On Oct. 21, Kurry Kabab, a favorite local restaurant among Oles, closed its doors for good. The rather abrupt closing of the casual establishment, which was known for its inexpensive, yet authentic Indian cuisine, was met with widespread discontent in the Northfield community.
Loyal Northfield patrons missed no opportunity to get their fill of Indian delicacy before the restaurant’s closing on Sunday evening. During Kurry Kabab’s last weekend in business, the establishment struggled to keep up with the unusually massive amount of customers.
Every table was packed during the weekend buffet, and the chefs even ran out of chicken due to the massive influx of customers. The wait for a table was more than an hour during dinner, and even former employees who were enjoying a last meal pitched in, bussing tables and distributing take-out trays to customers.
Kurry Kabab was the only restaurant delivering to campus other than Northfield’s pizza joints. And even though our Caf food is top-notch, sometimes there is nothing better than gathering up some friends and eating chicken shahi korma and palak paneer on your dorm room floor.
While Northfield isn’t known for its abundance of ethnic food establishments, we’ll still have Chapati for our Indian food cravings. But the Division street restaurant, although more upscale than Kurry Kabab, lacks much of the authenticity that made Kurry Kabab a favorite among Olaf students. Chapati is also pricier and does not deliver to campus.
“By losing Kurry Kabab, we are losing the one authentic Indian restaurant in Northfield,” said Chris Hager ’16, a Northfield native and former employee of Kurry Kabab. “All of the food was cooked by one Indian family, who used traditional recipes, while Chapati is more American.”
Kurry Kabab opened in 2005 when Satinder Singh and his family moved to Northfield from New York City to open their restaurant. According to the Northfield Patch, which released a press statement immediately following the closing of the establishment, Kurry Kabab closed due to a string of economic woes, which in the end were too great to overcome while staying in business.
“With the loss of their liquor license and raised rent, it was hard to make ends meet,” Hager said. “Kurry Kabab was not a well-run business. The location was weird, their number wasn’t in the phone book and they had little to no advertising. I think the only reason it stayed open was because the food was so good.”
Kurry Kabab catered in large part to Northfield’s student population and remained committed to being an affordable eating establishment, despite their economic difficulties.
“Kurry Kabab really treated me like family,” said Mary Clare DuRocher ’16, another former employee of the eatery. “My bosses were always fair with prices and payment, even when their rent skyrocketed. ”
The family that ran Kurry Kabab was just so friendly and welcoming,” Hager said. “They were very understanding, and generous bosses. It’s just really disappointing to see this happen to nice people.”
Whether you’ve been going to Kurry Kebab for years, or just discovered it on closing weekend, Kurry Kabab will not be forgotten.
tibaldi@stolaf.edu
