The new Blue Room not only boasts new pastries, but now serves Indian cuisine.
Chef and owner of Kabob and Curry Sanjiv Dhar, who has more than 20 years of experience in the restaurant business, said that Brown wanted Indian food in the Blue Room when the renovations were finished. He said the University talked to other restaurants before deciding to serve food from his restaurant. He said he sees this opportunity as a "matter of pride," adding he owes a lot of his success to Brown.
"Not many universities go out of their way to do something like this," he said.
Ann Hoffman, director of administration for Dining Services, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that the arrangement between Kabob and Curry is not a "contractual arrangement" but rather, "a working agreement."
Dhar has been involved with the Brown community before, participating in the visiting chef program in 2001. "The idea for the Blue Room partnership came about because of our awareness of the popularity of Kabob and Curry among Brown students," Hoffman wrote. "We thought it could add value to our program and be well-received by students."
The food, which usually includes a meat dish, a vegetable dish and rice, is delivered every morning packaged in trays. Dhar said that the recipes have been modified to accommodate for the bulk portions.
Hoffman wrote that initial estimates for food delivery had to be increased to meet demand. The Blue Room serves about 250 portions per day, she wrote. But the high demand might be problematic for his restaurant, Dhar said. Since Brown started serving Kabob and Curry, Dhar said he has noticed that business has been influenced negatively, though he said it was too early to confirm a trend. Only a couple hundred students have been coming in, and the numbers have been down, he said.
Dhar hopes that more first-year students will come out and try the dishes in the restaurant after trying them in the Blue Room. This is "not the end, just the beginning," he said.
