he he - if i had known, i would have stopped by - i'm 5 blocks away! esp. for my sister - she would totally have loved this kind of a thing.

on the issue of food shows, i must say that the last season of top chef was the best one so far, and PL's hosting skills were certainly improved, too.

OMFG. My hands are killing me. That went on for almost 2 hrs! Padma is really smart! (DAMMITTTTTT!!!) if y'all are interested, pls let me know in the comments here? I'l cross post if so. Otherwise no need to waste SM bandwidth.

While flipping through the current issue of The Economist, I saw a full-page ad for this event. Of course, it had to be scheduled after I left NY to return to Chicago. I ate at the Chicago Vermillion many years ago. It was only about one year old then. It was OK - I was attracted to it because the idea of Indian tapas was intriguing. But, unfortunately, I walked out still thinking that tapas will not compete with dim sum for a long time. But if you want to try something besides the usual buffet, it may be more to your liking.

Very interesting evening-- Cicatrix, I think I interacted with you briefly chatting with Alpana. Your live blog was masterful! I think you got every comment.

What an impressive group of women! I wish there had been more time so the evening wouldn't have been quite so Padma-centric. She was certainly articulate and entertaining but I would have liked to hear the others speak more, Chef Chauhan to compare Culinary school experiences in India and US, and Alpana Singh talk more in general. Rohini Dey is downright intimidating! Brilliant women!

As to the Vermilion experience: It's a difficult prospect to get food out well to a couple of hundred people-- It was tasty and well executed but somehow not satisfying. Except for the Butternut Squash soup-- can be a cliche, but not this time. It was wonderful with lots of well developed flavors. I also really enjoyed the pani puri with jal jeera limeade thought it made a great amuse bouche. Aspects of the other dishes were really good, but it just didn't quite add up. I'll go back for lunch and/or dinner now that I've had a test drive before I pass judgment. The space is a little too space age bachelor pad for my taste, feels rather stand-offish . Good for high powered cocktail sessions ...

The issue was touched on a bit by Rohini, that there is nothing in mid-range neighborhood hangout spot for Indian cuisine. It's taxi stand takeout, to 9.99 all you can eat, then a blank, then a few high end contenders such as Vermilion. I think I see a niche, the Indian gastro-pub.... Anybody want to go into business? :)

Very interesting. I do agree that I would like to hear more from the other ladies, but I have to say that despite seeing too much of her already so much of what Padma says is insightful and true. Especially about a lot of "what people have been introduced to is NOT being good Indian food..there’s a disconnect between the traditional healthy home food and what you get in restaurants." I can't eat Indian food in restaurants for the same reasons- it's greasy, oily and too pungent as compared to my grandmother's delicious cooking.

I also wonder why these Indian "fusion" restaurants like Vermillion work so well in places like Manhattan, and yet in other normally culinarily adventurous places they don't survive long-for example Tallulah's Indo-French in San Francisco (if anyone quotes David Chang/Anthony Bourdain here I kindly request that they go Momofuku themselves :-) )

Wonderful liveblogging. Thanks so much.