A Fine Alternative

Dining at Heritage India is purposely – mindfully – not fast food. By contrast, today’s New York Times reports how Washington’s Merzi and other fast-casual Indian restaurants are demystifying the cuisine for mainstream consumers while making it fast and accessible.

There’s some overlap between Heritage India’s street foods and the kinds of dishes the fast-casual places serve. Kathi rolls on our Dupont Circle menu, for example, are commonly interpreted in a fast-casual setting.

Our Dupont Circle restaurant serves a "frankie" or "kathi roll" with paneer (pictured) or chicken 

From The Times’ “Don’t Understand Indian Food? They’ll Break It Down:”

In the United States, kati rolls and other flatbread-wrapped foods have been popular for at least a decade. Paratha Junction in Jersey City and the Kati Roll Company, with locations in New York City and London, are two of the quick-service restaurant companies that specialize in portable Indian foods. Many of these newfangled foods are being built on bases of relatively authentic Indian flatbreads. Merzi, one of these nascent chains, serves roti wraps, stuffed with “tandisserie” chicken, at its Washington prototype. (The menu translates the term as “tandoori-seasoned chicken cooked rotisserie style.”)

Having broken bread at Merzi on several occasions, your blog editor is grateful to have such unfussy, accessible cafes in town.