A DC chef is the first James Beard Award finalist from his country — and he got there via 7-Eleven – WTOP News

If you’ve stopped in to eat at either Daru or Tapori, which are two of H Street Northeast’s highly acclaimed restaurants, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to know that Chef Suresh Sundas was recently named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s best chef in the mid-Atlantic region.

But his path to culinary kudos is remarkably improbable, and in some ways, also historic.

Sundas is the first ever Nepalese chef to be named a finalist for a James Beard Award. He never attended culinary school, and everything he learned about cooking, he learned at his home in southeastern Nepal.

“I remember when I was 11 years old, and my mom used to go to work at that point,” Sundas said. “At that time, I am the one who cooks our family meal. And my mom taught me how to cook lentil rice, fried rice, even momo, which is Nepalese dumpling.”

When he was 24, he moved to the U.S. and started working at a 7-Eleven in Northern Virginia. The night he made chicken curry for his roommates turned into a pivotal moment in his life.

“One of my roommate guests had that curry, and she told me that, ‘OK, this chicken curry is so good and you should work in the restaurant, not a 7-Eleven,’” he said.

“Just because of my cooking. And as soon as I heard that … I find the nearest restaurant in Virginia,” he said. “And I got the job there.”

He met his partners at Daru and Tapori while working at Rasika on D.C.’s West End, opening Daru first in 2021, followed by Tapori last year, and launching him into the stratosphere with some of DC.’s other top chefs. He said being the first Nepalese-born chef to become a finalist for a James Beard Award is not something he ever imagined. In fact, he had been in the United States for years before he had even heard of that award.

“So that is something which really means a lot to me. This is like out of expectation, to be honest,” he said.

“That is responsibility to the community, to the people or who made this industry what it is right now, and I think that is always the reflection of my team and my past work.”

For those not familiar with Nepalese food, it’s not too different from Indian food, which makes sense since they share a border, though there are some subtle differences.

Common seasonings in the food include cumin, coriander, turmeric, fennel and bay leaves. The differences tend to be seen more in the cooking techniques and spice level.

“The Nepalese style of chicken curry is like, more like a watery basis of sauce. We don’t use very thick gravy, we call jhol, which is very watery sauce,” he said. “The same chicken curry, if we go in an Indian style is going to be very thick gravy, chicken gravy. So it’s a very simple … difference between the two dishes.”

Between the recognition from the James Beard Society and Tapori’s placement on Eater National’s best new restaurant list, business has been good. Ahead of that night’s dinner rush, his team was jamming to dance music in the kitchen. It can be hard to thread the needle between serious work while keeping things loose and fun.

And while many chefs carry big personalities in and out of their kitchen, Sundas has a modest and humble take.

“Everyday I’m cooking with honest and real experience,” he said.