The Good Table | written by: PAMELA DEY VOSSLER | photos by: BAMBI RIEGEL | riegelpictureworks.com
Jose and four of the 15 members of his team (from left): Jose, Mithin Madhu, Garis Sanchez, Jarnail Singh and Sijo George
Here’s the thing about really good restaurants, especially the ones that stick around: They stay fresh, new, even as they take you in with the same kind of big energy lift you get from your oldest friends. There’s a settling when you arrive, an exhale of ‘Yes! We’re here! Excellent!’
Then there’s the food. Delicious, consistent; with a twist when you want it, and your reliable favorites when you don’t.
They’re the kind of places that become your go to …places for celebrations and for every day, for big decisions and just catching up. Your Friday night regular, your Sunday dinner take out. Places where the owner knows your name, what you like and what you might like (which he will bring to you gratis, just because he’s excited to expand your horizons and get your reaction …and you’ll be glad when he does because he’s your friend and you trust him).
Coromandel is that restaurant, now entering its 25th year in business. Jose Pullopilly is that owner.
Jose (the Indian name for Joseph and pronounced like its first syllable) opened Coromandel located in Goodwives Shopping Center in May 2000 with his wife Meena. He came to it by way of Muvattupuzha, a small town on the west coast of India near the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Culinary Institute where he rose to the top of his class. Next came two years with the Taj Group of Hotels then five years working in area restaurants after arriving in the United States in 1995.
Mangalorean Prawn
For Jose, the pull to cooking started early, when he was just 10 years old. He’d lost his dad and began preparing meals for his mom and six siblings. As a young boy, he would also slip into neighborhood kitchens offering free help to chefs brought in to cook for parties. He learned about spices, food prep and the timing of things. Since opening Coromandel, he has continued to hone a craft that earned him best Indian restaurant in Connecticut honors from The New York Times along the way.
His recipes are a mix of the flavors of India—some passed down through his family, others traditional favorites, and still others new manifestations of the tried and true. Coromandel is a trip to Mumbai, Kashmir, Kerala, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Goa and more, captured in curries, kebabs, pooris, samosas and dals …chutneys, tikkas and shahi kormas, vindaloos and tandoori ovens—to name just a few. The food checks every box—spicy to mild, sweet to savory, as the many repeat customers and massive takeout business can fully testify.
Chicken Tikka
“Whether it’s someone who’s never tried Indian food, or somebody who’s had Indian food all the time, we have a dish for them,” said Jose. “No one should be hesitant to walk into Coromandel,” he added.
It would appear few are, infused as Coromandel also is with the energy and philosophy on which Jose bases his own life.
“Happiness is my driving philosophy. I don’t care what you do, at the end of the day, you have to be happy. If you don’t have fun, you’re not doing the right thing,” he said.
It’s what he tells his twin sons, third graders at Royle School.
“I don’t care what they do. They can do anything they like,” said Jose. But, “‘Go for it,’ I tell them. Don’t settle for the bottom. Then you’re going to be happy,” he continued. “And not only that, whatever standard of living you choose, be happy with that.”
And when the bad days come, which they inevitably do?
“This is the way I look at bad days,” said Jose. “You’ve got 365 days in a year. If 200 days are good, you’re doing the right thing,” he said, laughing. For the bigger hurdles, he’s learned to take a breath, stay calm and manage through. It helps when a town like Darien has your back, as it did for Jose and his team during COVID, as it has for the past 25 years. And there’s not a moment he doesn’t thank his lucky stars for it.
“I’m so lucky to be in this town. Are you kidding? It couldn’t be anything better!” Jose declared, with deep gratitude for “the people who come in and appreciate what we do and the product we put on the table,” he said.
To last, to thrive, it’s also about staying true to yourself. Jose knows this too. He and his team do what they do, with focus and a commitment to improving every day.
Garlic Naan
“Since I’ve been here, so many restaurants have opened. Some of them go. Some of them stay,” said Jose. “Everybody’s noisy about other people’s business, focusing on them. That is not me. I don’t want to be focused on someone else’s business. I want to focus on what I do and try to improve my business. As long as you have your heart on that, it’s going to be successful,” he added.
Jose loves his business, plainly, as much as his customers love him. He is as fed by them as they are by the food, service and authentic warmth he sends their way at this place, a place he and his staff make easy to think of as a piece of India of our own.
