215980 Mon Nov 15 09:44:05 -0800 2004 2 18 Manhattan 0 1149981 Can anyone tell me if in fact the Indian restaurants on East 6th Street DO use one central kitchen? Is this just a foodie's urban myth? Mon Nov 15 09:44:05 -0800 2004 0 lalagirl 1 1149998 In the beginning (mid-1970s), a single family owned most of the restaurants, which had identical menus with pretty much interchangeable food. It's possible that there was bulk shopping, and perhaps the preparation of some of the staples (rice, long-cooked curries) was shared, but each place had its own kitchen, even then. I don't think anyone took the "single kitchen" story seriously. It was just a joke about the similarity of menus and flavors. Mon Nov 15 10:52:06 -0800 2004 1149981 0 KRS 2 1150027 actually I am not sure that is true. what I had read was that the first restaurants there were started by men (not cooks) who immigrated here to be engineers etc. from the same town/area of e. bengal. As one found a niche the restaurant biz, others copied. But none of them had any cooking background skills so what they provided was very basic,and they tended to follow each other's recipes, menus etc. so a lack of skill and imagination combined with what seemed to be a successful formula (and of course very close background culture) resulted in a high degree of uniformity. which I think gave rise to the "single kitchen" joke/myth. Think of chinese takeouts as an analog to what they were trying. Then compare what those old 6th street cooks present to the varied repetoire and multi tastes of a single real bengali cook, Mina. There is just no comparison. Mon Nov 15 12:38:52 -0800 2004 1149998 0 jen kalb