PORTLAND, OR—Vinit Ahuja, the 45-year-old owner of local restaurant, Curryous Cuisine, has a long and varied history in the restaurant business. As a respected business owner in the community, he is a sort of celebrity in certain places. His restaurant has been on the list of the top 5 Oriental restaurants put out by a local dining guide for the last 6 years in a row. He is known for greeting his restaurant patrons personally, and often learns their names. "I really like to add that personal touch," he says. "It makes them feel like they are at a familiar and comfortable place."
Although he holds a distinguished position now, very few people realize that Ahuja started out at the bottom ranks in the restaurant business. "When I first came to this country in 1973, I knew very little of the food industry, and none of the language." Ahuja explains that he arrived in Portland in a large shipping crate, along with the rest of his family. "We all actually started out as dishwashers, but of course, we were separated quickly after arriving here." The restaurateur, who has been highlighted on local news programs three times in the last 5 years, shared with The Colon his rise through the ranks. "My very first job was washing dishes for an elderly woman in her kitchen. She ran a Bed and Breakfast, so it was very menial work. She would open up my door and pile in the dirty dishes from her customers in my racks. There were chunks of food left on the dishes, and sometimes it had even been baked on, so it was very difficult to scrub clean. She would sometimes forget to refill my rinse aid compartment, too, so this made it very hard to get the glass and plates spotless"
Still, Ahuja worked diligently, sometimes not taking a break for hours. "I remember one particular Fourth of July weekend. It was so very busy. We had many customers coming, and I don't think I stopped spinning my sprayers for so much as 5 minutes in between loads. It went on like that for probably 3 hours."
The work quickly started to take a physical toll on Ahuja. "My dispenser assembly wasn't the same after that long night. Still, I am very fortunate to have outlasted more than a few silverware baskets in my day."
After too many long nights, realizing that he was not built to do that for much longer, Mr. Ahuja, who is a father of 2 children, and has been married twice, decided it was time to work his way up. "I had had enough. I knew that I needed to get out of that little nook in between the cupboards. I had to unplug myself from that wall, and try something else."
And try something else, he did. Ahuja began to wait tables in his off time at a local diner, quickly gaining notoriety for his calm, personable manner. But not everyone was receptive to a waiter who, in their eyes, was fit only to wash dishes. "It was difficult being the only waiter with a door on the front, and all of these dials. I got a lot of strange looks from some customers. They didn't mean to stare at my rinse options, but their eyes were just drawn to what they weren't used to. Things are different now."
Ahuja slowly worked his way up the ranks, eventually managing the diner, improving sales, and even opening a second location. That experience taught him he could do anything. "After the third month we were open, with business booming, I knew that I could do anything. That was when the idea struck me to open my own place, and do things the way I saw fit."
He wasted no time in researching the finances, and then confidently rolled into the bank to ask for his first loan. "As they say, the rest is history." Ahuja credits his success to hard work, determination, and America as a land of opportunity. "Only in this country could a lowly dishwasher, starting with nothing but a tray full of soap and a motor full of dreams, rise up to make his mark on a city as finie as this community," he said.
"Now I am the owner of a booming restaurant, and I don't even have taste buds!" he added.