East Bay foodies looking for an authentic taste of India have a new spot to sink their teeth into located right in historic Riverside.
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East Bay foodies looking for an authentic taste of India have a new spot to sink their teeth into located right in historic Riverside.
SWAD, located at 187 Willet Ave., celebrated its grand opening on Dec. 27 with a ribbon cutting ceremony, and is now hard at work serving up authentic Indian food with some added Himalayan flair.
The restaurant is the result of plenty of sweat equity earned by Nirajan Adhikari, a native of Nepal who moved to Rhode Island to pursue his master’s degree in hospitality from Johnson & Wales University in 2014. After spending time as a bartender, server, and eventually a manager at two other beloved Ocean State Indian restaurants (Rasa in East Greenwich and Rasoi in Pawtucket), Adhikari decided it was time to strike out on his own and start a venture for himself.
Thankfully, Adhikari got a boost from his friend and business partner, Sishan Bajracharya, who owns the Willet Farms Convenience Store in the same building as SWAD. When Bajracharya purchased the whole building, it opened a perfect opportunity for Adhikari to lease the space formerly belonging to East Providence House of Pizza.
“I was looking for places where I could start my own venture and realize my dream. We were looking for a place where we could serve all these wonderful communities all together,” Adhikari said. “It just happened to be in the right place at the right time. That’s how we came to Riverside.”
The work then began to clean up the space and renovate, which took about six months to accomplish. Originally planning to open in the new year, Adhikari said he was encouraged to open ahead of schedule when he felt the buzz from people interested in the new restaurant.
“We were seeing the excitement of the people and asking when it was going to open,” he said. “So I got excited and decided to open it two weeks ahead of our original plan. So we did a soft open on the 22nd of December.”
During that soft opening period, Adhikari said he gave out free samples of food to generate more excitement, and was appreciative to Mayor Bob DaSilva for coming out to celebrate their grand opening with a ribbon cutting on Dec. 27.
Authentic food for a fair price
Adhikari said that diners at SWAD can expect authentic Indian classics, like butter chicken, garlic naan, and the chili cauliflower appetizer, to become fast favorites.
But being from Nepal, he added that the plan for the restaurant was to incorporate more Himalayan dishes and influence to the menu as time goes on. There is already one item that he said should be a priority for anyone to try.
“Our momos, our Himalayan dumplings, are something you cannot miss when you are there,” he said.
Adhikari explained how many of the flavor profiles between Indian and Nepalese cuisine are often similar, but that the preparation of a menu item like the momos are where the difference is.
“More or less it is the same spices, it’s just the way it is prepared is a little different. It’s more labor intensive. The momos we’re talking about, they are hand-rolled and demand a lot of care. It just takes time,” he said. “You have to make the dough, bake it, roll it with the hand, and then the minced chicken and vegetables we use, it has to be finely hand chopped. It can’t be ground in the machine.”
Browsing the menu options at SWAD, it became apparent that Adhikari was mindful of not pricing the items too high. Six of those highly-specialized, labor-intensive momos, for instance, will only run you $11. The highest priced menu item is a $30 dinner of lamb chops, with dozens of options priced between $5 and $20.
“My strategy in our market as a new restaurant, I really want to get everybody in the community to be able come in and try it — keeping the prices more reasonable than other restaurants in the area, which can be on the higher side,” he said. “Even a struggling middle class or lower class family, I think they should be feeling comfortable to come into my place and try our cuisine.”
Adhikari said that he will be focusing on growing a customer base and ensuring a smooth operation as he continues in the first month of operation, but people can expect growth and change to the menu as time goes on.
“As we go along and get settled we will be adding more stuff to the menu and specials for lunch, maybe a combo meal for dinner on Mondays and Tuesdays, things like that,” he said. “I have many more plans but this is our third week and we just want to take baby steps with the business for now. Slowly but certainly there will be a lot more stuff coming.”
Adhikari thanked the Riverside community, the city, his family, and his business partner for helping him achieve his dream of opening his own restaurant.
“It’s been incredible,” he said. “I cannot ask anything more than this. The support from the local community of Riverside, and the City of East Providence, has been great.”
SWAD is open for lunch and dinner, 11:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. each day.