Tag Archives: Chef Srijith Gopinathan

Get To Know the New Eylan in Menlo Park

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Oysters with a chili-passion fruit essence at Eylan.
Oysters with a chili-passion fruit essence at Eylan.

Cementing their mettle as a culinary dynamic duo, Chef Srijith Gopinathan and business entrepreneur Ayesha Thapar are on their way to creating a mini empire of Bay Area modern Indian restaurants with Copra in San Francisco, Ettan in Palo Alto, Little Blue Door in Los Altos, and now their newest, Eylan in Menlo Park.

Eylan, which means “proclamation” or “public announcement” in Hindi, opened in January in the new retail-business development, The Villa Menlo Park.

As with all their restaurants, the interior is striking, though, a little less showy than some of their other ones, as I found when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant last week.

Located at a new Menlo Park development with convenient parking underground.
Located at a new Menlo Park development with convenient parking underground.
The dining room.
The dining room.

Its look is punctuated with leafy vine-wrapped columns, lush trees, macrame hangings, black and white geometric floor tiles, curve-backed sand-colored chairs, and red-and-green fabric-wrapped chandeliers. Dimly lit at night, the dining room offers a nestled-in quality but can get noisy when it’s full.

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Reveling In Modern Cal-Indian Cuisine at Campton Place

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Campton Place restaurant's famed Spice Pot dish.

Campton Place restaurant’s famed Spice Pot dish.

 

Naan formed into rolls as fluffy as classic Parker House ones and hiding a center of ricotta. Cauliflower florets garnished with ethereal turmeric foam. And familiar-tasting cumin-scented potatoes and peas, but uncannily presented in a flower pot spewing wisps of dry ice.

That’s the unique, incredibly elegant cuisine served at Michelin-starred Campton Place in San Francisco by Chef Srijith Gopinathan. French techniques are applied to traditional Indian flavors with inspired Bay Area flourishes to create food that evokes time and place.

That’s what I found when I was invited in as a guest a few weeks ago. It had been a few years since I last dined at the restaurant. The food has grown more personal with Gopinathan really showcasing his native India and adopted city of San Francisco in memorable ways.

The dining room.

The dining room.

Just a few steps from Union Square.

Just a few steps from Union Square.

My husband and I checked into our complimentary room at the Taj Campton Place Hotel. 

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