The Rise of Nepalese Cuisine in Ridgewood
Nepalese immigrants are making their mark on Queens. In 2011, a New York Daily News report said that so many Nepalese immigrants were coming to Queens that they had earned their own census category. That was seven years ago, when the Nepalese community was mainly concentrated in Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, Elmhurst and Woodside. According to the Ridgewood Nepalese Society website there are now around 2,000 Nepalese residents in Ridgewood.
Many Nepalese in those aforementioned neighborhoods have opened restaurants and groceries with both Indian and Nepalese fusion food, selling seasonings and other ingredients so people can make food that reminds them of home. Ridgewood’s Nepalese community in particular has gained recognition over the past few years thanks to their food’s growing popularity.
Bed Kharel moved to the neighborhood from Chitwan, Nepal in the early aughts; his kids followed, and in 2012 he and his family opened Nepalese Indian Restaurant on Seneca Avenue, near Myrtle Avenue, the latter one of the area’s main thoroughfares. His children helped manage the first restaurant, and an older son, Parash, now works out of that establishment. In 2017, Kharel’s younger son, Bikash, opened While in Kathmandu with the family’s support.
While in Kathmandu serves breakfast and lunch dishes that are twists on Nepalese fare like momos (Nepalese round dumplings), tass (which is a goat dish) and different lentil and buckwheat pancakes. While in Kathmandu was featured in the New York Times soon after it opened; Kharel is proud that people outside of the community have noticed and appreciated the restaurants.
For Bikash, his new venture was a way to spread Nepalese food in a creative way without having to rely only on Indian cuisine for marketing.
“Indian food is more commercial, people know it better, but they don’t know Nepalese that well, it’s not exactly the same,” he said.
Bikash saw how new customers at his family’s first restaurant didn’t really understand the Nepalese food and he made sure to be at the new location most of the week to explain his favorite menu items to customers. He also made the menu less intimidating for those new to Nepalese cuisine.
“I would explain everything, and I made sure a waiter knew the food really well and we made sure all of the bread was fresh,” Bikash said. “That’s one thing I think some immigrant restaurants do wrong sometimes; we have to explain the food so that people get to know it.”
Bikash explains that though some Nepalese food is similar to Northern Indian food, a lot of tomato, garlic, onion and curry spices are used.
“But the consistency isn’t really as thick or like a gravy that Indian food has; it’s still very flavorful though and there’s a lot of tomato and mint,” he said.
Bikash began testing out dishes on family members and staff at the first location; that helped him shape the current menu. He also used the foods he enjoyed while growing up in New York City to inspire dishes like the bacon, egg and cheese on lentil or buckwheat bread, the masala wings and masala fries. He even experimented with his own version of American-meets-Nepalese pasta alfredo.
“I’m really excited for the alfredo and garlic naan,” he said. “It’s a mix of a lot of flavors that aren’t just cheese and I added tomato and mint so that even my mom likes it now.”
Bikash is a music lover, and he produces his own hip-hop. He plays indie Nepalese music at the restaurant in hopes that While in Kathmandu will become a meeting place for other Nepalese creatives like himself who want to connect over food. He is, however, a little worried that gentrification is hurting the growth of immigrant families, like the newer Nepalese ones he and his family have helped.
“We recently had to tell a few people that we couldn’t help them find an apartment nearby; it’s all getting really expensive for families,” he said.
However, Nepalese students are still coming to the tri-state area, and many head to Queens. Aalok Kc is a student from Nepal who didn’t expect to find a community in Ridgewood. He’s been working as a waiter at While in Kathmandu for only a few months and already feels closer to home.
“I’ve never seen a place like this that makes the food really fresh,” he said. “It’s kind of like a dream to see this.”
Rabi Kiran Koirala, president of the Ridgewood Nepalese Society, said that he and others who run the organization are grateful to the Kharel family and their restaurants.
“There’s Nepalese food in Jackson Heights but it’s nice to have it nearby here,” he said. “It’s half an hour to get there and I like knowing that it’s here for us.”
Koirala moved to the area in 2003 with his wife and two daughters and quickly became involved in the community. Like Kharel, he said that Queens was a place where immigrant families could settle down and work. He also liked that there were other cultures, but also a way for him to stay connected to his own community.
“They have a lot of buckwheat pancakes and daal, and bread that we eat in Nepal,” said Koirala, “It’s good for us to know that we can live here and feel like there is a home here.”
However, Koirala also thinks rising prices could be a problem. Despite that, he hopes to continue helping the existing Nepalese families in the area, and even dreams of one day establishing a temple for the Hindu Nepalese since other temples are far-flung, on the other side of Queens.
Despite fears of displacement, the Kharel family briefly opened a third restaurant in the neighborhood called Fresh Pond Spice, located on Fresh Pond Road, another main street in Ridgewood, before selling it to a Thai chef.
“We’re grateful to that family,” said Koirala. “They’re showing everyone what the Nepalese community can do.”
Ridgewood Nepalese Society
Nepalese Indian Restaurant
While in Kathmandu
