asian lifestyle magazine vol 6 | no 7 | issue # 37 | july 2008 Katrina World’s sexiest Women Anh Tran $3.99 w w w . D i y a m a g a z i n e . c o m C o m p l i m e n ta r y C o p y BusinesswomAn of the month Viva Las Vegas! Party Cambo style 36 > 07 7 7 1 5 4 2 6 8 8 0 0 1 7 Visit JULY w w w . D i y a M a g a z i n e . c o M t o V i e w t h i s i s2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM z e1s sue & win pri fashion What are you wearing? Fashion mistakes & tips. “Fashion is the part of our life. Today is a time of fashion. When it comes to fashion and trends, we all want the same thing: to look superb. Many fashion trends is go and come every year. These fashion false pas are visible, and can completely ruin a perfectly good outfit.” Don’t wear incorrect colors Not all skin tones are created equally. Choose appropriate color combination of clothing to complement your skin. The colors you wear should compliment your natural features – eyes, skin, and body shape. Inaccurate colors equal your skin appearing sallow and dull. Appropriate colors make you look lively & healthy. Don’t wear loose clothes Choose clothes that fit your body. You should wear clothes that fit right for your body that is flattering. Best way to get perfect fit is to have a tailor modify your clothing. There are numerous tailors in Dallas metro – we recommend Jaheen’s Boutique (972-238-8561) next to Govindji’s Jewelerys in Richardson. Don’t keep cheap odd undergarments To be a true fashionista - select right undergarments. Celebrities wear body trimmers, push-up bars, and tops to fit into the designer garments. Wear well fitted undergarments under your clothes. Don’t wear too tight clothing. It’s obvious too tight clothing will make you uncomfortable and makes other people uncomfortable – choose clothes that fit you body not squeeze body. Get ride of them by donating to Salvation Army or find a nonprofit organization that ship clothes to third world country (or sell them and make some cash to donate – at Plato’s Closet located in Plano on Alma & Spring Creek next to Bharat Bazaar). Don’t wear shoes which are not coordinated with your outfit Shoes make your outfit/look complete. Choosing correct shoes that match or compliment your outfit; guys – keep your choose clean – polish them! Don’t wear these at work! Short skirts - if its more than 3 inches above your knees – that would be a no-no – especially in work environment; plunging necklines, stilettos, sleeveless tops, too much jewelry, leather pants, see-through clothing, or anything that glimmers – you are not at rock concert! Don’t wear more than 3 colors of garments. It’s called the 3-color rule. That’s one of fashion mistake people make – too busy, too many colors. Also try these: Wear a tie with a long sleeved button-down shirt. Wear bright colors wisely and only on your most flattering body parts. Wear pants that are straight leg or boot cut – worn slightly long. Always wear nail-polish – it looks great! Try fabrics like chiffon or georgette for dresses. Get that! GreatGlam.com (c). Cognac (White). $24.80 34 DIYA JULY 2008 Exclusive interview with the Director of “Brick Lane” By Dilshad Dayani campaign. Dilshad Dayani interviewed the director Sarah Gavron and the lead actress Tanishtha Chatterjee who were here with Angelika’s regional publicity manager Jo Ellen. Dilshad says “it was really an interesting example of humility when Sarah and Tanishtha started chatting and answering my questions as if we knew each other and shared common experiences…. We could have spoken and shared this exciting cross cultural conversations for hours... if they did not had to leave for N.Y… It is true art connects and bonds us as human beings.” 1. What was the inspiration behind “Brick Lane”? It’s kind of an aggressive venture in terms of what you had to endure during its production? What inspired me about the story was that it was a universal, human story of a family and their lives, loves, struggles, set against the backdrop of the shifting cultural landscape of a city. As I was an outsider to the Bangladeshi community it was important for me to work closely with people from inside that community who contributed a huge amount. We had a lot of support in the lead up to making the film from Bangladeshi East Londoners who came on board to work as cast and crew. It was only during the filming that a tiny, if vocal, group objected to the idea of the film. This small group did not represent the majority of the community and it soon became clear that their objections were only based on rumor and speculation. We continued making the film and did not change anything. And I am grateful that the finished film has been welcomed by the community and by an international audience. 2. The movie holds impressive body language conveying strong emotional details from a women’s perspective...as a director was it a The movie Brick Lane is the story of an immigrant family who struggles. This interview took place in Dallas in June. This was a very busy month for Tanishtha and Sarah Gavron who came from U.K for their publicity tough proposition? Yes, adapting the novel was a daunting prospect as so much of it describes the interior life of Nazneen. We found cinematic ways of translating Nazneen’s journey to the screen. We used the camera, lighting, sound and music to convey how the world appeared through her eyes. And most importantly Tannishtha Chatterjee gave a very subtle and nuanced performance as Nazneen and managed to show emotion through her eyes and body language. More at www.DiyaMagazine.com JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 35 36 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 37 38 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 39 40 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 41 42 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 43 DM 44 44 DIYA JULY 2008 DIYA JULY 2008 DM Jaime Garzaro and Kim Seng. Photo by Asian Photography. Int erracial in Today’s Modern World By Prianna Stale y I sat by the patio of the local coffee house the other day, soaking in the rays of the beautiful weekend. The early bursts of summer has a magical power of urging families to venture out of their houses to enjoy the season, and to allow regular people like me to do what we do best-people watch. I took a double look at the family. I don’t know why I did that, but I did. I looked around and saw an elderly lady doing the crossword puzzle, two tables away. I listened to two teenage girls, chatting about a boy from school. I smiled at a young couple huddled together, reading the newspaper. And then my eyes rested on family of three-a father, mother, and a young boy, enjoying the day. They were an interracial couple, with an interracial child. As human as they are, as normal as they are, they became my subject of fascination. They were an interracial couple, and I took a double look. While the world today has come a long way from the dark days, some 50 years back, where interracial unions were banned, people still remember the past where countries like South Africa, Germany, and even certain states in the southern USA made it impossible for a young couple from difference races and skin color in love to beat the odds. Fast forward 50 years later, where the world has become a tad bit liberal, we boast about famous interracial couples like And from them, we learn. Heidi Klum and Seal, David Bowie and Iman, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, and Ellen Pompeo and Chris Ivery. In a way, daily reminders of pictures of these celebrities make the modern day accept unions such as this to take place. Hold up, acceptance? Since when does the world need to accept two people in love? In my opinion, marriages should be about two people in love, and not their skin color or race. Alas, there is a rather bold line between the glamour of the celebrity mixed marriage, and a real life mixed marriage. Here, we focus on three real life couples that placed love above and beyond their skin color. We talk about struggles, love, and differences. Dr. Paul and Dr. Neeti Haas Doctors in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. Married 5 years. Together 8.5 years. Expecting twins September 2008. Fate brings you together in different places.Take Paul and NeeDM ti for example. They grew up in Arizona, >>> JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 45 45 30 minutes away from each other, and met for the first time in medical school in St Louis, MO. He walked up to her and told her she looked familiar. He asked her if she was from Arizona, and she said yes. And since then, they’ve been together. Sounds like just another love story, but the only difference is, she’s Indian, and he’s Caucasian. They dated for 3 years, and then took their relationship to the next level. They got engaged to be married. So again, you ask. What’s the big deal? It’s two people in love. Isn’t marriage normal in situations like that? Well, no. Neeti is brown, and Paul is white. You see, until someone says hello to you, the first thing they notice is the difference in your skin color. “I come from a very traditional Sikh family where you’re expected to be well educated and end up marrying a nice Punjabi boy. We moved back to India when I was young because my father wanted us to be Indian, and then when I was 16 years old, we headed back to Arizona to finish school. Because of my time in India, I am very close to the Indian culture. I am religious, I go to the Gurdwara (Sikh temple) every Sunday, I speak Hindi and Punjabi fluently, listen to Hindi music, and I think the Indian community didn’t see this happening, not to me at least! So when I met Paul and we got engaged, it wasn’t as easy. He met my mom and my siblings immediately, but we waited three years before he met my dad.” “When you got engaged?” I asked. “Yes. Partially because we were in med school in St Louis and he was in Arizona, but also because he wasn’t ready to meet Paul. After the engagement, dad didn’t speak to me for a few months, and I had some resistance from other family members about Paul and I being together and taking our relationship into a marriage. It was frustrating at times, I even suggested we just do a simple courthouse marriage but Paul refused. He knew I’ve always wanted a traditional Sikh wedding and that’s what we were going to have. But you know, my dad never once said I forbid you to marry him. He was incredibly worried about the cultural differences between the both of us. He knew of too many interracial couples that hit that roadblock and ended up in divorce. But he told me it was my life, and I should decide.” The turning point for her dad was when Neeti and Paul went to India for a month as part of their medical training. Over there, they lived with her aunt and uncle. They then called Neeti’s dad and told him what a great guy Paul was. It took a simple phone call from his family for him to open up his heart to his daughter’s love. Paul had been somewhat quiet this entire time. (Probably because he had worked at the hospital the whole day). But I had to ask him if he felt hurt about being judged before anyone met him just because he was from a different culture. “Of course not. I was going to do what I needed to do regardless of what people thought. Of course I wanted her family to like me, but if they didn’t, I wasn’t going to change my mind about Neeti. That was back then. Today, her father and I hang out all the time when we’re in the same town. He met me for the first time at our graduation and we were set to get married 3 weeks after that. Within those 46 46 DIYA JULY 2008 DIYA JULY 2008 Paul and Neeti Haas. Photo by BombayPhotography. 