www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I MARCH 2019 41
You said. Her mom taught her how to roll
dumplings in her hometown of Tianjin, China
and she brought the skill with her when she
came to the United States.
In the Best New Restaurant category is
Adda Indian Canteen (31-31 Thomson Ave.)
which has been serving up its “unapologetic”
Indian cuisine since last September. Owner
Roni Mazumdar and Chef Chintan Pandya
are the culinary duo behind Adda as well
as Rahi in Greenwich Village.
The pair crafted the menu based on foods
that they had while growing up in India and
intended for the restaurant to be a departure
from the upscale Indian eateries on the
market. Chef Pandya has been profiled in
the Michelin Guide and was also awarded
the StarChefs Rising Star Award for 2019.
On Adda’s Instagram page, the team
said that it was an honor to be nominated
alongside “other esteemed restaurants” for
the prestigious award.
“Thank you @beardfoundation -- we are
speechless and so thankful to be nominated
as the Best New Restaurant in the country
by the James Beard Foundation for its
annual awards, often called the Oscars of
the food world. To represent Indian cuisine
in this category amongst other esteemed
restaurants is a true honor!”
SriPraPhai (64-13 39th Ave.) is also
among the acclaimed Queens establish-ments
on the nomination list. The Thai res-taurant
in Woodside is among the nominees
for Outstanding Restaurant and was started
by Sripraphai Tipmanee in the 1990s. The
restaurateur also has another location on
Long Island.
Xi’an Famous Foods CEO and president
Jason Wang is up for Outstanding Restau-rateur.
Wang first opened the fast-casual
chain in 2005 and based the recipes off of
dishes from his family’s hometown of Xi’an
in China. The first Xi’an Famous Foods was
located in the basement of the basement of
the Golden Mall in Flushing but has since
expanded to Manhattan and Brooklyn.
On Instagram, the owner said that he
was “honored to be included as a Best
Restaurateur semifinalist of James Beard
Foundation 2019 Awards.”
According to the James Beard web-site,
the final nominees will be announced
in Houston on March 27 and the official
gala will be on May 6 at the Lyric Opera
of Chicago.
Food
Xi’an Famous Foods Dumpling Galaxy Casa Enrique
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
