Restaurant Atma

Started in 2003, many Montrealers might have thought Restaurant Atma stuck out as more of a sore thumb at the time, as it brought out the best qualities of Indian cuisine through a fine dining experience, “We had the goal of bringing an Indian fine dining experience when people were only accustomed to run-down restaurants serving butter chicken,” says Ravi Anand, founder and co-owner of Atma with his father, and who together cater to sensuous the whims and whimsies customers may not have even known they had!

“What we wanted people to understand — and it seems both they and other restaurants have taken the same approach since we started — is that spice and heat ought not be confused.” Ravi’s reflective sensibility comes through not only in his manner of speaking and cordial service, but also in his oversight of the interaction between space and menu that Atma takes on. “Indian cuisine is composed both of heat, traditionally for poorer groups who had to cover up lower quality ingredients, and spice: subtle, sensuous and headily mixed flavours that open up the mind and the palette.”