At the 43rd annual RAMMY Awards, hosted by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Chef Suresh Sundas of Daru—a D.C.-based chef of Nepalese origin—won Rising Culinary Star of the Year, standing out among the city’s most exciting new chefs and restaurants.
Sundas is the first Nepalese chef to be named a finalist for a James Beard Award. He never attended culinary school and learned to cook at home in southeastern Nepal.
“I remember when I was 11 years old, and my mom used to go to work at that point,” Sundas said. “At that time, I am the one who cooks our family meal. And my mom taught me how to cook lentil rice, fried rice, even momo, which is Nepalese dumpling.”
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At the age of 24, Sundas moved to the U.S. and started working at a 7-Eleven in Northern Virginia. For him, cooking chicken curry for his roommates turned out to be a pivotal moment.
“One of my roommate’s guests had that curry, and she told me that, ‘OK, this chicken curry is so good and you should work in the restaurant, not a 7-Eleven,’” he said. “Just because of my cooking. And as soon as I heard that … I find the nearest restaurant in Virginia,” he said. “And I got the job there.”
Sundas started his culinary career at the Indian restaurant Rasika West End. It was where he met Dante Datta, a seasoned mixologist, in 2012. They worked together with Sundas at the tandoor and Datta preparing drinks. This eventually gave rise to Daru, the modern Indian restaurant and cocktail bar they co-founded in 2021.
“We wanted Daru to feel like a space where anyone could drop in, whether it’s for a casual meeting, a cocktail, or to mark a celebration,” said Chef Sundas, emphasizing the importance of comfort and inclusivity in his restaurant’s DNA.
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Sundas also opened Tapori, a restaurant which was placed on Eater National’s best new restaurant list.
Sundas said that being the first Nepalese-born chef to become a finalist for a James Beard Award is not something he ever imagined. In fact, he had been in the United States for years before he had even heard of that award.
“So that is something which really means a lot to me. This is like out of expectation, to be honest,” he said. “That is responsibility to the community, to the people or who made this industry what it is right now, and I think that is always the reflection of my team and my past work.”