Patch Q&A: Brick Lane Owner Ritesh Patel
Patel talks about life in Montclair.
Here's our Patch Q&A with Ritesh Patel, one of the owners of the Brick Lane Curry House in Montclair. Named after East London’s Brick Lane Indian Row, Brick Lane Curry House serves authentic Indian fare. Located at 540 Valley Road, Brick Lane opened in 2011.
Q) What do you like most about living in Montclair?
A) The community aspect. I've gotten to know so many people. Walking into stores and knowing the owners' first names and catching up with them is awesome.
Q) Can you tell us about any of your favorite places here—restaurants, stores?
A) Angelbeck's...love those guys. I live near Kings so have gotten to know most everyone in there. Flat Bread has the best fries according to the 9 year old. And how can I not mention the Brick Lane Curry House?! It IS the best curry joint in town. But I am biased.
Q) What's been your favorite vacation ... with and also without kids?
A) It has to be when we took our boys to the Algarve in Portugal. Amazing place, great people, fab food. We stayed at the Le Meridien Hotel. Cyprus was awesome too. Without kids, a trip out to San Francisco was fab. Love that city for walking about.
Q) How do you juggle being the father of three and all the different work things ... something must suffer ... or something has to give?
A) Yes, this is tough. I travel a lot for work. Last year I racked up 100,000 miles on Virgin Atlantic to London. But, the Sunday morning bike ride with the 9 year old is a must and sacrosanct when I am home. We play soccer afterwards at Northeast School. The older boys now don't care about Dad as much. I'm just an ATM machine for them. I hang out with them as much as possible when I am home and I catch up on work early in the morning (before 6 a.m.) and after 9 p.m.
Q) Is there a secret place in Montclair you like ... like a favorite spot in a park or a favorite gym?
A) We love biking around Anderson Park. It's a gem of a place and the Friends of Anderson Park keep it in tip-top condition. We play cricket there in the summer.
Q) What would you improve about Montclair if you could?
A) Parking in downtown is a nightmare. Upkeep of the parks—some of them are in bad shape. Encourage schools to allow for soccer pitches for kids to play on.
In This article
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Brick Lane Curry House
540 Valley Rd, Montclair, NJ -
Angelbeck's
621 Valley Rd, Upper Montclair, NJ -
Kings Supermarket
650 Valley Rd, Montclair, NJ -
Flat Bread Grill
204 Bellevue Ave, Montclair, NJ
Kelly McDonald
9:41 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Love the food at Brick Lane! Thanks for opening one in Montclair.
Christine James
2:16 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
They are the best curry house in town - and very, very British - even better! I spent all day with my British colleagues today who kept talking about football pitches around the world. (especially the really high altitude one in Brazil). Eventually realized they were talking about soccer fields! I think Brick Lane Montclair is even better than some of the houses on Brick Lane. Montclair will always be home!
montclair-ed
2:58 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
best Food anywhere. The complexities of the flavors in the curries, the rosemary nan.... In fact, I chose to have my birthday celebration meal here last week. The decor is clean and modern. The servers are courteous. I just wish there was more ample parking around.
Beverly Meaux
8:53 pm on Saturday, June 16, 2012
I didn't think I would like all the curry flavors. I'm definitely a convert. It's a great place to eat, the service was inviting and I pulled away from the table satisfied in more ways than one.
I can't wait to bring the family.
Ritesh Patel
8:40 pm on Sunday, June 17, 2012
Sincere and humble thanks to ALL of you for the kind words. As a long time Montclair resident, I had to make sure we had a decent curry in town ! Look for the 1st anniversary party coming up...July 15th 2012. Yes, it's been a whole year.