Meet the Two Chefs Pioneering Modern Indian Food in Kansas City

Tyler Shane

In a city where many Indian restaurants serve solid but similar menus, Ameet Malhotra and Swetha Newcomb’s new-age spin on the age-old cuisine is a welcome addition to KC’s food scene. The two chefs are putting a unique twist on the food of their grandmothers. While serving fusion cuisine doesn’t come without its challenges, Malhotra and Newcomb have found success in borrowing from their culinary heritage to create something new—even if it strays from tradition.

Swetha Newcomb of Of Course

Two years into operating her South JoCo restaurant Of Course, Newcomb is more confident than ever in her Midwestern-influenced Indian fusion menu. The secret to her success? Leaning in.

“At first, I kind of wanted to stay away from the Indian-ness of it all, but I just kind of gave into it because that is my heritage,” Newcomb says. “To do that, I needed to have my mom help me.”

Newcomb developed her own sort of worldly cooking style during her years as a private chef. Not wanting customers to put her cuisine in a box, she was initially hesitant to label Of Course an Indian restaurant, though the menu was certainly inspired by her Indian roots. As Newcomb continued to gravitate toward Indian flavors and cooking styles, she decided to have her mom, Geetha Gondi, who is from Hyderabad, India, come in and teach the staff some of her recipes and how to handle certain spices.

Newcomb says an Indian version of mirepoix, which includes ginger and garlic paste, creates the base of many of her restaurant’s dishes. And spices like mustard seed, cumin seed and chili powder are used liberally throughout the menu. Any of these aromatics can be found in Of Course’s more familiar Midwestern comfort meals like Caesar salads and grilled ribeyes.

Of Course’s menu is meant to be shared, similar to the family-style dining Newcomb grew up with. While eating food directly with your hands is common in India, Newcomb considers “less messy” ways for her customers to eat her food, like sourdough bread to accompany the egg curry toast (her personal favorite menu item) and a tostada as a vessel to scoop up the duck curry.

Of Course’s dining room matches its modern menu. The upscale venue is a sophisticated homage to the textures and colors of Indian culture. The beautiful large bar is also a perfect spot to enjoy the restaurant’s happy hour.

To anyone hesitant to try Indian food—or Newcomb’s take on it—she recommends getting the burger.

“Everyone is going to love the burger,” she says.

Ameet Malhotra of Elephant Wings

Ameet Malhotra probably wouldn’t have started his restaurant Elephant Wings if it wasn’t for the pandemic. Along with 200 others, the Mumbai native was laid off from his job at Hallmark in 2020, and it was then that he began cooking food out of his home and selling it to friends and family. When he had 45 people come to his door to pick up his butter chicken, he knew he was onto something.

Malhotra learned how to cook Indian food from his father, but the graphic designer-turned-chef has always put his own touch on the genre. Malhotra says he often dreams of dishes, like an Indian variation of ramen or a lamb rogan josh over rigatoni noodles, and will execute them the next day. His restaurant, Elephant Wings (which sits in a vendor space in the bottom northeast corner of the Crossroads food hall Parlor), features a fusion menu, with Indian flavors at each dish’s base. For example, a banh mi sandwich with cumin chicken and a coriander chutney is offered alongside a tikka masala poutine.

Malhotra began Elephant Wings as a private dinner service (which he still does) and initially promised himself that he would never put butter chicken or tikka masala on his menu. Today, however, you’ll find both of those on his Parlor menu.

“I feel like I need to have something recognizable, something familiar,” Malhotra says.

Fusion food is, more often than not, a tough sell to wary customers, especially those who may not have an experimental palate. Malhotra says these customers are his biggest challenge.

“My message to them is to try to have an open mind,” Malhotra says.

For those who are unsure how one can skillfully execute masala mac and cheese or chili tandoori fries, rest assured that Malhotra successfully infuses his Indian roots into any dish. He recently won a taco competition hosted by the nonprofit KC Shepherd’s Center, triumphing over notable chefs like Chef Philip Thompson from Q39. Malhotra’s winning taco included cumin chicken, coriander chutney, corn jalapeno and a curried aioli.