3 weeks, we bonded. It was a matter of her dad knowing I had a good head on my shoulders and I could take care of his daughter. Our families get along with each other and are always at each other’s houses for social or family events or dinner parties. Its not a typical set of in laws who get together just for the sake of their children. They are each other’s families; they are each other’s friends. It also helps that they live 30 minutes from each other. If you look at the core of both of our families, regardless of color or culture, their values are exactly the same. We couldn’t ask for better in laws”. Neeti feels the same about her in laws.The one thing she loves about Paul is that he is an understanding person with good values. He respects her needs to still be Indian, and she is free to do what she wants within the culture. He supports her from time to time by following her to the Gurdwara when there is an important event going on, or watches some Hindi movies with her even though he doesn’t understand the language, and she attends sporting events with him even though it’s not really her thing. Wait, he goes to the Gurdwara? >>> “Yes, I do at times. I wear a kara (Sikh bangle) as a token of respect for her religion and her dad who gave this to me, but I am not Sikh. I go to support her, but religion is something we discussed prior to getting married. I come from a Christian background, and she comes from a Sikh background. And we both agree that while we have different believes and I may be more liberal than she is, asking the other person to change their religion is not an option. If that even came up, that would be a deal breaker in this marriage. I think that’s one of the biggest challenges couples face. The one thing that prevents interracial couples from taking their relationship into marriage is when you are demanded to change your religion for the other person.” Neeti adds, “That will be a deal breaker for me, as well. Also, if Paul restricted me from doing anything Indian.You need to have respect for each other when it comes to things like that. That’s the key to making any relationship work.” Such true words. So tell us about the wedding. “We did a traditional Sikh wedding but we Americanized it a bit. As in, we had bridesmaids and groomsmen, but they wore traditional Indian wear. And at the reception, we had Paul’s grandfather precede the traditional Christian wedding vows.” Paul piped in “It’s not as easy going as it sounds. As open as my family is to other races and cultures, they were slightly concerned that Neeti wasn’t Christian. We thought about doing a church wedding, but the church wouldn’t marry us because she wasn’t Christian. We had some people from my church not come to our wedding because of that. And some of Neeti’s parents friends didn’t show up to our wedding because I was not Sikh.” It didn’t end there. In the Indian tradition, when a couple is newly married, they are welcomed in people’s houses with warmth and affection. “People my parents knew did not invite us over. We didn’t have that for us, because we weren’t of the same religion. I think it hurt my parents more than anything, because he would go to their children’s weddings and have them over, give them money, and help celebrate their marriages, but they wouldn’t do it for us.” On today’s struggle post marriage as an interracial couple versus a same race couple, Paul says regardless of color or religion, there are certain things you do in a marriage.You give and take. However, he says, living as an interracial couple in Dallas seems easier than how it would be in a small town. Neeti, on the other hand, feels being interracial in a bigger, more diverse city such as Los Angeles would be easier. She still gets the double looks from Indian and American people in Dallas, especially when they are out grocery shopping together. People tend to look, but they do not say anything about it. Partially it’s because we haven’t come to the point where every other person walking down the street is interracial. At this point is it purely curiosity of something different before their eyes. Seeing Neeti is about to go into her third trimester, I had to bring this up. Children. They are lovely gifts from God, but they are also being born to two parents with two different religions. How would they address this with their children? Neeti seems more concerned about this than Paul is. “I worry the children will not know what to affiliate themselves to, before they are old enough to know which religion to embrace themselves with. I grew up in India, so I definitely want them to know they are Indian. They also need to know that they are American, and I think that being around family will help alot. The best we can do, that we decided together, is expose them to as much as we can, from both our cultures. I will take them to the Gurdwara every Sunday with me, and celebrate Indian festivals and events, and they will go to church regularly as well. At the end of the day, both families will play a large role with raising their children’s beliefs.” Because eventually, all they pray for together, regardless of color, race, or religion, is a family with high values. he did not propose AT a Celine Dion concert, rather it was AFTER the concert, in a restaurant). To amuse him, we shall go with his story. Things are fine and dandy when you’re friends, but as you can somewhat guess, they are obviously interracial. Kim is a Cambodian born Chinese, and Jaime is mainly European who grew up in Guatemala and America. And truth be told, opposites attract, as it did in their case. And when they started getting pretty serious with each other, it was time to meet the family. Typically, this is the first obstacle with an interracial couple. But in Jaime and Kim’s case, they breezed through the introduction with no problems. Kim says, “We both come from mixed backgrounds. I have Chinese, Cambodian, and French blood in me, and Jaime has Italian, German and Irish blood in him. Couple that with the fact that he grew up in Guatemala, so he has every bit of the Latin in him as well. Similarly, our parents obviously have been part of this mix even with themselves, so me bringing him home, or he bringing me home to meet the parents was never an issue.” Must be nice, I say. Because that’s not always the case for all couples. “Well, there was a bit of a concern”, says Jaime. “As open as my mom was, she was still a tiny bit worried about the difference in our cultures and whether Kim could make me happy based on the culture I’ve been accustomed to, and likewise, if I could make Kim happy according to the culture she was accustomed to. It was never said out loud, it was more of an unspoken concern I knew she had. But once she saw how much Kim loved me, it was never a problem again. It was that simple.” Kim agrees. “Actually, the only problem I saw us having was the fact that my mom didn’t know we were living together until she came to visit one day and found out when she saw our clothes mixed up in one closet. It was a little hard for her. But that’s minor. We actually were very lucky, as we had no opposition from the local Asian community that my parents are still very close to, or even the uncles and aunts in both our families. Obviously when we travel overseas it’s a little more conservative, but otherwise we had no problems.” At this point I was a bit worried that this article was going to be a short and sweet, and-the-couple-livedhappily-ever-after kind of article. But I kept digging. Nothing? I ask. No problems? No differences? No culture shocks? The look at each other and smile. I get excited. >>> JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 47 47 Jaime Garzaro and Kim Seng Business Consultant/Realtor, Dallas Friends since 2000. Engaged in 2007. Getting married August 2008 I met Jaime and Kim over drinks one evening, and through the loud chatter and stiff martinis, they opened up about their journey together as a modern day power couple who are very much in love with each other. Unlike many interracial couples I’ve met, Jaime and Kim seemed to have the least resistance in their relationship from the people around them, which was odd to me. Only later, did I find out they’ve been through alot of hardships early in their life, and as Jaime quotes, “Life’s too short to sweat the petty stuff.” Let the story begin. Jaime was in Thailand in 2000, on a tour group visiting the islands when his tour group met up and joined with Kim’s tour group. Each in their own relationships at that time, they passed each other off as friends, exchanged contact information and set off their different ways. Jaime went back to New York, and Kim went back to Dallas. They kept in touch and remained good friends, until 2005 rolled around and they started visiting each other. And that’s when they started dating. Two years later, they got engaged after a Celine Dion concert in Vegas. (Jaime wants to make sure we set the record straight that “Kim had a huge problem with calling my mom by her first name. In the Asian culture, you simply do not go by first names. I on the other hand, had to be told about certain things in the Asian culture that I was to be sure I got used to, like removing my shoes before walking into the house, ways to greet aunts and uncles of different ages on each side of the family, and things like how you do not speak to the elders until they spoke to you. I think the one thing that stood out was the difference in our cultures. My culture is very social, we love to dance, we kiss each other on the cheek alot, and we love to party. Kim’s Asian culture is more reserved and conservative.” One thing that Jaime loves about Kim is even though they may look different; both their cultures hold something high above anything else in this world. Family unity. Because of their past, this is something very important to the both of them. If either family didn’t have these values instilled in them, it would be a deal breaker in their relationship. Jaime tells me the story of how his parents met. His father is Sicilian and his mom is German-Irish. His grandfather on the mom’s side was a full blooded German who opposed the union so much that he told his own daughter that her children will be born monsters because of the mixed blood with a tanned Sicilian. And because of that, Jaime’s mother brought her children up to never judge another person based on the color of their skin. Ironically, all it took was the birth of Jaime for his German grandfather to change his old views. Jaime ended up being his favorite grandchild. Kim on the other hand, grew up in the devastating Khmer Rouge era. As a Chinese living in Cambodia, her family’s life was constantly in danger of execution. She remembers her father coming home and telling her and her siblings that from that day on, they were only to speak Cambodian and no other language. No French, no Chinese. Her mother would make her play outside and rub mud onto her skin so she would get darker in the sun so she could blend in as a Cambodian. They moved around constantly to escape being killed in the country they were born in. After you go through things like that, the color of someone’s skin is the last thing you are going to worry about. “It’s funny, because my mom called us today and we told her that we were being interviewed by this magazine on their feature about interracial couples, and she said, what interracial? You guys aren’t interracial! And I had to remind her that Kim is Chinese, and she went, oh yeah, I tend to forget that!” Kim laughs. “People always ask me what my fiancé is, and I always answer back, ‘He’s Jaime!’ I can’t tell the color or culture difference between us, and neither can our families.” Okay so you guys can’t tell the difference, but the rest of the world can when they see you. Kim and Jaime go through difficulties with strangers not accepting them in public. When they walk down the street holding hands, Jaime notices stares and dirty looks from Asian men, and likewise, when they go to a Latin bar, Kim gets some hostile attitude from the women. While it doesn’t phase their relationship, they cant help but feel a bit annoyed with the mentality of the society who can’t see past skin color. On the touchy subject of children born to parents of different religions, they plan to instill deep family values and high discipline in them. They will be exposed to both cultures and will be brought to their parent’s hometowns so they can learn where their parents grew up and how they grew up. Kim is very proud of her Asian upbringing, and so is Jaime of his Latin roots. And when they children are old enough to associate themselves with a preference of religion, the only thing Jaime hopes for them to do is choose their religion based on what their heart feels instead of acceptance of society. “Be proud of who you are today,” they both say. Be proud. That is the essence of a good person. Sounds like a happy story for these couples, doesn’t it? But the truth is some people I ask on the streets are not that acceptable to being in an interracial relationship. Out of a group of 60 people that I asked, I had 25% say absolutely not to being in an interracial relationship, 25% who would only date certain races and not others (religion played a factor in the reasoning behind this), 25% who wouldn’t do it because they already know their parents would oppose to a mixed relationship, and the remaining 25% who said yes, with a smile, and one of them quoted my favorite line of all time: “Love is love”. DM 48 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 49 feature 50 50 DIYA JULY 2008 DIYA JULY 2008 BuSineSSWoMan of The MonTh By S Wa Pn i l R a i Anh Tran landed in the United States in 1979, without money, without any professional education or skills, and cradling a daughter only nineteen days old in her hands. Lacking the financial and educational means to succeed in America, she instead relied on her self-determination to attempt to “make a good living” for herself and her family. Twenty-nine years later, Anh is now a restaurateur and entrepreneur running a chain of New York Style Delis. Over the years, Cindi’s NY Deli & Restaurant earned rave reviews for its sumptuous food, and Anh responded to the demand by expanding to more locations across the DFW metroplex. Today Cindi’s NY Deli has four branches across Dallas with a fifth one under way. JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 51 51 Journey through Troubled Waters Anh Tran’s journey from Vietnam to the United Sates was not an easy one. Married at the young age of nineteen, Anh had to separate from her husband Hong five years later when he— an officer in the Vietnamese Army — was taken away to a prison camp by the Viet Cong. “I spent three years going from one prison camp to the other trying to meet my husband,” she recollects. During the time that Hong was away, Anh’s house was raided several times. “The north Vietnamese soldiers would just come in and take away all our money. It was very tough for us.” Those tough times seemed to continue unabated, until one day Anh’s husband was thankfully released from prison. The political situation however did not change much. With Anh sevenmonths pregnant, the Tran family decided to escape to Indonesia through the seaport escape route. Initially Hong tried to learn how to deliver a baby in a boat, but perhaps fortunately, they missed the first chance out. Their baby girl Minh-Hai, named after that fishing village, was born less than a month before they boarded a small boat with 200 other people and headed for freedom in Indonesia. From there, the family endured an extremely long and arduous journey to Dallas, Texas, which included stops in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Hawaii. Under a United States government program that allowed Vietnamese refugees to resettle in America, the Tran family set new roots in the Lone Star State. In Anh’s words, “Freedom was the main reason we left Vietnam, although we had a very comfortable life in Saigon and were monetarily well off, life had become very tough for us. We decided to come to the U.S. for the freedom this country had to offer.” In essence, it was the tenets of democracy and liberty rather than material wealth that attracted the Tran family and so many other immigrants to America. Timid Bride to Enterprising Restaurateur “When we first landed in Dallas, everything was so new. I had just had a baby and often I would go into bouts of depression missing my family, whom I feared I would never see again,” recalls Anh. “I was so shy I never interacted with other people. I used to ask my husband to do all the talking for me and when he did, I used to tell him he could have said it better. His reply was, ‘Why don’t you talk?’” And sure enough, she did. Anh mustered up her courage and pushed herself to do things that she had never done before. She had rarely cooked in Vietnam but she learnt to cook American food and bought her first restaurant that specialized in Southern cuisine. “The kind woman who cooked at the restaurant taught me some excellent cooking skills. With her help I learnt to cook Southern food. My first American dish that I cooked from scratch was a hamburger,” reveals Anh. 52 52 DIYA JULY 2008 DIYA JULY 2008 “I always believe in taking little steps and carrying them forward. I take life one step at a time” With the gradual but steady success of her first restaurant, Anh felt ready to handle a bigger challenge. Anh Tran took over Cindi’s Deli & Pancake House on North Central Expressway in 1989. She changed the restaurant’s name from “Cindy’s” to “Cindi’s” and retained its essence as a NY style deli. Construction on Central expressway in the 90s made it very difficult for her to divide her attention between two businesses on opposite sides of the metropolis, so she sold her BJ’s restaurant on Harry Hines. Four years later, she bought Bagel Emporium at 7522 Campbell road and changed it to the second Cindi’s . “When I bought Cindi’s, they had a very small menu. Today our menu selection has a huge variety. We serve everything from chicken and dumplings to matzo ball soups, f r o m corned beef on rye to hamburgers, and bagels and challah bread to pancakes” says Anh, content smile lighting up her face. Anh attributes her relatively smooth transition from a young housewife to a successful entrepreneur to her mother. Anh’s mother owned a flourishing fabric business in Vietnam and taught Anh by example business savvy and female empowerment. “As a child I remember telling my mother that I will never have my own business because it is very hard work. I just want to have an easy life.. But once I got here I realized that if you don’t work hard you don’t make it. I worked hard and I think my mother’s genes helped too,” says Anh, smiling. Making Her Mark For all her humility, Anh is a sharp and astute businesswoman. After taking over Cindi’s she realized she had to make herself an expert on preparing quality Jewish items if she was going to keep the established customer base of the kosher deli. “I worked very hard to serve the best food that I could because I did not want people to say that this Asian woman opened New-York style Deli and does not know what she is doing. So, I worked even harder making sure that the recipes were authentic and I got the best chefs for the job.” The secret to Anh’s business success has been her constant effort to improve the quality of food served at Cindi’s. “I am always open to customer feedback. In fact I expanded our menu based on what the customers asked for. If there is something on the menu that they don’t like I take it off and get suggestions from them on improving the recipe,” avows Anh. Her diligence and the consistent quality of food served at Cindi’s have earned the deli a loyal following of customers. Many elderly customers are regulars at Cindi’s because the food is made only with best ingredients that are generally good for you, New York cheesecake notwithstanding.. “We make healthy choices like using canola oil in our food and the result is that we have customers that eat here everyday. I think this is also our biggest differentiating point from other Deli’s; we cook with the best and choicest ingredients,” says Anh. Cindi’s offers not only delectable down-home food but that down-home feeling as well that becomes evident as you watch Anh embrace and a female customer, a regular at Cindi’s, as she walks into the restaurant. “I have had Jewish people come in here and say that Cindi’s Matzo ball soup is the best that they’ve had, and that is just a wonderful feeling. I just try to offer the best to my customers and such remarks suggests that I’ve been successful,” says Anh. Secret of Success Anh Tran is living the “American Dream,” but she did not initially set out to realize this dream per se. Her road to success began rather with the simple desire to make ends meet for her family and to provide her four kids with a good education. However, dedication, diligence and hard work have been the constants in her success trajectory. “I always believe in taking little steps and carrying them forward. I take life one step at a time,” explains Anh. When they landed in the U.S., Anh and Hong scraped by with little saving and relied on the kindness of relatives. Gradually, they saved enough for a small business step by step and eventually expanded it to the successful Deli chain that it is today. According to Anh, the guiding spirit for her business success is her dedication, hard work, open mindedness to learn more and more and her ability to always try and push herself beyond her comfort zone. “My only message to people who come to this country with great dreams is that if you never lose sight of your goal, approach it with sincerity and dedication and take life on step at a time, you too will be able to make the American dream come true for you” shares Anh. Anh Tran epitomizes the neversay-die spirit and her success bears testimony to the dictum that if aspirations are tempered with dedication, courage and gumption, success is inevitable. DM CinDi’s LoCations 1) Campbell Location 7522 Campbell Road, #117 (sW corner of Campbell and Coit) Dallas, tX 75248 (972) 248-0608 (972) 248-7672 (Fax) 2) Central Location 11111 n. Central Expwy (Between northaven and Royal) Dallas, tX 75243 (214) 739-0918 (214) 739-1722 (Fax) 3) Forest Lane Location 3565 Forest Lane (Forest & Marsh Ln.) Dallas, tX 75234 (972) 241-9204 (972) 241.3474 (Fax) 4) Carrollton Location 2001 Midway Rd. suite 132 (just East of addison airport) Carrollton, tX 75006 (972) 458-7740 (972) 458-2329 (Fax) JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 53 54 54 DIYA JULY 2008 DIYA JULY 2008 spotlight Las Vegas! Ca M Bo’s Ph oto: BoM Bay Ph otoGRa Phy - aFtaB. Viva Originally from Miami, Cambo Thanh Nguyen’s early life consisted of attending the University of Florida, majoring in International Business. