Sunil Kumar, executive chef at Marigold Maison in Bannockburn Green, is an artist, literally.
The restaurant’s walls are adorned with his photography — primarily scenes from his native Punjab in India — as well as his oil paintings. But he is a culinary artist as well, who created Marigold Maison to present authentic Indian cuisine and represent authentic Indian hospitality.
“Keep it simple, use fresh ingredients, cook from your heart and treat every guest like family,” he says. Opened six months ago in the space formerly occupied by San Gabriel Mexican Cafe, Marigold Maison was named for the edible medicinal and ceremonial flower. The name, not coincidentally, Kumar admits, trades on warm memories of the 2011 surprise hit film, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
Kumar developed the menu to be true to Indian culture and heritage, its dishes inspired by his family’s recipes as well as India’s different regions. “Americanized” Indian food, Kumar notes, tends to be “greasy, heavy and inconsistent.”
His cooks — meticulously trained, he emphasizes — use olive oil, which is lighter, and substitute coconut milk and purified butter in place of heavy creams (although a little of the latter is used in some of the dishes, he notes).
The colorful spices are ground and roasted in-house. The menu, Kumar states, is 80 percent gluten-free. The hospitality ethos extends to the spacious bar area, which focuses on local breweries for its beer selections, as well as the open kitchen design that allows diners to view the artists at work.
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Pricing: Appetizers run less than $10 and include samosa (crispy turnovers, $5), paneer pakora (Indian cheese in chickpea flour, $8) and seared eggplant ($8). Popular entrees include tandoori shrimp ($25) and grilled lamb chops ($22). Dishes such as tikka masala and classic curry ($16-$20) are available in veggie, chicken, lamb, shrimp and fish.
Hours: Lunch is served daily between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served daily from 5-9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Marigold Maison is at 2535 Waukegan Road, Bannockburn. Contact 847-940-0200 or go to www.marigoldmaison.com.
Donald Liebenson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.