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Well-Seasoned Shop Owner Brings India To Town

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By ELAINE MARKOWITZ Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 31, 2008

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Nestled in a strip center off Hanley Road is NS Food and Gifts, a small restaurant and gift shop redolent with the aromas of northern India.

Outside, beneath the store name, the phrase "Idli Dosa Place" beckons Indian customers to come savor these tasty treats of their native land.

"They feel this is their home," shop owner Sushma Patel said one recent afternoon.

The small shop is a labor of love for Patel and her partner, sister-in-law Varshe Patel. It offers a colorful feast for the eyes and palate of those familiar with the cuisine as well as those adventurous enough to try something new.

The idli and dosa are two of many dishes. The dosa, a large, paper-thin crepe made of rice and lentils, is stuffed with seasoned cooked potatoes and served with a spicy coconut chutney and piquant lentil soup.

The idli, a smaller crepe, is blended with palate-awakening spices and served with the same accompaniments.

All are welcome to sample those or other authentic Indian delicacies.

Tightly packed shelves are stacked with colorful lentils, a must for lovers of Indian food. Bags of green, red, orange, yellow or white lentils, most of which are not found in typical grocery stores, draw the eye.

Soups, spice packages and with crispy snacks attract those craving the taste of India without hours spent in the kitchen.

In the farthest reaches of the grocery section are sacks of rice, including 40-pound burlap bags of aromatic Indian basmati rice, often served with vegetables and curry.

Patel, a native of Gujarat in northern India, arrived in Florida in 1979 with her late husband, Sudhir Patel. The pair hoped to start a new life in Tampa, where family members already lived. Patel, an elementary school teacher in her native city, and her husband began their first business enterprise here, a small convenience store, in 1984.

That store was not entirely satisfying, though.

Husband and wife shared a love of cooking, and friends suggested they open a restaurant.

"It's a way of culture," she said. "When people come in, you want to cook for them."

In 1990, the couple opened Shalimar Indian Cuisine on Waters Avenue, and they sold it in 1994. Their next move was private catering for Indian families.

Patel, widowed in 2000, hoped another business opportunity would come her way. That happened in 2007, when the owners of NS Food and Gifts decided to return to India. Patel bought the shop and immediately began adding her own touches.

She opted to leave meat off the menu.

"People come in because it's vegetarian," she said.

Seven days a week, from 11:30 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m., large stockpots simmer on tables, emitting the spicy scent of soups and sauces. From the tiny kitchen comes the aroma of frying dosas and idlis, potato and onion rings, and other Indian delicacies.

Six rectangular tables soon begin to fill with hungry diners. About 12 to 20 people a day dine on the spicy vegetarian cuisine, Patel said.

She typically serves lentil soup with two vegetables on the side, rice, various appetizers and an assortment of fruit. Dosas and idlis are cooked to order.

Patel would like to introduce Americans to Indian cuisine, she said.

"An American lady came in to learn to cook lentils," she said proudly. "The next week her husband came in and said the lentils were excellent."

Dressed in colorful Indian-style attire, with flowing pants and a silky tunic top, Patel said the United States has become home. Home in one sense is the house she shares with one of her two sons; her brother "Charlie" Patel; his wife, Varshe, who cooks in the restaurant; and her two nephews.

Sushma Patel, though, is rarely in the house.

"Right now, I am here all the time," she said of the shop. "I want to make my business grow."

She said she no longer misses India and is at peace with her work, surrounding herself with the foods of her youth and sharing favorite dishes with others.

"For the last 11 months this is my life," she said of the shop and restaurant, "but we are happy just being here, talking to people."

NS FOOD AND GIFTS

LOCATION: 5522 Hanley Road, Tampa

HOURS: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Customers may order from the menu all day, up until closing.

LUNCH BUFFET: 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

PHONE: (813) 243-1522

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