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Cambo owned and managed several businesses in the beauty and restaurant industry. With his day to day experience with customers, Cambo developed his people skills to better service his clientele. “I enjoy talking and networking with people. That seems to be one of my best assets,” Nguyen said. As an Asian American, casino games came naturally to Cambo. He was born in Macau, China, known as the “Vegas of the East.” Gambling has been deep rooted into the Asian cultures for many the centuries, during Chinese/ present Vietnamese New Year (Lunar New Year) celebrations. “As a child, I was surrounded by family members who played cards and >>> JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 55 gambled as a tradition during the Vietnamese/Chinese “Tet” New Year celebration,” Nguyen explained. “As I grew older, I often traveled to Las Vegas and visited casinos all over the world, from Las Vegas to Europe and Asia, like Germany, Poland, Holland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Macao, and Bahamas.” Spending most of his life in warm weather, Texas was a natural choice for Cambo to migrate in late 2007. He was offered a position to work for Harrah’s Entertainment as a Player Development Manager. He focuses on the Dallas/Fort Worth Asian players. With his natural ability and personal experience, Cambo understands his customer’s needs; therefore, he was the perfect candidate. Some of the perks that loyal customers to Harrah’s receive are shopping sprees, concerts, cash and promotional chips. Many players are willing to fly around the country or even the world to redeem their promotions. In addition, Cambo can also arrange sporting events such as golf tournaments and professional football games that take place near casino resorts throughout the country like Harrah’s New Orleans and Lake Tahoe. Cambo has also organized tournaments in games like Baccarat, Blackjack, Craps, and Roulette. Currently he is focused on bringing players to the Harrah’s properties of New Orleans, Bossier City, Louisiana, Las Vegas, and Lake Tahoe, along with many others. “There are so many incredible destinations, I love sending my players to have new and exciting experiences,” Nguyen said. For VIP players, Cambo can arrange private chartered jets and transportation to national and international casino resort destinations. Q & A: Q. What is your favorite part of the job? A: Traveling and meeting new people. I can be in Las Vegas one week and New Orleans the next. I love meeting people and showing them a good time. Q: What would you consider as a high-roller? How much do they need to play to be a high-roller? A: “A High-roller varies from host to host. I consider most of my clientele 56 DIYA JULY 2008 to be high rollers. Most of their average bets start at $500 and they play extremely long hours.” Q:What does it take to receive comps and special treatments? A: “Comps are based on your average bet and the number of hours played. So, the higher the average bet and the more hours you put in, the comps will escalade. All players benefit at Harrah’s Casinos through the Total Rewards program, exclusive to all Harrah’s properties.” Q: What’s your favorite table game and why? A: “I love Baccarat! Baccarat is my preferred table game, but I do participate in other games of chance. Baccarat has one of the lowest house edge for players, meaning you have a better chance to win.” Q: What is your favorite Casino/Hotel in Las Vegas? A: “Paris Casino because they have one of the best steak houses, phenomenal customer service, and a magnificent view of the strip from atop the Eiffel Tower.” Q: Where can someone get more information about all the casino properties that you have to offer? A: They can easily access all the information on my website at www. harrahs-vip.com/CamboNguyen Harrah’s Background: On January 28, 2008, Harrah’s Entertainment was acquired by affiliates of private-equity firms TPG Capital and Apollo Global Management. Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The Company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s®, Caesars® and Horseshoe® brand names; Harrah’s also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos and the World Series of Poker®. Harrah’s Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. We concentrate on building loyalty and value for our customers, employees, business partners, and communities by being the most service-oriented, technology-driven, geographically diversified company in gaming. DM For more information, please contact Cambo Nguyen at (407) 968-6333 or visit www.harrahs-vip.com/CamboNguyen JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 57 58 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 59 60 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 61 62 DIYA JULY 2008 Katrina, the sexiest Still on a high after performing at the recently concluded IIFA in Bangkok, Katrina Kaif is enjoying the wishes and accolades that are coming her way. Dancing to a medley of her hit numbers, Katrina's biggest regret is, "I wish Akshay Kumar could have joined me on stage, but as he flew in a night before, we could not rehearse together." Although she did not win any award for her histrionics, she grabbed the Style Icon award at the IIFA. And it was no surprise as she has just won FHM's Sexiest Woman of the year. Kats was voted at the No. 1 spot in FHM India's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll, fending off competition from the likes of Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson, singers Rihanna and Madonna, Bollywood superstars like Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Bipasha Basu, supermodels like Adriana Lima and Gisele Bundchen, amongst several other sexy and successful women in the world. "I think it's a nice thing that people have taken the time out to vote for me as FHM 's Sexiest Woman in the World, and that's what makes this really special to me," said Katrina Kaif. "This poll is something you have to smile about – it's fun, it's sweet – and I'm really happy to have won this." After a whirlwind shoot of Vipul Shah's “Singh is Kinng”, which was shot across the three continents of Asia, Africa and Australia, Kats will be planning for her Yashraj film. Not bad for a girl who was written off as just another english speaking phirangi trying her hand at hindi films. source: katrinakaif.org women in the world! JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 63 64 DIYA JULY 2008 Katrina at the receiving end of salman Khan’s abuse? Katrina Kaif denied that boyfriend Salman Khan hit her in her vanity van during the filming of Subhash Ghai's Yuvraj, after seeing photos of her cozying up with Akshay Kumar during an IPL match in Delhi. “Nothing of the sort happened. I don't understand, why can't the media leave us alone,” Katrina told HT City. The reason why the media cannot leave them alone is because a source on the set told Mid Day that unit member heard Salman screaming at Katrina and abusing her, while the two were locked up in her vanity van for three hours. “He was overheard telling her, 'How can you treat me like this, what the [bleep] do you think you were doing with Akshay in that match…now you're here like nothing has happened and trying to act all cool!'” the source says. “Katrina was quiet even as Sallu raved and ranted. Once or twice, she tried to reason with the actor but to no avail. Katrina was crying and what she was saying was inaudible. But she surely said something which pissed Salman off even more because we heard a loud slap! Which was followed by many more.” Salman's publicist told HT City, “Sallu bhai is too chivalrous to do such an act. He is too soft hearted to raise hand on Katrina.” However, there have been reports earlier of Salman physically abusing Katrina. He was reported to have slapped her in front of several onlookers at Bandstand Barrista, a coffee shop in Bandra. That story too was denied by Katrina. Katrina, 23, and Salman, 42, have an intriguing relationship. The two have never declared themselves an item yet Katrina frequently hosts parties at Salman's house and attends public events as his arm candy. When Aishwarya Rai broke up with Salman she said in a newspaper interview: “The Salman Khan chapter was a nightmare in my life and I am thankful to God that it is over. I stood by him enduring his alcoholic misbehavior in worst phases and in turn I was at the receiving end of his abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity. That is why like any other self-respecting woman I had ended my relationship with him.” Is Katrina Kaif at the receiving end of a similar abusive relationship now?! source: katrinakaif.org JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 65 66 DIYA JULY 2008 Lakme fashion Week scoop The last show of the first day in Lakme Fashion Week brought some heat to the otherwise not so exciting day. There were a lot of exciting faces, but the most exciting entry however, was that of our very own Deepika Padukone and Neetu Kapoor. It was a rather clandestine entry. Quite unlike the entry of stars in the show before that. But once they were in, all eyes were off the ramp for a good 5 minutes. Priyanka & Harman at “Lovestory 2050” promotion event Get Gorgeous finalists watch “Get Smart” salman Khan unveils “singh is Kinng” music album JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 67 RatED “EXCELLEnt” By ZaGat 2007/2008 “BEst oF FinE DininG” City sEaRCh 68 DIYA JULY 2008 scoop actress Michelle Yeoh Teams Up for new production company Mainland China's actress Yang Shan Shan, Taiwan actress Kelly Lin, Hong Kong actress Pace Ng, bottom left, Hong Kong actor Mark Cheng and Malaysia actress Michelle Yeoh celebrate with a promotional event for their new established entertainment production company in Hong Kong. From top left: yang shan shan, Kelly Lin, Pace ng; botton left: Mark Cheng, Michelle yeoh. (aP Photo) shanghai film festival opens Jackie Chang and Zhang Ziyi were among the first stars to appear on the red carpet prior to the opening ceremony of the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival at Shanghai. Ayumi Hamasaki finishes 10th anniversary tour TOKYO —Singer Ayumi Hamasaki, 29, on Sunday night finished her nationwide tour marking the 10th anniversary of her debut in Tokyo. She held 17 concerts in 10 cities since April, attracting 230,000 fans. Taiwanese american Kelly Lin stars in “sparrow” Taiwanese American Kelly Lin costars with Simon Yam in the stylish and witty Johnnie To film Sparrow. In a film notable for having taken 4 years to produce, Lin plays a mysterious woman who enters the lives of four virtuoso Hong Kong pickpockets, bringing both good fortune and bad. Sparrow was a Golden Bear nominee at the Berlin Film Festival. Wonder Girls perform Jewelry’s one More Time on SBS Inkigayo on the 29th, furthering the notion that this is in fact the song that never ends. As if performing Jewelry's One More Time wasn't torture enough, Wonder Girl Sun Ye also sang the vocals for Epik High's One. Kelly Lin poses after a press conference of sparrow in hong Kong Friday, May 30, 2008. (aP Photo/Vincent yu) JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 69 70 DIYA JULY 2008 southern sirens ooze oomph! Here's a look at who's rocking the four southern film industries Shriya is from north India and completed her education from Delhi. She entered southern cinema only in 2001 with Telugu film Ishtam, after having modelled on the ramp and in commercials. She’s starred in several Telugu and Tamil films. She has also done some Hindi films. Shriya probably has one of the highest number of videos on Youtube, put up by fans. Shriya Last hit: “Sivaji”, The Boss with the longest-reigning superstar in Tamil cinema, Rajnikanth. Coming up: Kandasamy in Tamil superstar Vikram Orkut fan clubs: More than 60 SUPERSTAR CLUB - Shriya Saran (3,346 members) SHRIYA SARAN FAN'S (1,912 members) True fans of shriya saran (1,838 members) Shreya Saran (1,485 members) Fan sites: www.shriya4u.com Sporty Namitha Kapoor aka Namita Vankawala is a six-footer