7 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
A thrilling restaurant renaissance is unfolding in this Bay Area suburb
Fremont is a sleeping giant in the Bay Area's restaurant landscape. It has long quietly impressed locals with gloriously dimpled Afghani bread, explosively flavorful Indian snacks and funky tea leaf salads. But lately, a surge of new openings have roused the colossus from its slumber — and should bring the city's dining scene more recognition at last.
From scorched paneer cooked over live flame to masterful, freshly made noodles, these newcomers deliver on specific expertise and ambition.
Located at the southern tip of Alameda County, Fremont is home to oversized boulevards, high incomes (a median of $170,000, according to census data), the Tesla factory and a diverse populace. More than 60% identify as Asian, including a large Afghan community and a growing South Asian population. Those demographics are reflected in the city's restaurants.
The 2010s brought regional Indian food. In 2015, Din Ding Dumpling House debuted as the city's first handmade noodle and dumpling spot, according to co-owner Scott Zhang. Three years later, Varun Sapra launched his exceptional Delhi-inspired barbecue truck Keeku Da Dhaba. 'When I started, there was only one more truck, selling momos,' he said. Today there are more trucks than ever, dispensing late-night dosas, halal burgers and chaat. Many were born during the pandemic. But it wasn't until last year that the proverbial volcano began to erupt.
Din Ding Dumpling House opened in a new location last August; a fire shut down its original spot in 2021. While the restaurant's extended menu has hits like dry-fried pork chops, nearly every table in the building, as if mandatory, has steamer baskets of xiao long bao. With sturdy yet delicately supple skins, the soup dumplings here make international phenom Din Tai Fung look like a journeyman. Each sip of the broth reverberates through noggin's pleasure receptors, striking a lovely balance of richness and subtlety. These dumplings are unequaled.
A few steps away from the dumpling savant, Shugetsu opened last month. It's the latest expansion of Japan-born specialist for tsukemen, a Tokyo-style dipping ramen where the noodles and soup are in divorce court. In my view, the San Mateo location has made the region's finest bowl of tsukemen — even better than the much-hyped Tsujita Artisan Noodle — and I'm happy to say the Fremont restaurant is just as great. What sets it apart is the resonant smokiness of the porky, concentrated broth. The thick, springy noodles almost feel alive under the chompers.
After six years of operating out of parking lots, Keeku Da Dhaba opened as a full-blown restaurant this summer. Owner Varun Sapra's secret weapon is a tangy, spiced butter and cream sauce, used to bathe expertly charred chicken thighs or blocks of paneer in decadence.
On a recent visit, the restaurant was filled with fans of the truck eating sandwiches known as kathi rolls under the glow of an 'I <3 Delhi' sign. All it took was one bite of the smoky bundle for me to adopt the mantra as my own.
'People are looking for the exact same taste, the taste of India,' Sapra said.
Like Keeku, Anantara was also bred out of a desire for something new — but something a little fancier. Founder Saran Gajendran was inspired by the success of predecessors like San Francisco Top 100 restaurant Copra, which kicked open the door for South Indian fine dining. However, Anantara's advantage is its location in a thriving Desi hub; Fremont's Indian population has grown from 23% in 2000 to 30% in 2020, according to census data. Gajendran saw Fremont as 'perfect soil' for his restaurant, citing South Asian residents' growing appetite for luxury dining.
The buzz and cheer of the place is contagious, surrounded by tropical wallpaper and faux plants. Anantara excels at small plates: fried soft shell crab over a creamy green chutney, a red-tinted fillet of tender fish and lamb chops in a thick, spicy gravy. The sleeper hit is the Kerala-inspired egg roast, a thick mash of caramelized onions studded with boiled eggs and paired with a lightly crisp dome-like bread known as egg appam.
'Fremont is evolving in real time,' Gajendran said. 'And you can feel it.'
Din Ding Dumpling House. 11-2:30 p.m., 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Monday and Wednesday-Thursday, 11-2:30 p.m., 5-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 3768 J Capitol Ave., Fremont.
Keeku Da Dhaba. 5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday and Sunday, 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 39935 Mission Blvd, Fremont.
