Comings and goings around town

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, March 9, 2005

Indian cuisine comes to the Pavilion.

If the smell of basil and oregano won’t do the trick, maybe the aroma of simmering curry and lamb vindaloo will draw hungry islanders upstairs at the Pavilion.

After two Italian food purveyors in the same space folded in short order, an Indian restaurant has taken a bold step into the building’s upper southeast corner.

“I think we’ll be here a long time,” said Gandhi manager Manoj Kumar, the morning after the restaurant’s Monday night opening. “We’ll do our best and work hard.”

Gandhi is a family-owned business with a sister restaurant in Silverdale near Costco. The Bainbridge branch’s menu is identical, featuring delicacies from the Punjab region of northwestern India.

With influences from the Moguls, Persians, Portuguese and British, the region boasts a gourmet reputation. The Punjab is especially famed for its complex curries, some of which contain up to 20 spices.

“Indian food is popular all over this country,” Kumar said. “It tastes good and is very healthy. Our spices are good for digestion and blood circulation.”

The restaurant offers chicken and lamb dishes, various flat breads, and over 15 vegetarian selections, including mattar paneer, a homemade cheese and pea dish, and the rich and creamy vegetable korma.

Gandhi is open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and noon to 9 p.m. on weekends. Call 780-3545 for more information.

—Tristan Baurick

Town & Country spruces it up

In the Town & Country produce section, you may hear the question, “Where are the grapes?”

That should be clear by the end of March, when the store completes renovation of its produce/salad/bakery area.

Many of the new slim-lined produce cases have already been installed since the remodeling started in mid-February. The cases will make produce easier to see, and the aisles roomier.

“This way, we’ll have more ‘talking room,’” store director Lyla Derosier said. “We’ve been working on this for six to seven months trying to figure out how it would be best served for the customers.”

Part of the challenge was working with the “small quarters here,” Derosier said. Some of the ideas were first tried out in the company’s other stores on the other side of the sound.

Besides new produce cases, the bakery will boast a larger self-serve section for pastries, but still with a full-service cake section. Breakfast croissants will move out to the espresso cafe area.

The salad bar is seeing a major upgrade to two 22-foot cases which will bring together the olive bar and soups that were previously in various locations in the store, with room for 9 soup offerings.

“There’s going to be much more of a focal point,” Derosier said. “People can come into an area and know they can find it there.”

– Tina Lieu

No more books, just bagels, beans

There’s no more books, but the bagels and beans remain.

Dropping the novels and dusty pulps, The Village Shopping Center business formerly known as Books, Bagels and Beans is in the midst of clearing out bookshelves to make way for expanded seating and a broader menu.

“Our intent is to create more of a coffeehouse form,” said John Williams, who purchased the business with his wife, Lisa, in late December. “We want it to be a central community space, a hangout spot.”

Under the shortened name “Bagels and Beans,” Williams plans to have the remodel project completed by early April.

Changes include pulling the cash register and counter to the back of the store to open the front area for couches, more chairs, larger tables and space for groups to meet.

“We want to have a mixed environment,” he said. “We plan to have game nights and maybe jam sessions.”

Williams said he is also open to one third-grade teacher’s suggestion that the shop host a poetry night for her students to read creative work to parents and the community.

“We want to encourage that sort of thing for all ages,” he said.

With the high school a short walk away, William also wants to make the cafe available as a late night hangout on the weekends.

“There’s not a lot for them to do on the island, so we want our place to be a kind of safe zone,” he said.

The cafe will boast an expanded menu, with salads, sandwiches and a wider pastry selection added to the tried-and-true bagel selection and espresso list.

Williams, who has worked in construction management for years, said purchasing the business was part of a desire to involve the whole family, including a 17-year old son.

“We’ve always wanted a family business,” he said.

“It was time to slow down and and this seemed like a good idea.”

– Tristan Baurick