Himalayan high

For the past few years, 220 Western Ave. seemed to be going through a restaurant version of musical chairs, not unlike the old River House. The inexpensive Italian eatery, La Famiglia, made way for the extraordinary, albeit somewhat pricey, Three Blocks Off, nicknamed 3BO; it seemed to have a lock on the address after it earned raves from at least three newspaper reviewers. But Vino Grigio, in a strange flip-flop, took over. Then, seemingly without warning, it too was gone.

Happily, the jinx seems to be broken. New owner Rabin Dhoj Lama is the mastermind and master chef now in residence at 220 Western. Late last year when the Argus-Courier announced that he was planning to open a sister restaurant to his Himalayan Tandoori and Curry House in Sebastopol, questions arose: “In that location?” “In this economy?” “Why?”

“Because unlike Italian or Mexican, there weren’t any Indian or Nepalese restaurants downtown,” Lama explained.

As it turns out, Lama was right to have stuck to his guns. Although three new Indian restaurants have opened in Petaluma since then, the Himalayan Kabob and Curry House has curried great favor, and deservedly so. Best of Petaluma voters named it the best new restaurant in town, and by a wide margin.

The restaurant is open and cheery, the walls a curry yellow (no accident there) decorated with native artwork and travel posters of the region. Colorful Japanese-style paper lanterns hang over the counter. The staff of four includes Lama’s wife, Tara, and his 22-year old son, Rupak.

Lama was born in Nepal, where he owned a restaurant and a construction company in Katmandu City; it was the restaurant business that took off. Lama’s cousins, who ran a restaurant in the South Bay, encouraged him to come to Northern California, which has a large Indian and Nepalese population.

“I came to the U.S. on June 14, 2001,” says Lama, “and worked for my cousins in Santa Clara for six months. Then a friend opened a restaurant in Sonoma and I was there for three years before I opened my own restaurant in Sebastopol."

The Lama family, which also includes a younger daughter, recently moved to Petaluma from Santa Rosa.

“We are so glad we did,” says Tara Lama. “We love Petaluma. I help at the restaurant when it is busy, and do whatever needs to be done.”

Her stepson, Rupak, is a server, who proudly says, “I think my dad is the best chef at any Indian restaurant in Sonoma County.”

This writer and a companion, Anne, recently had what I consider one of the best lunches ever in Petaluma. It started off with a fabulous lentil soup, followed by a succulent lamb momo (similar to a Chinese pot sticker), juicy yogurt-marinated chicken kabob and slices of a tasty garlic-basil naan (a kind of pita bread). The Nepalese hot sauce that accompanied the momo was deemed “outrageously hot” by my friend, normally a fire-eater when it comes to spicy food. The heat factor can be adjusted for the faint of heart.

The menu also includes everything from a Petaluma salad (avocado, tomato, mozzarella, red onion and basil) to a mixed grill Tandoori with chicken and salmon cubes, lamb and shrimp served on a sizzler platter.

There’s no beef on the menu, “because it is not part of our culture,” says Lama.

His son bashfully admits, however, that “burgers are my favorite American meal.”

To everyone at the Himalayan Kabob and Curry House, welcome and namaste (“I bow to you”).