and former Miss India. But the actress is known more for her assets thanks to her physique. Her first hit was Engal Anna opposite Vijayakanth. She has also acted in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English films. Last hit: “Billa” 2007 with the hot star Ajith Coming up: “1977” with Sarath Kumar, “Pondy” with Raghava Lawrence, “Kettavan” with Simbu and “Perumal” with Sundar C. Orkut fan clubs: More than 100 Namitha - Fan Club (2,897 members) NAMITHA (2,574 members) NAMITHA (800 members) Orkut hate clubs: Two. Both called 'I hate namitha'. One with 51 members and the other 15. Fan sites: www.namithaweb.com Ileana Maybe not as successful as the others, but she's certainly hot. A relatively younger and less experienced actress, Ileana D'Cruz has a long way to go. Last hit: “Munna” Coming up: “Karz” (Hindi) with Himesh Reshammiya‎, “Romeo Juliet” (Telugu) with Tarun Kumar and “Jalsaa” (Telugu) with Pawan Kalyan. scoop Called the numero uno of Tamil cinema in 2007, Asin is not a bimbette but an actress of repute. She's won the southern Filmfare Award twice – for “Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi” in Telugu (her first hit) and of course, for Ghajini in Tamil. The latter is being remade into a Hindi film starring Aamir Khan, Jiah Khan and none other than Asin. Not to mention, the actress is getting more interesting offers in Bollywood, and has reportedly moved to Lokhandwala, Mumbai. Last hit: “Ghajini” and “Vel” with Surya and “Pokkiri” with Vijay. Coming up: “Dashaavtaram” in Tamil with veteran Kamal Haasan and Bollywood hotbod Mallika Sherawat. Next is Ghajini in Hindi with Aamir Khan. JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 71 MoviE REviEWs hollywood parently, no one remembered to turn his switch off so he continues to do his thing in the shadow of an eerily empty city. One day a spaceship lands and drops off a spiffy search robot named EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). EVE strikes up a touching, even romantic relationship, with little Wall E, his first contact with anything or anyone (other than a pet cockroach) in about 700 years. When EVE discovers that Wall E may have come upon the living proof that Earth is once again inhabitable, she blasts off to tell the humans aboard the Axiom--a massive shopping mall-like space station--that it may finally be safe to return home. Not wanting to let her go, Wall E hops on during takeoff and blasts into the outer reaches of the universe where he experiences the surreal future and brings hope from the past. “ Hollywood.com Says “A clever and groundbreaking motion picture like nothing you’ve seen before, Wall-E is a hilarious, heartfelt and extraordinary comedy adventure that pushes animation to new heights while providing pure out-of-this-world summer fun.” Running Time: 1 hr. 37 min. MPAA Rating: G © 2008 Disney WALL-E “In an almost completely wordless first 40 minutes, we meet the workaholic robot Wall E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) as he goes about the daily tasks--organizing an abandoned junk yard with remnants of what life was like before mankind was forced to leave earth (or die) in the 22nd century. Ap- Rating: HHHHI “Based on a graphic novel, the violent tale revolves around Wes (James McAvoy), a meek 25 year-old office worker who hates his life. His boss berates him, and he can’t even summon the balls to tell his slutty girlfriend to stop sleeping with his best buddy. But his world is suddenly rocked when Fox (Angelina Jolie)--a mysterious, tattooed woman with a gun and a red sports car--takes him on the ride of his life. She takes him straight to The Fraternity, a centuries old legendary group of hired assassins who live--and die--by their code: Kill one to save a thousand. Seems Wes’ long-lost father was a member who has just been whacked, and he is now summoned to join up and unleash the inner killer in his genes. After a rigorous training regimen in which he is almost beaten to a pulp, he emerges as the organization’s new golden boy and finds self-esteem in his new exciting alternative lifestyle. However, the group’s enigmatic leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) may have other plans in store for Wes that he isn’t quite sharing at the moment.” by Pete Hammond Myers’ Guru Pitka could have used a little more back story and a little less shtick. The thin plot has Pitka uttering philosophical piddle like “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind,” and repeating his mantra “Mariska Hargitay” over and over. But Pitka is not happy with his standing in the spiritual community--especially with the success story of his childhood friend and colleague Deepak Chopra (who cameos in the film). Chopra has been on Oprah, for god’s sake! Suddenly, Pitka sees the possibility of the fame when Jane (Jessica Alba), the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, summons him to help get back her star player Darren’s (Romany Malco) mojo back, after his wife Prudence (Meagan Good) leaves him for the legendarily well-endowed L.A. Kings star Jacques “Le Coq” Grande (Justin Timberlake). Pitka’s spiritual mission? Get Darren and Prudence back together in time for the Leafs to win the all-important Stanley Cup. Hollywood.com Says “Mike Myers’ first live-action comedy in five years has a few good yuks, but The Love Guru’s laughter karma fizzles more than sizzles.” “Based on the popular ‘American Girl’ series of books and doll line, this first edition focuses on Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin), an aspiring young cub reporter who, during the Great Depression, finds her sunny world turned upside down when her father’s (Chris O’Donnell) car dealership goes under, and he must leave Cincinnati to find other work. This leaves Kit and her mother (Julia Ormond) to fend for themselves selling eggs and homegrown veggies and renting out rooms in order to keep the family home. Kit always has time for others, bringing home a stray Basset hound or convincing her parents to let a couple of hobo friends (Max Thieriot, Willow Smith) help out around the house in return for meals. They are among the colorful characters in her life, including the Kittredge’s new tenants, a magician (Stanley Tucci), a man-hungry dancer (Jane Krakowski) and a ditzy librarian (Joan Cusack)...” By Pete Hammond Hollywood.com Says “Kit Kittredge is a harmless, old-fashioned, very G-rated family film. In this case, though, the ‘G’ stands for girls only.” Photo : 20th Century Fox & Dream Works Wanted (R) source: wallpapermovies.blogspot.com Photo © 2008- thegurupitka.com The Love Guru (PG-13) Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (G) Photo © 2008- SPicturehouse- The Happening (R) “Improving on his last two duds, The Village and the dreadful aquatic nymph tale Lady In The Water, writer/ producer/director M. Night Shyamalan gets back to the kind of eerie, paranoid thriller he so successfully mined in early efforts like ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘Signs’. The results this time are mixed in this story of a mysterious environmental “happening” on the East Coast that is causing large groups of people to commit suicide. As he does in his most effective films, Shyamalan focuses on a core group of people who must find a way to survive these strange events. Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) is a Philadelphia science teacher already dealing with marital problems with his attractive but rather unstable wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), now thrust into full crisis mode as he, his wife, a fellow math teacher, Julian (John Leguizamo) and Julian’s daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) hit the road by train, then car to escape the unusual plague, first thought to be a terrorist attack.” By Pete Hammond In the picture: Director M Night Shyamalan Rating: HHHHI 72 DIYA JULY 2008 Rating: HHIII Rating: HHIII Rating: HH II MoviE REviEWs asian (Regional) Off ROAd (KOREAn) Three desperados make a dead run on hot, scorching asphalt in search of freedom but collide head-on with the crude realities of life in the award-winning independent film Off Road. This low-budget, road movie revolves around three social misfits: a slacker car-wash employee who longs to escape his daily grinds, an ex-banker-turned-taxi driver who has no hope for the future, and a prostitute who dreams of returning to a normal lifestyle. Detouring from the normal route, they find much sought after escapism, though clear signs of impending doom looms on the horizon. Selected as the opening film at the 2007 Jeonju International Film Festival and invited to compete in the international film category at the Tampere International Short Film Festival, ‘Off Road’ was jointly funded by the Korean Film Council and the local government of North Jeolla Province, Korea. A graduate of the prestigious Korea National University of Arts and currently a professor at Jeonju University, director Han Seung Ryong, who previously co-edited films like ‘Bongja’, ‘Resurrection of the Little Match Girl’, and ‘Untold Scandal’, offers a sensitive and poignant insight into the agony and struggles of youth. One day, disgruntled car-wash employee Cheol Gu (Baek Soo Jang, See You After School) robs a bank. Stuffing the stolen cash into a bag, he runs into a taxi that happened to be parked in front of the bank and threatens taxi driver Sang Hoon (Jo Han Cheol, Peppermint Candy) to speed away. As luck would have it, Sang Hoon was in the middle of robbing the same bank; he was waiting for his partner-in-crime to withdraw a large sum of money from the bank when Cheol Gu barged into his cab totally ruining his plan. While speeding on the highways, a gunshot injures Cheol Gu’s shoulder and the two men quickly take cover at a nearby motel to treat the wound. There they run into an attractive prostitute Ji Soo (Sun Woo Sun, My Scary Girl). With all eyes on the moneybag, the three outlaws jump on the ride of their lifetime. (YesAsia) Rating: HHHII The Chaser (Korean) L Change The WorLd (Japanese) Besieged City (Chinese) On Air (Korean) Ex-cop pimp Jung-ho is irritated because his girls keep disappearing without clearing their debts. One night, he gets a call from a customer and sends Mi-jin. Jung-ho realizes the phone number of the customer matches that of the calls the missing girls got last. During his search, Jung-ho dents a car in the alley. When Jung-ho spots blood splattered on the driver’s shirt, he senses the man, Young-min, is the suspect. After an intense chase, Jung-ho catches Young-min. But because of Jung-ho’s pretense as a cop, they are both taken to the police station. At the station, the man bluntly confesses he has killed the missing women, and the last girl, Mi-jin, may still be alive. As the whole police force is obsessed with a random search for corpses, Jung-ho is the only one who believes Mi-jin is still alive. With only 12 hours left to detain the serial killer without a warrant, Jung-ho’s hunt begins, searching for Mi-jin entrapped in a place nobody knows. Cast: yun-seok Kim, Jung-woo ha, yeong-hie seo. subtitles: English/Korean. Directed: hong-jin na With only 23 days left to live, L (Matsuyama Kenichi) burns the remaining Death Note and proceeds to work day and night solving as many cases and consuming as many sweets as possible. One final case is sent his way in the form of a Thai boy who alone survived a deadly virus outbreak in his village. L gets another guest when 12-year-old girl Maki (Fukuda Mayuko, Little DJ) shows up on the doorstep. Both children are connected to an Ebola-influenza virus developed by Maki’s father which has been stolen by