The whole concept of "Unapologetic Foods," meaning serving dishes that reflect your heritage and aren't dumbed down for timid eaters, first entered the mainstream restaurant chat in 2018, when Roni Mazumdar and chef Chintan Pandya launched their now-empire of excellent Indian restaurants, starting with Adda and expanding with Dhamaka, Semma, Masalawa, and Rowdy Rooster.
But you know who else was present at Unapologetic's creation, cooking at Rahi (now Semma) and helping to open Adda? Chef Amrit Pal Singh. And in the fall of 2019, Singh set out on his own, returning to his old stomping grounds in Jackson Heights to give us Angel, which is named after his daughter and is still packing in crowds on 37th Road.
"When I first came to the United States, I lived in Jackson Heights," Singh told Hell Gate. "At that time I saw that although we had a lot of Indian restaurants in the neighborhood, we did not have any quality food here. There was no good food. So I decided, if I get a chance, one day I'll open a restaurant here."
Subscribe to read the full story
Become a paid subscriber to Hell Gate to access all of our posts.
Subscribe