Label online ordering solutions that helps restaurant owners build their brand and reach customers more effectively. He was recently recognized as a Google Elite Network Contributor with 160 million views. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Clorder Presents at Western FoodService & Hospitality Expo 2018

October 11, 2018 Comments Off

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Clorder founder-partners, Sri Sambangi, and Satish Varma were presenters by invitation at the 2018 Western FoodService & Hospitality Expo in Los Angeles. The event was part of the expanded educational program with more in-depth panel presentations.

The Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo was also newly co-located with Coffee Fest and Healthy Food Expo West this season at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The tradeshow and conference was geared toward providing 9,000+ industry professionals with access to the hottest menu trends, state of the art design and decor, a renowned education program, special events, and 450+ of the leading vendors and purveyors dedicated to serving the restaurant & foodservice community.

“Sorting out the CURRENT players in the current online-delivery Game and How to Make the Most of it as a sought-after customer or restaurant owner was the title of the Clorder founder-partners talk to explain how they develop technology and connect it to their platform that offers vertical marketing and connecting delivery partners to restaurants to small as well as large companies.

Sri Sambangi and Satish Varma explained how the “necessary evil” of online ordering can be a benefit to a restaurant once they understand the evolving history of “pick up and delivery” and how they can plug into the high tech portion to brand themselves and increase business. Clorder is the five-year-old “David” of the tech world and has outshined they are large, national competitors.

The partners briefly explained the history of online ordering and identified companies in this field that stand out with the newest streamlining technology and shrewd marking moves, such as Expo partner, ORDERMARK, which used a recent development that enables restaurants to trace all of their different delivery orders from different company on one tablet. They explained how a restaurant can benefit from CLORDER, which has the latest technology and works to benefit individual restaurants rather than being an aggregating system provider that serves more as a yellow pages to consumers.

Sri has 20 years of experience in building SAAS applications and also cloud solution provider for Amazon, Microsoft. He closely worked with Corner Stone On Demand (CSOD) founders to build the human capital management products and extensively contributed to build the technology from startup phase to a public company. His MS in Software Architecture was earned at BITS, Pilani, a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from Andhra University. He is also Certified Project Management Professional and Scrum Master.

Mr. Varma’s experience includes positions at Firebrand Wireless, B3 Communications, LLC, where he was a co-founder of the company, and Red Bend Software. He planned and managed the roll out of new mobile devices, with annual revenues in the range of $100M to $250M, and carrier branded services globally. Most recently he built a market for next generation BYOD solution based on Mobile Virtualization.

Satish holds an M.B.A. from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, an M.S. in Software Systems from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, India, and a B.S. in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Andhra University, India.

In addiiton to new and classic ethnic foods, the topics Health, sustainability, pitching the media and celebrity chef appearances continued to be featured as important themes of the 2018 show. “Fit Foodie” Mareya Ibrahim led a complimentary Power up Yoga class. Pitch the Press – one-hour event to experience presentations from a specially selected group of the most intriguing new products, services, and trends. Andy Harris moderated the PR Bootcamp for Restaurants: In Memory of Fifi Chao, beloved restaurant critic and food writer for the OC Business Journal.

The tradeshow and conference started in 1936 are managed by Clarion UX www.clarionux.com and sponsored by the California Restaurant Association www.calrest.org. For more information, visit www.westernfoodexpo.com. The 2018 event co-located with Coffee Fest and Healthy Food Expo West, and attendees included access to all three events.

CARDAMOM INDIAN RESTAURANT -Los Angeles

April 29, 2015 Comments Off

Articles by gerry furth-sides

Cardamom Indian Restaurant – Review- When “New and Improved” is Actually New and Improved

Cardamom at your service with a smile

Cardamom Indian Restaurant is not one but two bright Los Angeles stories. The first is of a popular neighborhood cafe (India’s Oven) smoothly taken over with continuity and also updated. It is when “new and improved” is new and improved.

For the neighborhood it is walking distance and delivery service by Clorder is also available. To introduce the public to the new fare, an express set lunch ($11.95) is served with onion piaza, popadom, chutney, vegetable of the day, saffrom pilau, naan, raita and choice of entrée.

One of the eight naans from the famous Tandoor

The service is impeccable and effortless. And well it should be. Not only has Cardamom partner and wine expert, Nasir Syed, had years of experience at Gordon Ramsey’s chic table restaurant here in Hollywood, but he started his restaurant career at Indian’s Oven as a server when he first arrived in the United States from Bangladesh in 2000. Nasir told us the story of how the owners of the 33 years old establishment approached him to manage the original when they recently planned to reture, and how how he and partner/brother-in-law, Badrul Chowdhury, eventually took over completely.