terrorists. With the terrorists hunting for Maki and threatening to unleash the virus, L is forced to leave his chair and venture out into the real world, both children in stow. The days tick down as L rushes to develop an antidote and catch the terrorists before time runs out. Cast: Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Mayuko Fukuda, Shunji Fujimura. Directed: Hideo Nakata Lawrence Lau (aka Lawrence Ah Mon) is without a doubt one of Hong Kong’s best and most under-appreciated directors, specializing in gutter-trawling tales of down-and-out youth frittering their lives away in an endless orgy of petty crime and street hustles. GANGS, SPACKED OUT and QUEEN OF TEMPLE STREET are all essential parts of the Hong Kong canon (especially QUEEN OF TEMPLE STREET about a brothel madam dealing with her out-of-control teenage daughter; it’s a movie that deserves the Criterion treatment). He still directs like a madman, with Lau Ching-wan’s MY NAME IS FAME as his latest highest-profile movie, but he also recently made A CITY WITHOUT BASEBALL which was released in November, 2007. This new drama is about the behind the scenes of TV drama production. It also portrays how the whole production team and performers complete a project in a tight schedule and as well as how actors, actresses, and entertainment agencies handle rumors surrounding them. Jang Ki Joon is a manager who is in charge of the activities of many famous actors and actresses. One of them is Oh Seung Ah who is a rising actress. Lee Kyung Min is a drama PD, Seo Young Eun is a script writer with a young child. CAST: Lee Bum Soo as Jang Ki Joon Kim Ha Neul as Oh Seung Ah Song Yoon Ah as Seo Young Eun Park Yong Ha as Lee Kyung Min Genre: Romance Rating: HHIII Rating: HHIII Rating: HHHII Rating: HHHII JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 73 74 DIYA JULY 2008 REviEWs Bollywood city of Mumbai. It is a “Swades” on skids, hurtling down into an abyss of unpatriotic instigations. From the moment Aamir ( R a j e e v Khandelwal) touches down on Mumbai’s international airport, what assails you is that overpowering sense of an individual’s struggle to survive in a pitiless and often unforgiving city. That debutant director Rajkumar Gupta is able to muster a fair amount of smiles and chuckles in this tale of one day in the life of a man caught in a nightmare that even Franz Kafka would have fond hard to create, let alone condone, is entirely providential. “Aamir” could’ve easily slipped into being a heavyhanded polemical study of the isolation and persecution of the Indian muslim and his constant battle to remain part of the mainstream even as he’s provoked and instigated from both ends to keel over and surrender to the forces of chaos, anarchy and annihilation. Ironically, a work of art like “Aamir” embraces the chaos to create a universe that is in a strange way the opposite of destruction. Persistently, “Aamir” repeatedly invokes images of ominous doom as we see the protagonist wind his way through a dreadful day that would end in abject tragedy. There are hoards of smaller actors, like Gajraj Rao barking orders into poor Aamir’s burning ears through a cellphone that has no outgoing calls. Only incoming fanaticism. “Aamir” is a rare film, which provides us food for thought without burdening us with sermons on the quality of existence. The thrill element presides over the message. The disturbing undercurrents just flow out of the story with a virile fluency. At the end you aren’t watching a film about extremism but a rare take on life at the edge that doesn’t topple over into the abyss. By Subhash K Jha AAMIR - If you are one of those super-selective moviegoers who watches only three films a year then make sure “Aamir” figures on your list. This is by far one of the finest attempts in recent times to explore the psyche of a modern ‘foreign-returned’ Indian as he’s plunged headlong into the Kafkaesque nightmare of crime, grime, extremism and fanaticism in the underbelly of the big, bright and bewildering Rating: HHHII Krazzy 4 Summer 2007 de Taali Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic At last a Priyadarshan comedy that warms the cockles of the heart even as it makes you cackle in glee. “Mere Baap Pehle Aap” is a deftlyscripted piece of quirky and cryptic concoction on role reversal. And if you take away all the humbug and fringe characters, at the core of this cool comedy is a father-son relationship where the father is often caught behaving like a truant child. The film works mainly because Paresh and Akshaye look so delightfully compatible as a father and son who have lived so closely together that they don’t know which is which. Another asset is Ranjit Barot’s background music, which is surprisingly tender and strong in fits and starts. Rating: HHIII Rating: HHHII Sikhander Kher’s debut Woodstock Villa bit the dust. He’s back with ‘Summer 2007’. Sikhander’s co-star in the movie is Gul Panag, Arjan Bajwa, Alekh Sangal, Uvika, Ashutosh Rana, Sachin Khedekar, Shweta Menon, Prashant Narayanan and Vikram Gokhale. Five medical students from a capitation fee college in India, represent the youth hooked onto xbox’s and formula 1 racing. That is the only India they have inherited and that is the only India they know. Till one day, a game they play goes too far. As an outcome they land up in one of the most deprived villages in Maharashtra. Overall, ‘Summer 2007’ is definitely worth a watch in theatre. The movie has a Rang De Basanti kinda theme and feel. The runtime will prove to be a major set back for the movie. A lot will depend on strong word out mouth for the movie to do well at the ticket window. “De Taali”, directed by E Niwas (Dum, My Name is Anthony Gonsalves) is a comedy featuring Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Ayesha Takia and Rimii Sen. Does De Taali deserve Taali’s? Lets find out. Paglu, Amu & Abhi live the lives of each other. They drink, eat & sleep together. Sleep? Don’t take it otherwise though. But they are certainly an integral part of each other’s lives. Overall, chop off a few songs and about 20 minutes, De Taali would have been a much better watch. Average. Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (TPTM) is not a great work of art. It doesn’t cause ripples across the cinematic stratosphere. It does something even better. It makes you feel warm and comforted about the quality of contemporary life. No matter how awful things seem, there’s always that core of goodness in the human heart to count on. This film makes you count your blessings. Kunal Kohli taps into that noble core, so elusive in our cinema. The last film that was as noble-intentioned as TPTM was Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Swades”. This is a film that no one can hate. It doesn’t have a single “bad” character, not even badly-written characters. In just two sequences Sharat Saxena as the legal eagle lets you know all we need or want to know about his life. The children tell us the rest. Rating: HHIII Rating: HHIII JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 75 REviEWs Tamil Vallamai Thaaraayo dasavatharam Kathavarayan Pandi The story is about a woman pining for lover while living with her newly married husband. Parthiban and Chaya Singh play a married couple. The film delves into the situations that arise when there is no real emotional bonding between the couple. It is an attempt at depicting the outlook of modern-day couples on marriages which tend to flounder for the flimsiest reasons. The film starts with a bang and ends in whimper. “Dasavatharam” is a show of grandeur. Kamal makes it beyond the ordinary. His sheer audacity, magnificence and histrionics are simply spellbinding. And creativity is given new dimensions. The film opens with a bird’s eye view of Chennai and takes the audience to the past the 12th century. In Chidambaram, Vaishnavaites and Shaivaites are in perpetual conflict with the former taking the position that Lord Vishnu is supreme and the Shaivaites being steadfast in their faith in Shiva. King Kulothunga Chozhan (Napoleon), a Shaivaite, forces Nambi (Kamal), a staunch Vaishnavite, to worship Shiva. As Nambi rebels, the king sentences him to death. On the orders of the King, his soldiers throw Nambi into the oceans tied to a stone image of Lord Vishnu. Nambi’s wife Kothai (Asin) also dies from shock. Notwithstanding many flaws and loose ends, the film provides maximum entertainment. By PVs The story is about an illicit arrack distiller and seller who turn a reformer preaching against the evil of drinking after some incidents which teach Karan bitter lessons. The film revolves around Karan who plays the protagonist with maturity. His portrayal of the character with grit would no doubt impress even those who are still unconvinced about his abilities to be a hero. Debutant director Salangai Durai should feel happy that his choice of Karan, who has a certain rustic charm, for the role of Kathavarayan is apt. And Karan has lived up to the reputation of an actor with commitment and zeal. Vithesha who makes her debut in this film, is promising though she has nothing much to do. More of drama and less of preaching would have made the film click. “Pandi” is a typical mass masala. This film sees Sneha changing her simple girl nextdoor-image to a glam girl. She is forthright in her view that what ultimately matters is the box office. She has no compunctions in transforming herself. Her pairing with Lawrence Raghavendra is another highlight of the film. Lawrence has made it as a choreographer and also directed a couple of films but as a actor he is not tested as yet. In “Pandi” he plays a weighty role with multi-dimensions _ comedy, romance, dance, sentiment, etc. What with an insipid story and a hackneyed formula, he is hard put to deliver. It is Sneha who salvages the film. See her in her new image! Rating: HHIII Rating: HHHII Rating: HHIII Rating: HHHII 76 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 77 REviEWs Telugu Bujjigadu Pandurangadu dasavatharam Anasuya “Bujjigadu”, only meant to be a feast for Ranga (Bala Krishna) is a flirtatious bachelor. Prabhas’ fans, is a mix of fist-feats, feeble He gets addicted to a prostitute called Amrita characters and floundering finale. (Tabu). His parents try to reform him, but fail. Lakshmi (Sneha) is one of greatest devotees of One can easily discern that this Prabhas- Lord Krishna (Bala Krishna). One night Lord Trisha-Mohan Babu-starrer, whose script and Krishna appears in her dreams and asks her direction have been credited to Puri Jagannath, to marry Ranga. Lakshmi somehow manages has been ‘inspired’ by past Chennai-made hits to wed Ranga. But Ranga keeps on going to like K. Balachander’s “Maro Charitra”. Amrita and neglects his parents’ advice. The rest of the story is all about how Lord Krishna The geographical separation of lovers, a vil- makes Ranga realize the importance of being lainous brother and breathtaking locales are loyal to wife and to respect the parents. some of the key elements of this weak plot. While the first half is passable, the second is a pure torture. A Rajnikanth-like element has been added to the movie to herd his fans into the cinemas. While Sandeep Chowta’s scores are scourging sounds of aural assault, Naidu’s scintillating cinematography soothes the senses. Bala Krishna donned two roles of the God and the devotee. He is pretty good in both these roles. His expressions in Lord Krishna character are excellent. Mohan Babu impresses everybody with his modulated diction as the one who preaches the greatness of the parents. Sneha is nice in this performance oriented role. Tabu’s role has more of exposing and there is lot of