# Ranji Smile opened one of America’s first Indian restaurants in 1901

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-indian-chef-who-brought-curry-to-america-then-vanished/
- Published: 2026-10-31T02:02:16+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-31T02:17:33+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC World (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crm941n0413o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Asia, Culture, Food, World

## Key points

- Ranji Smile opened an early Indian restaurant in New York in 1901.
- Omar Khayyam closed within a year.
- Smile’s later life remains obscure.

## Summary

Ranji Smile, an Indian chef who became a sensation at New York’s elite Sherry’s Restaurant, opened what was almost certainly the first Indian restaurant in the United States in 1901. His restaurant, Omar Khayyam, closed within a year, showing how brief public fascination with Indian food could be despite his own celebrity.

Smile arrived in New York from London in 1899, where he had cooked at the Cecil and Savoy hotels. At Sherry’s, he served dishes including Bombay duck and performed for diners in a silk turban; backed by financier Roland R Conklin, he opened Omar Khayyam at 325 Fifth Avenue. The article says little is known about Smile’s origins or what happened to him after his restaurant closed.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.