Paper City Review

September, 2001

East Goes West

You can't ignore a new little place, no matter how far outside the Loop it may be, when word spreads that several boldfaced names from that temple of fashionable fare, Cafe Annie, have been spotted helping out behind the scenes.  When I got the call from Emme Vest, C.A's esteemed former pastry chef, that her ex-assistant Anita Jaisinghani had finally opened her much-awaited Indian eatery, Indika, I jumped in my Jeep and drove as fast as it would take me down Memorial Drive.  And like a mirage in the desert, there it stood, a quaint stucco villa emblazoned above the door with the chicest restaurant name this jaded writer's heard in ages, "Indika" (meaning "something related to India").  When Indika first opened, our spies spotted lithe Marianna Berryhill, former C.A. manager and wine mistress, lending a hand, escorting guests inside her friend's saffron-hued dining room, past the sofa spread with silk-covered sari pillows and into the intimate, light-filled dining room filled with art culled from throughout India.  While Cafe Annie's present sommelier, Paul Roberts, put together the thoughtful wine list, and former kitchen staffer Wade Johnson, along with Philadelphia chef Gopal Sharma, help to fan the fire out back, the fresh, light modern Indian cuisine is all Anita's (though there's no denying this chef learned more than a thing or two at her stint chez Annie).  Sipping away on a Fondreche rose francais, we started off with a spiced foie gras atop a semolina breakfast bread with sweet fig chutney ($12) and salmon tikkas with pickled onions and coconut chutney ($8) - Jaisinghani prepares all her chutneys in-house, but after one bite, you'd guess that.  Follow your starters with Indika's breast of duck tandoori in a toasted almond curry ($18) coupled with their daily changing side of lentils (it was split green the night I first went).  Expect fresh, warm-from-the-tandoor bread too, not to mention streamlined but sophisticated plate presentations that will make you feel as if you're dining in London.  Though dessert in many restaurants is often treated as an afterhtought, don't dare miss Indika's stylish sweets.  Borrowing from the flavors of the subcontinent, you'll find cool endings like tapioca pearls in saffron cream paired with shortbread laced with cardamom and a cozy bread pudding studded with Valrhona chocolate and toasted cashews (both $6).  Coming soon: low seating in the private dining room - all the rage in London, where guests sit atop fluffy pillows at tables perched just a foot or so above the ground.  Indika, 12665 Memorial Dr., 713.984.1725.  Laurann Claridge