cleavage show. She looks old though. Govind (Kamal Hassan) is a scientist in USA. He works with the team that develops mass destructing biological weapon. He realizes that a colleague of him is selling such a bioweapon to a terrorist from another country. In the process, he hides the weapon, but it gets shipped to India. A hit-man called Fletcher (Kamal Hassan) is after Govind. The weapon is clandestinely kept inside the idol of Lord Perumal. Govind pairs up with a girl (Asin) and runs away from Fletcher. Another cop chief (Kamal Hassan) is also after Govind. The rest of the story is all about how Govind gets back the missing bio-weapon. The movie starts with an interesting episode set in the 12th century backdrop. Then the movie’s tempo goes down till the character of cop enters. From then, the movie is interesting till the interval. The climax is little interesting. The plus point of the film is Kamal Hassan. First half of the film is mediocre. The second half is good with hilarious comedy by Brahmanandam. On the flipside, a better editing of first half and some of the fights would do something good to the film. This film is stuffed with ample commercial elements, mainly the vibrant comedy. Ready has potential chances to bring a hat-trick for Seenu Vytla after Dhee and Dubai Seenu. This film is worth a watch for the comedy. Chandu (Ram), an engineering student, falls in love with Pooja (Genelia), an NRI who comes to visit her uncles in Rayalaseema. A mistaken identity makes Chandu kidnap Pooja who is about to get married. The rest of the story is all about how Chandu sends Pooja back to her place and how he marries her by convincing elders. Rating: HHIII Rating: HHHII Rating: HHIII Rating: HHHII 78 DIYA JULY 2008 Mizhikal Sakshi Malayalam Director Ashok R. Nath has come up with a rather touching and watchable movie in Mizhikal Sakshi, which however may not be box office material. The four songs of the film penned by veteran poet-lyricist ONV Kurup and set to tune by veteran composer Dakshinamoorthy are all good ones, but “Thechchi chembaraththi...” and “Amma oru devalayam...” stand out. Cinematography is in tune with the theme. Script by Anil Mukhathala is fairly good, but could have been better. In total, we have in Mizhikal Sakshi a film that stands out on account of sensitive treatment and good performances. Rating: HHHII One Way Ticket Bibin Prabhakar’s debut directorial venture Khakhi was a rather good film and showed promises of a good director. But his second film, One Way Ticket, which was an eagerly awaited film, fails to make that kind of an impact. There is nothing much to mention about the technical aspects of the film. Two of the three songs in the film seem out of place, while the Oppana song “En khalbile...”, penned by actress Kavya Madhavan, is good. The main problem with One Way Ticket is that it bases itself on a weak plot. To sum up, One Way Ticket falls far below expectations. By Thomas T Rating: HHIII Aandavan Andavan is a typical Kalabhavan Mani-starrer that fails to impress. It tells the story of Murugan, who is known popularly as ‘Andavan’ and who is a thief living in a slum. But Andavan is a Robin Hood kind of thief who helps the poor with the stolen money. And he steals from one man only, the rich Parameswara Panicker, who is a financier cum businessman and a brewer of illicit liquor. Andavan steals from Parameswara Panicker and what he makes from that he spends on charitable activities such as marrying off the poor and such other things. If there is any money left, he flings it into the police station without revealing himself. By Thomas T Magic lamp Magic Lamp is a comedy of errors and mismatched identities that never really provides a convincing argument for its own being. For one, I am still wondering as to what on earth hit me last night and two, my head still hurts real bad. There’s a surplus of crudeness, disorder and chaos in Magic Lamp, but not even a semblance of anything you could call comedy. Which makes it a stunningly inept movie that is an early runner for the Worst Flicks List of 2008. By VN Rating: HIIII Rating: HIIII JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 79 previews - bollywood Mehbooba aashayein Cast: Sanjay Dutt,Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koi... Director: Afzal Khan Cast: John Abraham, Prateeksha Lonkar Director: Nagesh Kukunoor the story revolves around Rahul singh (John abraham), a compulsive gambler who wins Rs. 20 million from a bet and throws a party to celebrate. Everyone has a good time drinking and partying till late night during which Rahul proposes to Nafisa (Sonal Sehgal). He announces their engagement to all present, then collapses on the floor. in hospital, he learns that he has only 90 days to live. Wanting to make the most of his last days, he leaves everything behind and moves into a soothing hospice. the inmates he meets change his outlook on life. as his relationships grow with each one of them, Rahul tries to rise above his own needs and live life to the fullest, learning from the courage of those around him. the people he meets in the hospice add colour, both dark and bright, to his journey, which is one about love, hate, life, death and above all, hope. Khushboo Cast: Rishi Rehan, Prem Chopra, Himani Director: Rajesh Ram Singh a young, ambitious and successful professional like Raghu needs to go to Chandigarh before his posting to new york as his last assignment. For Raghu career takes top priority in his life. in Chandigarh, he seems to be destined to cross path with a girl to whom he is inadvertently drawn. But each time Pinky flits away even before he can approach her. When they do meet and get to know each other they realize that they share a very strong bonding. and as usual Pinky once again vanishes from Raghu’s life. When they accidentally bump into each other months later, Pinky has one request...that he meet her family just once. Raghu meets the big, boisterous Punjabi family only to be drawn into the warmth of the large family. Will Raghu be able to turn his back on a loving family? Will Raghu marry Pinky? Will Pinky change her mind about letting him go? is career more important than a loving family? Raghu is in a dilemma but not Pinky. shravan Dhariwal, a business tycoon, lives in new york. his charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha. Varsha, an indian girl values self-respect and morality much above money. she rebukes shravan’s advances and for the first time in his life shravan wakes up to the fact that women are not commodities. to make amends, he goes to meet Varsha’s father and asks for her hand in marriage and very soon the two get engaged. they take off on a holiday and get intimate with each other. however, Varsha’s beautiful dream comes to a shocking end when shravan tells her that his love for her was just a ploy to sleep with her. a devastated Varsha leaves the country away from his life. Later, shravan is summoned to his hometown for his younger brother Karan’s wedding to Payal. shravan meets Payal and is aghast. Payal is none other than Varsha. 80 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 81 82 DIYA JULY 2008 advice Problems causing you distress in life? Send in your worries, we will help you out! theloveexpert@diyaMagazine.com dent, but please don’t be Arrogant. Nothing is a better turn off than arrogance when someone getting to know you. Do not worry about your looks. Once people overcome their shallowness, they see the true inner person you really are. asK ThE LovE EXpERT: Q: I am almost 30 years old and I haven’t been in a serious relationship that lasted more than two months. I want to date, but I don’t think I am attractive enough to the opposite gender. I’m getting old and I feel I have missed my chance at finding a partner. A: It can be somewhat scary. Well in general regardless of age, the dating game is a scary place to be. There are a lot of mind games involved and you never really know how interested they are in you. A lot of people rush to settle down as soon as they meet someone because sometimes they say they are done with dating. Most people find partners in social settings, and I still believe that till today. Did you miss out of the dating scene in college? No problem. I would strongly urge you to (if you haven’t already), build up your circle of friends. That is the best way to meet people. Chances are, they know friends who know friends and before you know it, you’re meeting new people and potentially a partner. It does take effort. Branch out and build your social skills. The more personable you are, the more likely people will notice you, want to spend more time with you, and introduce you to their other friends. Be confi- Q: I have had a past that makes me not trust easily. I am with a wonderful person in my life right now but it still is hard to trust him, even though he has done nothing to break my trust. I am paranoid about him leaving. How can I overcome this problem? A: Trust is a tricky, tricky thing. Sometimes it’s easy to earn, sometimes its very hard. But you can lose it just as easy. I understand your problem with the past. I think everyone has felt betrayed at some point in their lives by people they love. However, everyone deserves a chance at being trusted. You say he has done nothing to break your trust. Therefore you have acknowledged that bit, the next step you need to work on is your fear. Write down your worries and then compare them to your significant other and ask yourself- “Can I see him doing this to me?” and most likely the answer is “no”. Keep reminding yourself that, and over time, you will listen to yourself. In the meantime, I do ask you to not act irrationally around him and accuse him of things he has not done to you because you are paranoid. Men can only take so much of living in someone else’s paranoid world! Treat him with the same respect and trust he treats you until you have successfully worked on your fear. JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 83 84 DIYA JULY 2008 Secrets of food chicken Tikka Masala submitted by Philpot Eating Well Life is often rushed. But eating slowing encourages you to take a time-out. Pause a moment before you eat to give thanks for the gift of food that lies before you. An attitude of gratitude helps you to enjoy each bite more. Plus, the more you chew, the more your teeth and salivary enzymes break down your food so your stomach doesn’t have to. You don’t have to be a chef to be an artist in the kitchen. The food you prepare can engage all your senses—from the aroma across the room to the vibrant colors and playful textures. All these characteristics create a rich, satisfying experience no matter what you’re eating. If you’re the one in the kitchen, toss in some edible flowers, garnish with your favorite herbs, and try using plates in colors that complement your creation. Sharing a meal or breaking bread is a timeless custom across all cultures. It’s a way to celebrate your food. Eating with others might also encourage you to relax and enjoy the full experience around you, which will also help you eat more slowly. Turn off the tube. Step away from your desk. Give eating your undivided attention. Savor every bite. These strategies will help you tune in to your body’s sensations so you know when you’re full. There’s no reason to keep eating if your body says enough. In fact, yogis will tell you to stop eating even before you are full because a full belly makes you sluggish. Looking to other cultures can give you cool cues for eating well too. For example, a beautiful Japanese custom is to serve each item in its own small dish. These dishes enhance the visual experience as well as encourage you to eat smaller portions. Each small entrée in unison becomes an ensemble of food with plenty of interest and variety to make dining delicious. 