The second story is that the completely updated restaurant has roots in London, a la Mr. Chows’, with all of the sophisticated UK experience put to good use. Nasir and Badrul decided to expand upon the original 33 year-old establishment menu by including dishes from all regions of India. The name itself, Cardamom,honors the spice grown in the fertile mountain region of Kerala, Indian which is used in the dishes, along with others of this famous area. Next they enlisted Badrul’s uncle, Chef Manju Choudhury, a successful a London restaurateur who operated 32 locations at one point. After spending months creating the new menu and training the kitchen staff, uncle turned the kitchen over to Chef du Cuisine Badrul, and makes periodic visits.

The double storefront features a brand new look from floor to ceiling, contemporary, colorful and upbeat even though it sports snowy white tablecloths. Brightly painted party-orange steel girders punctuate the open, high ceilings. It is the vision of international artist and restaurant designer, Arshad Chouhan, who even painted the large wall art pieces. The entrance leads to a bar area and small number of tables on one side and a white tablecloth dining room on the other (total about 60).

After showing us around, we were seated at the table and offered a trio of trio of Tamarind Chutney, Mango and Onion Chutney and Mint Yogurt. It was served with papadum fresh out of the oven, extraordinary because of its weightlessness and intense flavors at the same time.

A spirited Cardamom greeting with Vouvray

Nasir came out with a bottle of Brédif Vouvray Classic 2012 he presented to the table. As with all his suggestions for wine pairings throughout the meal, he offered a description of the wine and an explanation of how he thought it might bring out the dish. The Bredif Vouvary has the reputation of being very much in demand because it is so “perfectly balanced it can be served now or in 50 years to come.

Cardamom appetizer plate

With the Singara appetizer plate came a choice of Domaine Michel Girault Sancerre La Silicieuse 2012(less sweet, higher minerality), which actually worked best with the dish deep with flavors and the fried foods, such as the Punjabi style veggie packets, served with a date and tamarind chutney. Nasir explained that the little parcels were smaller than standard so they didn’t fill you up with dough. It worked.

Jhinga Koliwada, Mumbai’s wildly popular tiger prawns

The table’s all around favorite, Jhinga Koliwada, crunchy flash-butterflied, flash-fried prawns with just enough heat to linger, turns out to be a wildly popular Mumbai favorite. It is marinated in ginger, garlic and spiced flour paste.

Pappadum is only the preview of Cardamom’s intense, delicate breads, an indication of the care and refinement that goes into the food. If the bread tastes richer and smokier, it is because the tandoor oven atCardamom is powered by charcoal, not gas. No less than eight naans, with some filled, have to be described as crisp and yet dewy moist at the same time, including the Peshwari Naan (coconut, sultanas, dates and nuts), which brings out the best in spicy meats. It was perfect with the Kayberi Gosht Bhuna,lamb tempered with ginger and coriander prepared in a tomato, onion, garlic sauce.

It also worked with poultry, here in a typical southern Indian dish with coconut sauce, Chetinad Murgh,known as the classic Chicken tikka.

Jhinga Patia, tiger prawns presented in a showy spiced red sauce, also heat without that spiky pepper effect. Again, Nasir presented two wines from which to choose, the light, acidic French red, Chanson Le Bourgongne Pinot Noir 2011, that on its own tasted a little thin, and yet paired better with the dish than the fuller bodied Malbec, Salentein Reserve 2013.

The dramatic Jhinga Patia prawn dish

The chef’s special recipe fluffy Basmati rice

Zafran Pilar is one of the six rice on the menu, a fluffy basmati rice cooked with colorful saffron. It complemented without overpowering the other dishes.

Gajar (carrot) ka Halwa, a warm grated carrot confection comes with silky, rich ice cream and a reminder of the suble sweetness of carrots. The Gulab Jamun includes balls of Malai ice cream – milk ice cream- so rich and creamy in and of itself that it requires no additional flavorings. I’m ready to stock a truck and get rolling in the streets or at the beach with the desserts alone.

Malai ice cream – pure flavor, pure milk

Gajar (carrot) ka Halwa

Cardamom, 7233 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038 (323) 936-1000 and www.c ardamomLA.com. Order online for pickup or delivery below.

Order Food Online

BOMBAY CAFE Celebrates 25 Years of Indian Comfort Food

April 29, 2015 Comments Off

Inside quarter-century-old Bombay Café in west Los Angeles, the cheerful, brightly colored dining room is intact. The same lovely watercolor paintings parade across one wall.

