Cedars Confidential

Apparently, Cedars / Taste of India is an endless well that powers the rumor mill. As our palatial manor is sandwiched in between the two restaurants, we salivate at any mention of either.

The story that we have heard--from reputable sources, of course--goes something like this: The two restaurants are owned by the same family. The tandoor resides at Taste of India and Cedars orders are sometimes phoned in to Taste of India. While we can neither confirm nor deny the location of the tandoor, we can personally vouch that there does exist some form of courier service to Cedars from somewhere. To wit:

We used to walk past Cedars every day for at least two years. Often we saw the above vehicle parked in the alley out back. The driver would pop the tailgate and hand several bags of hot food--wrapped in unmarked, white, plastic, grocery bags--up to a kitchen staffer in the window.

The second, and more sinister, rumor concerns the working conditions at Cedars. Again, more speculation here; however, this is similar to things we have heard as well. Numerous sources have informed us that the owners work their staff very hard and expect them to be busy. As a result, it has been difficult to have a dinner conversation there as somebody was refilling our water glass every three to five minutes, literally. When we order from them now--which is infrequent--we have taken to taking out rather than dining in.

This also helped us have somewhat clearer consciences given the most sinister rumors: the owner keeps the tips. Now, we don't mind the cockroaches in the kitchen; some of the finest grease joints are the worst public health offenders. But, being children of The Union, we don't take too kindly to owners stealing tips.

Having said this, we realize that there are plenty of other tasty [Noun] of India restaurants, as a dear friend of ours calls them. Someday we might press the grumpy and terse owners on this issue in person. Until then, however, we'll get our entrees from elsewhere and our desserts from the juicy anecdotal data we pick up from the rumor mill.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Tom in Food on October 25, 2006 10:27 AM

Comments [rss]

Tom

Jennifer,

Thank you for your awesome flame! I usually don't respond to comments because the typical comment flame betrays the decrepit intelligence of, for example, the average Sound Politics or Horsesass reader who can post no more than a weaksauce paragraph that has been cobbled together without one legitimate independent clause. Yours, on the other hand, was several notches above. I giggled like the schoolgirl that I am as I read it. Thank you. I am compelled to respond; it was that inspired and transcendent.

And accurate! Yes, as the child of immigrants in an exploited industry, I am proudly a union flunky. Strike up the band and call me Wobbly.

Secondly, thank you for your background info. Now I not only believe the owners terse and grumpy, I believe them to be fools! If they want to kill themselves 60-plus hours a week with multiple businesses and rental properties, that's certainly their right. But if they can't schedule their staff so as to avoid creating insipid busywork, then they are dumb to boot. Personally, I've been nothing but friendly to them and they've always been cheerless and cold. ...perhaps they are just overworked.

Finally, I do pick a nit with your accusation of keeping "in lockstep with a typical pussified, Seattle white male, passive-aggressive douchebag and post a few 'witty' digs." These days, both girls and non-Seattleites are allowed to be snarky, passive-aggressive douchebags. What are you, some sorta provincial misogynist?

/tom

Jeremy M. Barker

"In the U-District, that means at best, an overpriced rat-hole that you bent over for on the price..." Pretty much an accurate description of the restaurant, ain't it?

James Callan

Lucky you didn't tell her about the dirty knife.

Seth

Tom, now that Air America is going out of business, what are you going to stroke off to?

Rob

Wow.

Jennifer

I have been going to Cedars and Taste of India at least two to three times a month now for over 12 years and take issue with many of these comments. The restaurants are owned by a single family. They are not grumpy and terse. If this was the case, how is it they know half of the customers there by first name and personally come from behind the counter to greet them? If their service was so poor, why are the restuarants consistently packed to the gills at lunch and weekend dinnertime?

In our experience with them, from when I first started going there to the catering of my wedding, to now, the Bhatti family has been nothing but gracious, kind and generous. We have gone from customers who frequented their restaurants, to members of their family. We have attended all of their children's weddings and celebrated the births of their grandchildren. They celebrated the birth of our daughter and were extremely generous with the gifts they gave us. I know for a fact that we are not an isolated example. At each of their family celebrations, there were always 10-14 couples or families that we recognized from Cedars as other customers.

It appears that you do not frequent the restaurant as much as I do, so I feel more qualified to speak about their kitchens. I have been in the kitchens of both restaurants. There are tandoor ovens at each restaurant. Yes, the restaurants will share supplies, like any other business with mulitple locations. But food is not cooked at one restaurant to be shipped to another.

In addition, I am surprised that you have an issue with the owners' request that employees stay busy. You clearly don't go there enough to know that the Bhatti's lead by example. The owners work 50-60 hours per week, and each only take one day off per week. In addition, they also manage another company and 10-12 rental properties they own.

Unlike a union employee, they do not expect their living to be handed to them with minimal effort.

This is a business, not a volunteer position. If you are paid to work, then work. If you want a job where you get paid to stand around and do nothing, go join a union....oh wait, you are already in that cult.

Next point. Who is the wait staff in the restaurant? The people who bring you water? Who clear your plates? Who fill your cup of chai? No. At Cedars, there are a host of employees who provide basic service, and only a handful that take customers' orders. These are the waiters and waitresses. They get a portion of the tips and the rest of the tips are shared among the staff. This is a very common arrangement at restaurants between waitstaff and non-waitstaff. In addition, non-waitstaff are paid VERY well for what they do- several dollars above minimum wage. As a union flunky, this should either make you very happy, or very nervous at the thought that employees don't have to fork over a chunk of their hard earned pay to a jackassed union to "advocate" their interests.

You might think the service is annoying, but I have RARELY had to ask much less wait for ANYTHING I might have needed....as opposed to other restaurants. Given the drivel that you are spouting above, I would imagine that your dining companion is thankful for the frequent interruptions every few minutes as a respite from your "conversation".

You mentioned you live in a palatial spread. In the U-District, that means at best, an overpriced rat-hole that you bent over for on the price so you could live "in-city" and at worst that you are packed in a dump with 10 other 20-30 somethings that spend their days stroking off to Air America. Instead of speaking with the owner or staff and getting your story straight, you have decided to keep in lockstep with a typical pussified, Seattle white male, passive-aggressive douchebag and post a few "witty" digs at a wonderful family who has worked like dogs to get where they are.

Mike

Try Bengal Tiger, Frank. 6510 Roosevelt Way NE, it's awesome. Definitely my preferred Cedars substitute.

Frank

What are some other good indian food places that would be worth checking out?

Also, I'm allergic to all nuts, does indian food use nuts very often?