1 cup yogurt 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces 4 long skewers 1 tablespoon butter 1 clove garlic, minced 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons paprika 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat a grill for high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Source: SimpleSolutions Corporation In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to lose track of nature’s seasonal ebb and flow. Eating the freshest fruits, vegetables, and fish of the season ensures that you’ll have the widest selection to choose from and increases your connection to mother earth and the natural rhythms beneath the sun, moon, and stars. A good cook knows that it’s all about the ingredients. To ensure that your meal is sensational, make certain each ingredient is fresh. The best way to do this is to eat only foods that are growing in your area right now. If you buy something that isn’t growing near you, it’s likely to have withered a bit while withstanding travel over time and distance. Source: Alibaba JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 85 86 DIYA JULY 2008 Rating: HHHHH Excellent HHHHI Good HHHII average HHIII Fair - service - atmosphere - Good for Group, Family - Food authenticity - taste authenticity - Pricing ($ Very affordable: $$ Moderate: $$$ Pricey: $$$$ Expensive) Reviewed by Staff writers & Anthony Tran Rates are based upon: REsTaURanT REviEW samui Thai cuisine Plano/allen, tX 5700 Legacy Dr., Plano, tX (972) 398-2807 some of the best thai food you will experience. all of the curry dishes are exceptional. the service is good and the ambience is perfect. if you like thai food you will love this place. this family run thai restaurant breaks the mold with an amazing design, wonderful fresh food ranging from traditional dishes like pad thai and thai fried rice to thai infused dishes like their great sea Bass entrance. there is also a full service bar and generous patio. HHHH Food authenticity HHHH taste authenticity HHHH service HHHH atmosphere HHH Group, Family $$$ Pricing try to pad kee mao or panaeng curry. HHHH Food authenticity HHH taste authenticity HHH service HHH atmosphere $$ Pricing Bistro B Restaurant (vietnamese cuisine) Jasmines i & ii (Thai cuisine) Plano, tX 2050 W spring Creek Pkwy Plano, tX (972) 517-1677 one of the very few small, family oriented best values in Plano, tX. Pricing are reasonable, authentic and large portions of the best thai food. Jasmine i & ii are small modest place with a friendly staffs. For the appetizers go for the corn patties or the chicken satay, you won’t be disappointed. all the dishes are delicious, but Dallas/Grand Prairie, tX 9780 Walnut st. Dallas, tX (214) 575-9885 Bistro B is actually a Vietnamese/Pho restaurant, not French as the name might implied. With two locations, the menu is amazing. there are over 300 menu items including soups, rice dishes, noodle bowls, spring rolls, and so much more. they also do groups, family style and have a wide variety of delicious tea based drinks. all of the food is incredibly fresh, especially the rice, paper spring rolls are amazing. it is very fast paced with lots of servers running all over the place. severs don’t have sections so you probably won’t see the same one twice. HHHH Food authenticity HHHH taste authenticity HH service HHH atmosphere HHH Group, Family $$ Pricing Dallas, tX 12817 Preston Rd., # 105 Dallas, tX (972) 392-0190 For excellent and the finest Indian cuisine in Dallas, visit the India Palace Restaurant and Bar. the elegant, softly lit interior is the perfect setting for a relaxing meal. the Dallas observer has named one of the first Indian restaurants in Dallas, India Palace “Best indian Restaurant” for the past 12 years. in fact, india Palace has been named “Best” and 4 staRs by several sources, including D Magazine, Dallas Morning news, and Zagats. HHHH Food authenticity HHH taste authenticity HHHH service HHHH atmosphere HHH Group, Family $$$ Pricing arc-En-ciel Restaurant (chinese/vietnamese) Garland, tX 3555 W Walnut st., # E Garland, tX (972) 272-2188 This is one of the very first Chinese/Vietnamese restaurants in Garland, attracting diverse clienteles, as there are colors in a rainbow. the name, then, is appropriate: it’s French for rainbow. But what keep the customers coming back time after time are the magnificent Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. The decor >> india palace (asian indian cuisine) JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 87 HER E E BA HALNQUET L G OUT TAK E PRIC Akbar Al Hamra Al Markaz Apna Bazar BBQ Tonite Bhatia Mart Bombay Chinese Bombay Grill Bombay Sweets Chaat Cafe Tandoor Grill Chettinad Palace Clay Pit Curry’s Dunes Flavors Goga Sweets Gopal Grand Cafe Haveli Hot Breads Jasmine Cafe India House India Palace Indian Food Indiya Fusion Kalachandji Kashmir Kokila Kebab ‘n Kurry Madras Pavilion Maharaj Restaurant Masala Diner Masala Wok Mayuri Noodle Wave Our Place Pasand Ruchi Palace Rice 1 Roll Roti Grill Royal Sweets Shammy’s Shish Kabob Silver Spoon Sitar Taj Chaat Tandoor Grill Taste of India Taste of Pakistan Tawa Grill Temptations Tharas Chat Corner Saffron House Udipi Cafe Bombay Sizzlers Wok of Fame Zyka 88 DIYA JULY 2008 Indian Indo/Pak Pakistani Indian Indo/Pak Indian Indo-Chinese Indian Indian Indian fast food Indo/Pak South Indian Indian Indian Indo/Pak/Med Indian Indian Gujarati American Indo/Pak Continental Middleastern Indian Indian Indian Indian Fusion Kashimiri Indian Indian South Indian Indian Indian Indo/chinese Indian Vietnamese Indian Indian Indian Indian Indian Fast food Middle eastern Middle eastern Pakistani Indian Indian Indo/pak Indian Pakistani Indo/Pak Indo/Pak South Indian Indian Indian South Indian Indian Indo chinese Indian CAT SPIC NAME CUISINE ATM OSP ERIN E LE vEL REsTaURanT GUiDE Dressy Casual Casual Casual Casual Casual Casual Dressy Casual Casual Casual Casual Upscale Casual Casual Upscale Casual Casual Casual Dressy Casual Dressy Casual Upscale Casual Casual Casual Casual Casual Dressy Casual Dressy Casual Casual Dressy Dressy Casual Dressy Casual Casual Dressy Casual Casual Casual Causal Dressy Casual Casual Dressy Casual Casual Causal Dressy Casual Dressy Casual Casual Dressy Casual $$ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $$ $ $$ $ $ $$$ $ $ $$ $ $ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ $$$ $$ $$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $ $ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ $ $$ $ $ $$$ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $$$ $$ $$ $ $ LOCATION remains simple and functional, since the food serves as the main event here. try eating dim sum, or a la cart, to get a chance to sample a wide variety of dishes. however be careful, Dim sum is not all you can eat, so it can become a bit pricey. HHHH Food authenticity HHHH taste authenticity HHH service HHH atmosphere HHH Group, Family $$$ Pricing. ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü                                                                                                      Plano Carrollton Carrollton Carrollton Carrollton Plano Richardson Fort Worth Irving Dallas Plano Plano Addison Irving Irving Addison Carrolton Richardson Richardson Irving Richardson/Irving Richardson Euless Dallas Irving Irving Dallas Euless Lewisville Richardson Richardson Dallas Irving Irving Irving Richardson Irving Richardson/Irving Carrollton Irving Dallas/McKinney Dallas Irving Richardson Plano Irving Arlington Plano Euless Dallas Irving Irving Richardson Addison Richardson Irving Garland Richardson Jade Garden (chinese/vietnamese) Dallas, tX 4800 Bryan st. Dallas, tX (214) 821-0675 serving Chinese/Vietnamese Cuisines for over 20 years in Dallas, Jade Garden is well known for it’s outstanding asian food. this is easily one of the best Chinese/Vietnamese places in Dallas/Fort Worth. the restaurant prices are dirt cheap, ByoB, abundant food that is as good, great service. if you prefer authentic Chinese/Vietnamese food, this is a good place to start. Don’t be fool by the outside appearance. step inside and taste what’s all the fuss about. HHHH Food authenticity HHHH taste authenticity HHH service HH atmosphere HHH Group, Family $ Pricing. cindi’s n.Y. Delicatessen Restaurant & Bakery (Traditional american cuisine) Dallas, tX 1111 n. Central Expressway Dallas, tX (214) 739-0918 With 4 different locations around the Dallas Metroplex, Cindi’s is the best place in town to eat homemade and traditional breakfast, lunch, or dinner. the waitresses are very friendly and attentive. Fresh hot coffee on the table the whole time. Plenty on the menu to select from and always hot when served. this is a clean and neat restaurant; great place to take your family and the kids. the menu is extensive, offering everything from pancakes, pigs in a blanket, potato pancakes, and waffles, to omelets, delicious sandwiches including patty melts, pastrami, corned beef, hearty soups, stews, hamburger steaks, spaghetti, fish platters and more. Beyond breakfast, the menu continues to provide choices from salads to hamburgers to soups and steaks. Daily specials range from hot soups on the weekends to roast beef and steaks on tuesday. HHHH Food authenticity HHHH taste authenticity HHHH service HHH atmosphere HHHH Group, Family $$ Pricing. Benihana (Japanese cuisine) Dallas, tX 314 E. Main st. Dallas, tX (972) 387-4404 Diners sit around large tables where chefs ostentatiously chop, slice, stir-fry and grill. Entree options are simple--shrimp, chicken, steak and scallops, and preparation is uniform. Every entree comes with a similar stock of sides: rice, onion soup, shrimp appetizer, iceberg lettuce drizzled with dressing, sauteed vegetables and green tea. Pricing is just as affordable as Red Lobster these days. But Better!! Get entertain, eat and enjoy. HHH Food authenticity HHH taste authenticity HHHH service HHHH atmosphere HH Group, Family $$$ Pricing. Tokyo one (Japanese cuisine) addison, tX 4350 Belt Line Rd. addison, tX (972) 386-8899 Patrons can sit at booths or tables; classic asian paintings adorn the walls. sushi chefs are quick to offer tips and suggest items. the atmosphere easily accommodates big groups hungry for a lot of sushi. California rolls and standard salmon rolls are for beginners, while those who feel more adventurous can try the shark fin and jellyfish rolls or marinated baby octopus. overall a pretty good blend of being an upper-end atmosphere without being snobby. Customers seemed pretty dressed up for this place. HHHH Food authenticity HHH taste authenticity HHH service HHHH atmosphere HHH Group, Family $$$ Pricing. Zander’s house (vietnamese cuisine) Plano, tX 2300 n. Central Expressway Plano, tX (972) 943-9199 Great exterior and modern interior look, serving Vietnamese Cuisines in north Dallas. Good food in a classy and arty environment. the restaurant’s lunch menu is full of typical Vietnamese dishes - spring rolls, soups, vermicelli(rice noodle) dishes. they are very well prepared, beautifully presented, and very reasonably priced. the atmosphere is much better since they took over this August Moon location, put up dividers, art, flat-screen TVs and a full bar. The restaurant is very clean, white tablecloths and brisk, with helpful and friendly service. HHH Food authenticity HHH taste authenticity HHHH service HHHH atmosphere HHHH Group, Family $$ Pricing. DM JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 89 90 DIYA JULY 2008 JULY 2008 WWW.DIYAMAGAZINE.COM 91 92 DIYA JULY 2008