Named for the mountainous, spice-growing region of Kerala, India, Cardamom, departs from the conventional Indian restaurant by highlighting the flavors and ingredients indigenous to the subcontinent’s southwestern region. Making over the former India’s Oven space, which had been in operation since 1981, are business partners, and brother-in-laws, Nasir Syed and Badrul Alam Chowdhury. Deeply rooted in the history of the space is Syed, who began his career as a Manager at India’s Oven upon moving to Los Angeles from Bangladesh in the early 2000s. “This restaurant and space has great meaning to me, as this is where I began my life when I moved here,” says Syed. “Opening Cardamom has been a dream, and being able to do this as a family venture has made the process that much more meaningful.” While Syed serves as Cardamom’s Co-Owner and General Manager, Chowdhury can be found at the helm of the kitchen, where he mans the tandoor ovens as the resident Executive Chef.
Adding to the family venture is what Syed and Chowdhury have deemed their secret weapon: Syed’s uncle, Consulting Executive Chef Manju Choudhury, one of the most successful Indian restaurateurs in London. Choudhury’s aim in creating Cardamom’s menu is to bring a version of London’s innovative Indian cuisine to Los Angeles. “The British ruled India for 200 years, and because of this, much of the Indian culture and cuisine has become integral to the London experience,” explains Choudhury. “There are several top Indian Chefs in the UK, serving some of the best Indian cuisine you will experience, even more so than in India itself.” And Choudhury knows of what he speaks: He started the popular Haweli chain, which grew to 23 branches, and then after a brief retirement, he returned to the restaurant game with Mumbai 2 Go, recently voted best delivery spot in the UK. (On top of that, he once held the Guinness world record for making the world’s largest onion bhaji, a 62-kilogram monster!) Whether you choose to dine-in, take-out, or have us come to you, our entire team is dedicated to ensuring that each and every guest has a memorable experience at Cardamom.
Taking over the former India’s Oven space, which had been in operation since 1981, are business partners, and brother-in-laws, Nasir Syed and Badrul Alam Chowdhury. Deeply rooted in the history of the space is Syed, who began his career as a Manager at India’s Oven upon moving to Los Angeles from Bangladesh in the early 2000s. “This restaurant and space has great meaning to me, as this is where I began my life when I moved here,” says Syed. “Opening Cardamom has been a dream, and being able to do this as a family venture has made the process that much more meaningful.”
While Syed serves as Cardamom’s Co-Owner and General Manager, Chowdhury can be found at the helm of the kitchen, where he mans the tandoor ovens as the resident Executive Chef. Adding to the family venture is what Syed and Chowdhury have deemed their secret weapon: Syed’s uncle, Consulting Executive Chef Manju Choudhury, one of the most successful Indian restaurateurs in London.
Choudhury’s aim in creating Cardamom’s menu is to bring a version of London’s innovative Indian cuisine to Los Angeles. “The British ruled India for 200 years, and because of this, much of the Indian culture and cuisine has become integral to the London experience,” explains Choudhury. “There are several top Indian Chefs in the UK, serving some of the best Indian cuisine you will experience, even more so than in India itself.” And Choudhury knows of what he speaks: He started the popular Haweli chain, which grew to 23 branches, and then after a brief retirement, he returned to the restaurant game with Mumbai 2 Go, recently voted best delivery spot in the UK.
(On top of that, he once held the Guinness world record for making the world’s largest onion bhaji, a 62-kilogram monster!)
When it came to decorating, Cardamom had special talent from the UK to call upon: Arshad Chouhan, an artist and interior designer who has worked with Choudhury previously in London. Chouhan specializes in restaurant decor, having designed more than 100 restaurants in England, France, Sweden, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
“Cardamom is serving contemporary cuisine here, so I gave them contemporary design,” Chouhan says. “Everything was done from scratch—the lighting, the bar, the partitions and even the ceiling.” That ceiling shows Chouhan’s clever minimalist aesthetic: It’s painted black and strung with steel cables, which create the illusion of glass tiles suspended above the restaurant. The bar top hangs from the ceiling, and a custom partition will separate the bar area from the main dining room, which seats 50. In the dining room, five large paintings by Chouhan himself decorate the walls. “It’s a simple, more European design. My goal was to create a visually striking environment that would allow the cuisine to shine,” he says.
