Food Truck Q & A

Amish Chatterjee, 38, a native of Calcutta, India who now resides in Bushwick, arrived in New York City 10 years ago, with a duffel bag filled with clothes and his mother’s spatula. His dream: to become a chef. After working as a waiter for four years in a Midtown diner, Chatterjee finally saved enough money to open his restaurant, a food truck located on the corner of 18th Street and Sixth Avenue, where he serves traditional Indian and Bengali cuisine, including his mother’s favorite, kati rolls.

Why New York?
Why not?

But why not London? Sydney? Why here?
My first time seeing a motion picture, I saw Woody Allen’s “Manhattan.” I was 8 years old, and I knew that one day I must be here in New York.

Despite your success, why do you refuse to open a restaurant?
Too expensive. And I like to be alone when I work. No one can bother me.

What inspired you to become a chef?
When I was younger, my mother told me I must go find a job, and so I started working at a small restaurant in the Bidhannagar district of Calcutta. I wanted to work there because the chef would let me eat all day. I was a fat boy back then. I would go into the kitchen and make myself different dishes, throwing different meats and vegetables and sauces together. After three years, the chef brought me into the kitchen and told me to sit down. He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘You Amish, you must grow up to be a chef.’

Favorite dish?
Aloo Gobi. It’s simple. And I am a simple man.

(For those of you who do not know what Aloo Gobi is, it is a dry dish made with cauliflower and potatoes.)

Happiest day since you arrived in New York?
The 15th of September 2001, because my truck opened in the morning and my daughters Kalpita and Pusti were born that night.

Only four days after 9/11?
Yes. In terms of my business, my cart was on 50th and Sixth Avenue at that time, so it was not so bad. But I had no customers for quite a few days. I would go to work everyday for a week and no one would buy anything.

How is business now?
Booming. I make just as much as my family needs.

(Which he says with a wink)

And how was 9/11 for your family? Must have been traumatic…
The birth of my daughters was just what me and my wife needed. Not traumatic at all. When the city saw so much death, I witnessed birth and life. And overtime, America has witnessed a rebirth. It has life again.

(Which he says as he points to his Obama pin)

Favorite thing about America?
I can curse without my mother hearing me.

Favorite curse word?
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. See, doesn’t it sound nice?