So much care was given to the original kitchen and its refined, contemporary Indian cuisine at Bombay Café, that the first cooks were brought from Punjab. The current chef, Kuldeep Chamal, cooked with Neela for many years.

The elegance of the dishes, cooked in small batches with precise amounts of spices, is what has always distinguished the food at Bombay Café. It is as full of healthy, natural flavors as it of color. Think cumin, cardamom, coriander and turmeric.

Going along with the modern Indian tradition, Mr. Singh explains,” Authentic Indian cuisine is already natural and healthy on its own. Our most common cooking method is in the tandoor oven, where fat cooks off naturally. All of our meats are trimmed of visible fats and we don’t use hydrogenated oils.”

Just describing the food and looking at images is all it takes to start anyone’s mouth watering. Most entrees come with a combination of small dishes surrounding the main item, little treasures on their own. The perfect summer cooler to the dishes is a refreshing glass of lemon ginger lemonade.

On the table to start with Pappadums, the light, airy irregularly shaped crackers, for breaking and dipping into sauces. The highly flavored lentil pappards are imported from India and toasted in the Bombay Cafe tandoor. The wheat-free rice pappards pair perfectly for chutneys, the classic Indian condiment.

Other tandoor-baked breads to be eaten solo, dipped into sauce or with a dish, include the Tandoori Roti and Chapati and the irresistible, Classic Naan, fluffy, puffy and yet chewy, which can also be ordered with Garlic or onion.

Popular appetizers include the Samosa, fried to a golden crisp, stuffed with potatoes and peas. Crumb-coated shrimp with lime are crispy and tangy at the same time.

Garlic Naan stars in the Chicken Tikka Masala, boneless chicken cooked in a mildly spiced creamy tomato sauce. This is the centerpiece dish on the plate. Around it is Sev Puri (crackers made from garbanzo flour) white rice, hot Cauliflower with cilantro and Channa Masal (chick peas).

Vegetarian dishes abound. For example, Potato Dosa is a rice crepe with potato masala featuring Dal Sambar – lentils cooked south Indian style, flavored with tamarind. Little dishes on the combination plate include coconut Chutney with sour cream; Dal Sambar – Lentils cooked Southern Indian style with tamarind flavor; Updam (rice dough Patty), grilled with green chile, onion and fresh tomato; and a dish with pickled carrot and cauliflower, sprinkled with black onion seeds.

“Indian street food on a plate” best describes the combination Thalis. First up is the whimsical Lamb Frankie which comes wrapped in an egg crepe , filled with pieces of lamb in a rich dark sauce or stew, “masala,” and onions, wrapped in a homemade egg-washed tortilla.

Carrot, cauliflower and pickle are in one little container; the luscious and cooling and soothing Raita in another is prepared with cucumber yogourt and julienned cilantro leaf.

In another corner of the plate is Kuchumber (traditional Indian version of the chopped middle eastern salad), made of tomato, cucumber, onion, lemon and cilantro salad. Other Frankie options are chicken or vegetarian. Cauliflower Frankie, filled with gobi sabzi two chutneys and lime-cilantro and onions.

Bombay Café offers a special curry daily. Mr. Singh explained that each curry tastes completely different from one another. The reason? Indian cuisine, curries are made by braising the cuts of meat or poultry – lamb, beef, chicken- along with the spices so that it picks up the flavor of the protein.

There are also burgers & subs on the menu! The Aaloo Tikki Burger is a delicious combination of Indian aloo Tikki in a shallow-fried soft bun, and a Chicken Tikka Sub, boneless chicken cooked in a mildly spiced creamy tomato sauce in a submarine sandwich. Breaded shrimp – light with a refreshing touch of lime to the diner’s taste.

And to win you over before the meal starts and after it ends, there is a generous lot in the back with complimentary parking.

The large, airy space is perfect for festive parties, and the food is served in elegant, copper pots. There is plenty of room for dancing and celebrating, and the buffet style ensures that all guests are satisfied with their meal.

Bombay Café 12021 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 (310) 473-3388

//www.bombaycafe-la.com/. Order online for pickup or delivery below.

Mediterranean Gem Turquoise Restaurant in Redondo Beach

April 29, 2015 Comments Off

Unique dips and bread that can make for a lunch

Unique dips and bread that can make up a lunch

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Straightforward food would be more than enough to please at a beachside restaurant. At award-winning Turquoise, Owner Hamid Fatemi has added fresh ingredients, depth of flavor and collages of color in his dishes, along with superb service since he opened in 2008.

