Vimala's Curry Blossom,Chapel Hill, North Carolina - real Ghar ka Khana

Last weekend was my birthday weekend and we decided to try Vimala’s Curry Blossom cafe. This is a counter service restaurant with tables and chairs placed out in the courtyard with live music. The food is simply awesome. When I say awesome- it is like the Sunday lunch I grew up eating at my house. My mom would cook the finest mutton curry, fish curry, sambar, fish fry. Vimala’s kitchen food brings back those memories. Vimala came and met us and made sure we had a good home cooked meal starting with pakoras, mango lassi, dinner menu included tandoori chicken, mutton curry, fish curry, kachiya more, thoran and her surprise for us in the end  - PAYASAM. There were fresh chapattis, bhatura and naan bread along with steamed rice.

This is one place that reminds me of 'home away from home'. I miss my mom’s food but I guess with Vimala’s down the corner, I have found a way to fill that gap.

Phone: (919) 929-3833
E-mail: vimala@curryblossom.com
Address:
431 W. Franklin St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
inside the Courtyard

Chart House,Weehawken, New Jersey

Double Awesome!!

What an absolutely amazing place- great food, great view and great service. Absolutely great for office parties and family get togethers. The place is pricey, but worth every penny. Above are some views and snapshot of food we ate alongwith the scenery from the restaurant. I tried their salmon covered in bacon and Manhattan while my friend Gina tried the scallops on a bed of corn- yummmyyyyy

The find of the week - Park and Orchard,New Jersey

Park and Orchard - AWESOME!!!
240 Hackensack Street - East Rutherford, NJ 07073 - (201) 939 9292

My girl friends from TCP, Randi and Gina celebrate their birthdays the same month as I, so we decided to have a combined birthday party. The venue selected(highly recommened by Randi) was Park and Orchard. Got to say, this place has food that can satisfy any palate. Lots of choices for the veggies, vegan and ofcourse pasta and meat lovers. The atmosphere is very laid back and food very tasty. Really! you can't ask for more

What a refreshing way to start my week

Landed in EWR airport this morning in a real grumpy mood – nothing different  today, got up at  3.30 am in the morning, caught the early morning flight and of course guilt stricken for  leaving my precious kids behind.

Usually I take the taxi from the airport to work, but today an elderly limo guy asked me if he could give me a ride. I was of course very hesitant as he had no placard; he said he will give me the same fare as the local taxi. So I decide what the heck - this is my treat, Arrive work in style and not even pay the big bucks.

Well what do I say, this happened to be the most thrilling ride. This taxi guys name was Alex and he is from Armenia. He made sure I was comfortable, wanted to know if I would like to listen to music or news, as we were driving he asked me if I was from India and if I wanted to hear a Hindi song. That really caught me by surprise. He said growing up he saw lots and lots of Hindi movies and figured the only way to woo a girl as shown in the Hindi movies is to sing songs. He sang ‘Mera Joota hai Japani….’ And ‘Jimmy Jimmy …aaja’ . The words were all wrong- but the tune was perfect

Then he asked me what my name is, when I said Irene- he said, it was the perfect name for me- just as Hurricane Irene left destruction behind I leave broken hearts behind. Such a sweeeeeeet guy. He absolutely made my day, my week and my years to come. Will never forget this drive, nor Alex – here’s to the best limo driver in the world J