Denver's grand dame of Northern Indian cuisine moving south

Lori Midson

Plans for the new India's

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After twenty years slinging naan against the blazing tandoor at his Tamarac Square location at 3333 South Tamarac Drive, Krishan Kapoor, the owner of India's, is moving a couple of blocks south to 7400 East Hampden Avenue. That's the Tiffany Plaza space that most recently held Kermen Mongolian BBQ Restaurant, and long before that, Caio Baby!, the Italian restaurant opened in 1991 by Pasquale Minicuci and Noel Cunningham, owner/chef at String's. Cunningham sold his stake in the restaurant in 1996; in 1997, Caio Baby! filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closed soon thereafter, leaving behind a 7,400-square-foot space that Kapoor is now eager to occupy.

"A feeling of complacency had started to settle in, I was starting to feel a little too comfortable here, and I needed a new challenge," Kapoor told me. Then there was the more serious matter with Kapoor's current landlord, DDR, which, according to Kapoor, insisted on a month-to-month lease. After months of back-and-forth with DDR, Kapoor finally made the decision to split from Tamarac Square, which with its unsettling vacancy rate, is looking more and more like a suburban slum.

But Tiffany Plaza is on the upswing, with the best Whole Foods in the metro area, not to mention Oshima Ramen, Sheehan's favorite ramen noodle joint, and the Elvis Cinema, which just happens to be located directly next door to the new India's. "I think this is going to be a great location for us because of the movie foot traffic and because we're going to be so close to our old location," reasoned Kapoor, who will serve his last dinner at the Tamarac Square location on Wednesday, August 19, only to open for lunch at the new curry house the very next day.

The menu will stay the same (there might be the addition of dosas down the line, though, if Kapoor can find a chef well-versed in South Indian cooking), as will the wine and beer list -- although now you'll be able to knock back a bottle of Old Monk at the new bar, which is some of the best news I've heard all week.