Today, more than 200,000 Nepalese live in the United States; the Sherpa population makes up a small fraction of that number. Nearly 3,500 Sherpas reside in New York City, the largest enclave outside of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, according to the Sherpa Association in America. But as bigger cities push out small businesses, a reality heightened at the start of the pandemic, Sherpas are fleeing to places such as Colorado for new work opportunities — and the geography. In recent decades, dozens have opened restaurants in this mountainous state.
(Link posted as “gift” so should be readable by everyone.)
I was in Ft. Collins 6 years ago. I had looked up possible restos and found 2 Nepalese, both owned by people named Sherpa! I wound up eating all but two meals with family and one of the restaurant meals I had was with family too - at Himalaya. It was just the lunch buffet, though. Indian standards; I didn’t see anything specifically Nepalese.
I got the connection to the mountains and climate, of course, but didn’t realize the connection to beer. Ft. Collins is a craft beer mecca.
Thanks for the link.
2 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
3
Pretty much the same in the UK. The Nepalese restaurants in my neck of the woods serve mainly the Anglicised Asian food that you fidn everywhere. Maybe with the occasional more specific Nepalese dish on the menu
There are about 80k Nepal born people living here. Quite a number of the men will be Ghurkas who have served in the British Army.
"I was excited to try Post Rock Restaurant in Lincoln, Kansas this week. The Himalayan restaurant opened last year. The small restaurant appears to have been newly purpose built in front of the Post Rock Motel.
The menu is very limited. Aside from four breakfast dishes, which are served from 8:30-10AM, there are 8 items on the menu: cheeseburger; double cheeseburger; fried rice (chicken, pork or veggie); pork momo; noodles chow mein (chicken or pork); chicken curry; butter chicken; and chicken tikka masala. Dishes run $10-14. French fries are included with the burgers and the chicken tikka masala came with fried rice and naan.
The chicken tikka masala was excellent, made with cream and butter, it had a nice flavor, but no heat whatsoever. I like my food spicy and there was a choice of hot sauces scattered around the tables. A little Sriracha made it wonderful to my taste. The fried rice was good, but I thought the naan (Indian flat bread) was so-so. It was not made in a tandoori oven. which makes sense considering the menu.
There are no appetizers and the only dessert is frozen yogurt. Beverages are limited to bottled Pepsi products. A bottled water was $1, and was served with a glass filled with ice."
I’m not sure if this is connected to the Colorado story, but
a place like this in the middle of nowhere is interesting.
I’m not sure @Harters realizes how far from anything, both culturally and physically, Lincoln is.
I’m interested in how these folks ended up there.
Talk about pioneer spirit.
The appetizer section has juicy details of just what will be on your plate ; the Momo section lists items individually but gives no detail other than name.
Comments from the knowledgeable are certainly welcome.
I think the resto is less than a year old and I’ve got to try it.
There’s a Sherpa-owned restaurant in Ashford, WA, with a mixed menu (Sherpa dishes, burgers and such). near the entrance to Mount Rainier NP (where the owner had guided climbing parties for years). Very good food, if you’re in the area definitely stop in. Wildberry Restaurant
I know nothing about Lincoln but having grown up in Montana, i know a cultural wasteland when i enter one.
And the amazing thing is that there are ethnic restaurants in Montana now! Not many are great but many are good and there didn’t used to be any.
The US as a whole is slightly more cosmopolitan than it was 40 years ago, i believe. We are still rather provincial and ethnocentric, but a bit less so than we used to be, i believe.
Maybe Lincoln is not as backward as it used to be?
Not sure.
Just my thoughts on it.
4 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
16
I first visited the US in 1980. For quite a number of trips after that, it would be regular occurance that my accent was not recognised as being British. More often than not, when it wasnt recognised as British, I was asked if I was from New Zealand. And no, my accent is nothing like a New Zealand one.
My guess is that, in the years following, Americans have become exposed to a more diverse collection of British accents, perhaps through TV programmes. Certainly, I’ve not been asked which country I come from for several years.
There are addictive momos at a mainly takeout place, Food Shines, in Lowell, Massachusetts. The rest of the menu is more northern Indian, with some Italian thrown in. I understand that most of the customers are college students, which explains the choices the Nepalese owners have made.
; the Momo section lists items individually but gives no detail other than name.
