MORGAN CROSSING — On the corner of 24th Avenue and Croydon Drive in South Surrey stands a brand new, glittering structure. The face of the building is covered entirely in individually tacked-on square silver sequins, making it impossible to miss. The brand new spot, which glimmers in the sun like a school of piranhas, is the latest brainchild of Vancouver-based restaurateur Vikram Vij. The restaurant, My Shanti, set to do a soft open early next week, takes its name from the Hindi language and translates as "My peace".
The name could be ironic to some, considering Vij already runs two successful eateries in Vancouver - the upscale Vij's and the more casual Rangoli's - a food truck service (Vij's Railway Express), and owns a 20,000-square-foot food production facility in Cloverdale that serves more than 400 grocers. Add one more restaurant at South Surrey's Morgan Crossing into the mix, and the amount of responsibilities Vij has created for himself sounds anything but peaceful.
But for the experienced entrepreneur, who has appeared on TV shows Dragon's Den, Chopped and Recipe to Riches, his shanti actually lies in the stress.
"I like stress. I thrive on stress. If I don't have stress, I actually cause stress – like, I'll go out and do something stupid that will cause me stress," said Vij, seated inside his new restaurant. "I thrive on that."
The walls, painted bright colours with gold-tinged paisley wallpaper lining the ceiling, are adorned with decorative, draping saris. One wall will be covered in an Indian-style mural made of strips of hand-painted fabric, the booths enclosed with nature-inspired twigs.
"I wanted to create my culture on the streets, which is Indian saris, Indian fabrics, the beautiful shimmering, glittering things in India," he said. "The idea is to bring my culture, and we brought it to South Surrey and we wanted that."
More importantly, like the bright and dazzling decor of My Shanti, he's bringing Indian culture to the area with the cuisine.
The menu is full of original, regionallyinspired dishes from India - so don't count on any stock butter chicken or vegetable pakora.
"This is more regional, it's more about India. If you look at the menu here, this is based on my travels to India," Vij said, pointing to a draft print-out of palette teasers, including an Indian Democracy of Samosas (chicken, lamb and beef paired with local fruit chutneys), Goan oyster pakoras with a green-chili crème fraiche and mint gremolata, and a Bombay chattpatti squid - just to name a few.
"Most Indian restaurants in Surrey are North Indian restaurants. My Shanti is going to be based on my travels to India. I go to India every year. This is what I love, the best of the best dishes I've learned from there, and I've brought them back here."
The dishes are moderately priced, with appies and sides starting as low as $3 and entrees reaching up to the $26 range. There's also a roster of nine different Indian-inspired cocktails, including an almond milk and vodka drink aptly named Badam da Naasha, meaning "getting high on almond milk". The Devdas, mixed with a chai masala syrup and garnished with cinnamon bark, and the Kish ne Jaan ("Nothing my Love") made with paan liquer, whiskey and lime juice, also feature on the cocktail menu.
While the outlook is positive for My Shanti's soft opening, Vij is sure it won't all go off without a hitch.
"(People) will have to stop comparing me to Vij's in Vancouver," he underlined. "Vij's in Vancouver has been a well-oiled machine for 20 years. This is day one. This is like a child was just born - it's going to be cholicky, it's gonna have its issues, it's gonna have all the issues that it's supposed to have - it's like having a child. This is my newborn. It's going to give me some issues, I'm going to have some sleepless nights. But don't think that Vij's and Rangoli didn't. I just want people to come and enjoy themselves and understand where the passion and the love comes from."