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Downtown Palo Alto’s newest restaurant is putting Malabari prawns in sourdough bread bowls, cooking lamb kabargah sous vide and adding motichoor to cheesecake.
Upscale Indian restaurant Khazana is coming to University Avenue, replacing Joya Restaurant and Lounge, a tapas restaurant that closed after 15 years. Khazana will be the third modern Indian restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, joining Rooh and Ettan. Created by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Khazana’s menu features food from all regions of India and incorporates ingredients and cooking techniques from outside the country.
“This is a chef-driven restaurant, so food is the core of this entire concept,” said Pradipto Das, COO of SK Restaurants. “We have taken core dishes from each of the regions of India, but where we have brought the fusion is in terms of upscaling ingredients, upscaling the recipes, upscaling the way you present the food.”
Find pani puri stuffed with edamame and kulcha made with croissant dough. A special unique to Khazana’s Palo Alto location is Malabari prawns in a sourdough bowl, inspired by the quintessential clam chowder in a bread bowl. Khazana Palo Alto also exclusively offers vegan badam kheer, a pudding made with almonds, almond milk, cardamom and saffron, to accommodate diners wishing to avoid dairy (a common component of Indian desserts).
Kapoor is arguably the most well known and influential culinary figure in India. In addition to hosting “Khana Khazana,” the longest running Indian cooking show in Asia (with 649 episodes) and owning Food Food, a 24/7 food and lifestyle channel, the Indian government bestowed Kapoor with the National Award of Best Chef of India and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award.
In 1998, Kapoor opened his first restaurant Khazana in Dubai. Now, he owns 81 restaurants of eight unique brands in 10 countries. Khazana Palo Alto is Kapoor’s second restaurant along the Peninsula, with his first being The Yellow Chilli in Santa Clara, and first Khazana in the United States.
The general public will have the opportunity to meet Kapoor Sept. 8 at Khazana. The celebrity chef will be launching an automatic kitchen robot called Wonderchef Chef Magic. The two-hour event includes a Q&A with Kapoor, photo opportunities and prize drawings. Kapoor will also make an appearance for Khazana Palo Alto’s grand opening, with a date still in the works.
Khazana, 339 University Ave., Palo Alto; 650-384-6411. Instagram: @khazanapaloalto.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to remove the soft opening date.
