Popular Kelowna Restaurant Poppadoms is Closing

There’s some sad news coming out of the Okanagan, Poppadoms is closing.

After six years in the restaurant industry the Indian cuisine restaurant will be shutting its doors. The Dosanj family moved to Kelowna from Southampton, England in search of a better life. The family decided to open up Poppadoms, which is a farm-to-table Indian restaurant.

“We didn’t want to only create jobs at the restaurant; we wanted to help our community, that’s why we are seasonal and local in our food philosophy and approach. It’s been an industry where we have each learnt from and grown - as people, as cooks, as sommeliers, and bartenders. We all light up when we talk about food, which is extremely impressive given that it’s an industry that consumes you, with the long hours, hard work, staffing problems and stress. We’ve overcome a lot – as a family and as a business. We’ve learnt how to figure things out together,” the family said.

The restaurant has been sold to another business who will be taking over the location.

samosa-making day! made from scratch, by hand, using our grandmother's recipe #madewithlove #byhand #fromscratch #samosas #appetizers #streetsnack #deepfriedgoodness #kelowna #okanaganfood

A photo posted by Poppadoms (@poppadoms) on Sep 13, 2015 at 6:48pm PDT

“It’s not a failure to decide to sell the business: it’s only a failure if we didn’t learn anything from this experience. We have all made a difference, changing perspectives of Indian food and family-business, even if it’s been in a small way. There wasn’t a family feud, nor are we closing for financial reasons, it was just time to move on and look ahead.”

Poppadoms has done a lot in the past six years in the Okanagan. The Dosanj family has worked on cooking Indian for those who wish to taste the spicy foods, they’ve cooked for the Canadian Culinary Championships Gold Medal Plates judges, they’ve received two Gold Medal Plate invitations, Aman Dosanj appeared on the top 12 female chefs from Canada on the Food Network Canada Website, and Harry Dosanj has won multiple cocktail competitions.

The whole family is self-taught and just because their business is sold doesn’t mean they will stop cooking.

a little recap on how our 6th birthday went last night. a collaborative indian-inspired dinner with @chefmattbatey @poppadoms. first course: mum's vegetable pakora with mint chutney, second course: bengali-style bc long cod with kasundi mustard sauce and rice cracker, third course: Matt's 4k farms pork, chai braised porchetta do testa with 'raita' garnishes and crispy chickpeas, main course: spice rubbed flat iron of aaa beef, mum's punjabi-style sauce, Matt's brown butter and garam masala yam purée, and tandoor roasted carrots, dessert: Matt's cardamom smoked blonde chocolate, cilantro pearls, mango lassi fluid gel, vanilla poached preserved cherries, star anise begneits. so yeah, you didn't miss much?! #ppdbday #collaboration #indianinspired #indianfood #bcfood #bcwine #kelowna #okanagan #eatatpoppadoms

A photo posted by Poppadoms (@poppadoms) on Dec 14, 2015 at 10:43am PST

A stall will be started at the Kelowna Farmers and Crafters Market in the summer, which will offer Pakoras. Catering and cooking classes will continue as well. Aman will soon be setting off to travel the world and write about how food connects individuals, and will have some pop-up restaurants for the people along the way and for food-based charities.

Harry is one of the bartenders at Juniper in Vancouver, and for Jasmin, she is now the assistant manager and sommelier at Home Street Café and Bar in Vancouver.

The last meal at Poppadoms will be on January 9^th. They will be serving a 5-course meal created by Chef Jas and Aman Dosanj. Tickets for the last supper can be bought at Poppadoms for $75.

“In our last days, we hope we’re blessed with regulars eating their favourite dishes, whilst sat in their favourite seat, sharing stories from the past six years, and working in the thrill of a busy restaurant one last time. Our Grandma used to say ‘if you cook from your heart, people will come’ and we’re hoping to end our Poppadoms story on a high,” Aman said.