Turquoise corner bistro a block from the beach

Middle Eastern professional service begins with prompt phone service even before you arrive. Hospitality begins at the door with a cool smoothie. The vivid raspberry color “Miracle Drink” blended with carrot juice, apple juice, adds a kick of ginger. Shreds of the fruit provide texture.

Bamboo wall for serenity and a reminder of northern Iran

Here, “Pan-Mediterranean” refers to many customary Middle Eastern items, such as huumus and babaganoush, yogourt and kabobs. It also offers unique non-Middle Eastern Mediterranean combinations, such as a grilled duck schwarma Panini sandwich.

Sampler tomato-basil and lentil soups prove why they soups are a pride of the kitchen. The taste of vegetables and herbs reign, complemented but not overpowered by spices and oils.

Tomato-basil and lentil homemade soup sampler

Turquoise “Cold Tapas” dips are $9 for one and two for $12.95. Beets arrive in Mast-O-Laboo, homemade organic yogurt mixed with succulent roasted beets, proving why beets are a star in Iranian cooking.

Turquoise Organic Hummus is filled with wickedly good flavor. Here the depth comes from pureed golden chickpeas, roasted red peppers, pomegranate molasses, roasted walnuts and organic sesame seeds. It proves the argument for featuring walnuts in savory dishes.

Crushed walnuts in the Olive-walnut Tapenade balance out chopped black and green olives. Tabouli made with cracked wheat , cucumber, tomato, scallion, parsley and olive oil is seasoned with lemon and distinguished by a touch of fresh mint. Turquoise prepares Baba Ganoush (perfectly roasted eggplant) with a caramelized onion flavor rather than garlic which I prefer.

Middle eastern spices make the more Western Salad Oliviyeh stand out, packed with natural chicken, organic eggs, potatoes, organic mayonnaise, chopped pickles, olives, green peas and spices. Diced Persian cucumbers, homemade organic yogurt and fresh mint made the Mast-Okhiar sing.

Persian cucumbers add a snap to Classic Greek Salad adds Plum tomato, red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese and fresh parsley garbanzo beans are at its core. Bell pepper, fresh parsley, cand flavorful

“Grandma’s recipe” for Torshe Anbeh, a middle eastern joy of sweet and sour mango chutney marries tamarind, mango, dates with spices.

Grandma’s Torshe AnbehEven a photo of the Duck Shawarma Panini, grilled duck with organic fig, brie, capers, grape tomato and dill ($13.95), makes your mouth water. The succulent duck was made even more so with the spread.

Duck Schwarma Panini

Meticulous preparation and homemade ingredients at Turquoise translate into   slightly higher prices. This is offset by generous portions and entrees served with rice and an organic salad.

The Lamb kabob, all natural filet of New Zealand lamb is marinated in a gourmet saffron-onion blend then grilled to a pink-tan ($24.95). The secret of the all natural boneless Chicken Breast Kabob is a lemon juice and saffron marinade ($14.95).

The New Zealand Lamb Kabob Plate

The Popular Marinated Chicken Kabob

Roasted Vegetables with Saffron Rice ($11.95 as an entrée), a vivid crayon box color combination, textured with asparagus, portabella mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini and bell peppers.

Hameed’s catering background expertise for choosing universal pleasers and enhancing are most evident in the desserts. He improves the original recipe for Crème Brulee from a Parisian pastry chef in Westwood with real vanilla bean and cream.

Parisian Creme Brûlée with Fresh California Ingredients

A royal parfait of homemade yogourt and fruit is dense, creamy and naturally sweet.

A royal take on homemade yogurt and fruit parfait

There is a Persian saying because of Isfahan’s famous architecture, carpets and cuisine, “Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast” (Isfahan is half of the world). Until I get to this magical place, Turquoise will do just fine.

1735 S Catalina Ave, Redondo Beach CA 90277
Today’s hours: 11:00 am-9:00 pm. (310) 362-4478
(www.turquoise-restaurant.com). Order online for pickup or delivery below.

Clorder

Sri and Sapra’s Hit Southbay Eater TV Show

Clorder Presents at Western FoodService & Hospitality Expo 2018

CARDAMOM INDIAN RESTAURANT -Los Angeles

Cardamom Indian Restaurant – Review- When “New and Improved” is Actually New and Improved

BOMBAY CAFE Celebrates 25 Years of Indian Comfort Food

Mediterranean Gem Turquoise Restaurant in Redondo Beach

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