The San Francisco Indian Restaurant Kamala Harris Visited Often In Her Early Career

As Vice President Kamala Harris has entered the limelight of the 2024 presidential race, both her racial and cultural heritage, along with her political career, offer insights into her leadership and values. It's fitting, then, that a San Francisco Indian restaurant ties her career and socio-cultural identity together. An Oakland native born of Indian and Black parents, Harris began frequenting San Francisco's New Delhi Restaurant early in her career and during her tenure as San Francisco's district attorney from 2004 to 2011.

According to a speech given by Harris and shared on New Delhi Restaurant's Facebook page, she spent childhood summers visiting her mother's family in India and enjoying its flavorful and vibrant food. She spoke about her Indian grandfather's career as a civil servant and how listening to him discuss politics and social change in India were key influences on her own career. 

New Delhi Restaurant's food represents Harris's Indian cultural identity, but it's also been an activist hub and political hangout for the Democratic Party for decades. Owner Ranjan Dey has been a crucial supporter of San Francisco's Indian population, his restaurant serving as a veritable town hall for communication and collaboration between Democratic politicians and the local Indian population. Along with Harris, New Delhi Restaurant has also hosted former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former president Bill Clinton, and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. Dey has expressed appreciation for Harris both as a longtime patron and Democrat, endorsing her presidential candidacy wholeheartedly.

Located in downtown San Francisco, New Delhi Restaurant is a large, high-ceilinged fine dining Indian restaurant with opulent carved columns and an award-winning menu. The restaurant opened in 1988 and has been deemed a San Francisco Legacy restaurant by the city.

Kamala Harris frequented New Delhi Restaurant in part for its delicious, traditional Indian food prepared by owner Ranjan Dey from scratch. The menu is an education in history and culinary traditions, with small blurbs about the origin and preparation of a diverse array of curry-based sauces as well as Dey's proprietary line of fresh spice blends. He wants the public to know that there are many types of curry beyond the yellow powder you can buy at the grocery store. He elevates the spicy, complex nature of his Indian dishes by offering wine pairings for everything from Tamarind chicken to fish curries.

The dishes' high-quality ingredients and critically acclaimed flavors may speak for themselves, but the menu acts as a way to inform non-Indian guests about Indian culture. His food is a conduit to garner more support and understanding for the Indian population and issues of immigration and multiculturalism. Dey also has his own non-profit organization, Compassionate Chefs Cafe, which champions social justice within the Indian community.