The Aussie foodies who have New Yorkers queuing for hours

NEW YORKERS are waiting an hour or more for Indian cuisine produced by this ex-Melbourne couple.

IT’S a Tuesday night, but it feels more like a weekend at New York’s bustling Babu Ji restaurant. Around 8.30pm, a couple asks the host about the next available table. His quick reply: “Tomorrow.”

New Yorkers are waiting an hour or more for Indian cuisine where Jennifer and Jessi Singh, both in their late 30s, are putting a fresh, modern and healthy spin on food often thought of as greasy takeaway. Think what David Chang and his Momofuku eateries did for Korean food.

“From day one, there was always a line,” says Jessi, whose playful twists on classic Indian dishes like curries and fried cheese have flavours just as bright and vibrant as the fresh edible flowers and herbs with which he plates them.

The Singhs moved to the US with their two young daughters last year from Melbourne, where they ran restaurants Dhaba at the Mill in Kyneton, country Victoria, North Fitzroy curry house Horn Please, the original Babu Ji restaurant in St Kilda and a small troupe of Dhaba food trucks.

The couple attributes their success in New York to word of mouth.

Jessi Singh, in the early days of his Dhaba at the Mill Curry House in Kyneton, Victoria.

“At first, it was all East Village locals,” says Jennifer, who’s tallied more than 200 guests on their busiest nights in a space that seats just 55. “Then I remember the night someone said, ‘Oh, I’m from Harlem.’ People kept coming back with friends.”

The restaurant takes limited reservations — for the $US60-per-person ($84) chef’s table menu only. And if you want to avoid the long wait, come early — dinner is served from 5.30pm.

Many of Babu Ji’s customers are converts to the cuisine.

“People thought Indian food was too spicy, too greasy, too oily or the ingredients aren’t fresh,” says Jessi, who was born in the Punjab state in northern India and wears many hats, from chef to general contractor. He can often be seen popping out of the kitchen to join Jennifer in chatting with customers and explaining the dishes.

Examples of the Indian food you’ll find at Jessi and Jennifer’s restaurant.

“We battle this stigma of Indian food, no matter how many times we meet people,” says Jennifer, who designed the open modern space. “Indian is such an interesting, complex, diverse cuisine. Yet there’s not a lot on offer for dining of this level.”

After signing their lease in March, it took the Singhs less than three months to get the restaurant up and running. “I said to him, ‘It’s time to tap into your Punjabi roots,’ because Punjabis are very much like New Yorkers,” says Jennifer, who was born in Brooklyn. “Jessi gets things done.”

And while there have been plenty of offers for the Singhs to expand, the couple has turned them all down.

“This is us,” Jennifer says. “It’s not something that can be easily replicated.”

Originally published as The Aussie foodies who have New Yorkers queuing for hours