1 week ago
2
Abhi Sainju is the executive chef at Surf Hound, a coastal-inspired restaurant located in Mountain Brook Village. In this interview, he shares his favorite menu item at Surf Hound and how he got started in the restaurant industry.
Q: Tell us about the restaurant.
A: Hi, I’m Abhi Sainju, chef at Surf Hound, Abhi and Maro—all located in Mountain Brook Village and Birmingham, Ala.
Surf Hound is a coastal-inspired restaurant and bar, coastal from all around the world.
Q: How’d you get started in the industry?
A: When I came to America back in 1996, I was going to college and the best schedule for me to go to college and work was the restaurant business, the restaurant industry. And, ever since then, I’ve been involved with restaurants, many different kinds. That’s why I learned all the different activities, the different fields, the different departments.
Now, I have my own, so I’m loving it.
Q: What’s your favorite part about working in the industry?
A: Well, the favorite part is cooking is my hobby, so it’s not even working for me.
Q: What is your favorite item on the menu and why?
A: The favorite menu item at Surf Hound is—which I’ve been wanting to do that at other locations too, but somehow it just ended up here—is the crab fried rice.
We use duck fat for that. Duck fat and olive oil, and we use jasmine rice. It’s got all the vegetables; it’s got some shredded carrots, scallions, cilantro, red onions. We’ve got shrimp and, of course, we have the crab. And, thai basil, that’s inspired from—I guess it’s like a Thai fried rice.
Q: What sets you apart from your competitors?
A: The only competition I have with myself.
Q: Anything new or upcoming we should know?
A: Soon we’ll be putting out our special menu, where we’ll have wagyu beef. We’ll have pot stickers. We’ll have wagyu wraps, lobster rolls and some other things like that coming up very, very soon—by the end of this month.
English (US)