Now eat Nagpur’s ‘Bhaat Pithla’ in San Francisco
| Date :30-Oct-2019 |
By Vikas Vaidya :
THEY both-- one was Punjabi and the other one was Maharashtrian-- had come to India with a thoughtto start a pure Maharashtrian eating joint at San Francisco,USA. The Punjabi onewenttoPune and the Maharashtrian one came to Nagpur. Both called themselves and confirmed they had chosen who would run the joint at USA. There was a little confrontation as both were firm on their choices. The Punjabi one said Pune guy was best while the Maharashtrian said he fixedt he Nagpur guy.When they asked each other the name of guy---both became dumb stuck as both called his name at a time- - Vishnu Manohar.
The Pune man visited ‘Vishnu Ji Ki Rasoi’ in Pune while the Maharashtrian one tasted the food at its Nagpur joint. Both laughed. They both met Vishnu Manohar who asked them where they would want to start the joint, they said the Punjabi hotel at San Francisco on the road that goes to the beach. Vishnu was aware of the place as a year ago he had performed in the same locality. He had been to US Aand stayed at the home of Ketki Kaskhedikar (daughter of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari) and Gaurav Kaskhedikar (son of Ravindra Kaskhedikar, a social worker). He wanted some lead so he just discussed with Gaurav who suggested him to go to SanFrancisco.Vishnuwentthere and performed a show which was well received. People appreciated and requested him to start his Rasoi there.
“There are several such persons I came across who make such requests but unless some serious efforts are visible nothing concrete can be done. A year passed and nothing happened. One fine morning this Maharashtrian fellow turned up and expressed his wish to start Rasoi at USA. I casually asked him to send the mail. To my surprise he did sent the mail and I realised the seriousness of the project. The things worked. Everything went well and by Julyend we started our unit at San Francisco,” said Vishnu Manohar. Whether his food items would be sold in USA or not or anywhere else, the question never troubles Vishnu because he is so confident about his products that he knows, everybody would enjoy and say it was mouth-watering. It is the replica of Nagpur’s joint at USA.
There are cots kept outside the joint where daily 150 persons keep waiting when the 50 enjoy food. “See, those many cars parked outside with so much crowd,” points out Vishnu Manohar at a photo in his mobile. This is the situation. Most of them are Indians. 15 per cent are of US origin who enjoy the food, asks for more, visit repeatedly. When people sit and wait for food, the person comes with a big pot, removes the cover, takes out a small pot, puts in front of everybody and pours ‘Tadka’ that makes a typical sound ‘chrrrr’. That’s it! The person eats the first bite of ‘Bhaat Pithla’ and his or her face lits up out of satisfaction. The taste becomes unforgettable! Vishnu Ji Ki Rasoi is in demand in UK, Australia, Paris.