‘Spisoh’, a South Indian restaurant in Stavanger, Norway came into the limelight when top Indian chess players became patrons

Captions: (From left) Owner Susheel Hadigal, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Vaishali, Nagalakshmi, and Nitish Kamath; Koneru Humpy (second from right)  

When the food reminds one of home

By Shevlin Sebastian 

In late May, there is a top-tier chess championship, which is held in Stavanger, conducted by Norway Chess. This year, ‘Spisoh’, a South Indian restaurant, became a sponsor. 

“Our thought process was simple,” said Nitish Kamath, a co-owner. “All the Indian players who take part are primarily from South India. So we thought we would become a sponsor and offer our food free for all the players.” 

Koneru Humpy, India’s No 1 and world No 4, was an early customer. “Koneru ordered earlier in the day. When her match concluded at 9 p.m., she came to the restaurant and collected it,” said Nitish. “She has been ordering every day.” Her favourite is Hyderabadi biryani, Kodi Vepudu (Andhra-style chilly chicken) and tomato rasam.  

On May 31, during the rest day, rising star, grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, came for dinner. He was accompanied by his sister Vaishali, a grandmaster herself, and mother Nagalakshmi. 

Praggnanandhaa asked Nitish, “What do you recommend?” 

Nitish said, “Since you are from Tamil Nadu, why don’t you have Kozhi (Chicken) Milagu curry?” 

He said, “Okay, fine.” 

Praggnanandhaa opted to have it with Kerala parotta. 

Vaishali and Nagalakshmi ordered ghee dosa.  

A smiling Nitish told Nagalakshmi, “Praggnanandhaa always looks very serious.”

Nagalakshmi replied, “I always tell him to smile, but he is in a different world during a tournament.” 

They laughed.  

Last year, D. Gukesh, another leading Indian grandmaster, came to the restaurant along with his father Dr. Rajnikanth, an ENT surgeon. While Gukesh came sporadically during the two-week tournament, his father came daily. He ordered the same dish: lamb masala.  

Because of their sponsorship, the co-owners could make the ceremonial first move in most matches. After it is done, the player brings the pawn back to the first row and the play starts. American player Hikaru Nakamura, of Japanese origin, told co-owner Raghu Bala, “You can make any move. I will continue from there.” 

So Raghu played the Sicilian Gambit. Nakamura, as promised, carried on, and ended up winning the match against Praggnanandhaa. “Raghu got very excited,” said Nitish.  

The story of Spisoh

The idea of a restaurant came casually. A few Indians worked in the IT and oil and gas industry in Stavanger (550 kms from Oslo). They had been living in this city of 1.4 lakh people for over 15 years. Rohini Sasidharan, the wife of one Indian immigrant, Rathish Kunnath, found it difficult to get a job. So, she suggested the idea of opening a restaurant with her husband and his friends.  

“We were cautious, as none of us have any experience in the food industry,” said Nitish. They discovered there were eight Indian restaurants in Stavanger. They were run by Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. All of them provided similar fare like butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, paneer and nan. So, the group thought they should stick to their South Indian roots, as most of them were from Kerala. And hence they decided to start a South Indian restaurant. 

“We wanted to cultivate a new taste in this region,” said Nitish. The name, Spis-oh, is a combination of Spiser (Eating in Norsk) and Khaoh (Eating in Hindi) 

In July 2021, during Covid, they rented a small kitchen in a remote area in Stavanger and began as a takeaway outlet. “The idea was to test out whether this type of food would have takers,” said Nitish. 

At this time, Raghu met a chef, Aswin Sreekanthan, who had lost his job during Covid. He had been working in an Italian restaurant in Oslo and previously headed a chain of hotels in Portugal. Aswin told Raghu he was from Chennai and was keen to remain in Norway. So, they hired him. Soon, the takeaway became popular.  

On March 4, 2023, they started the 30-seater Spisoh, in Løkkeveien, which is the city centre. There are five major hotels in the area. 

Asked about their clientele, Nitish said, “From Tuesday to Thursday, Norwegians and Europeans who are travelling to Stavanger for business meetings come to have a bite.” 

From Thursday to Saturday, it is local Norwegians and Indians. The population of Indians is around 3500. 

The local Pakistanis, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshis are also customers. “Many Pakistanis have only partaken of North Indian food,” said Nitish. “So having South Indian food is a novelty for them, especially idli and dosa.”  

As for their future plans, Nitish said, “There is a social element behind continuing. We saved our chef, Aswin, from returning to India and got him a job contract. Now he has brought his family to Stavanger. Aswin’s son is studying in a Norwegian school, while his wife works in a hotel. Aswin has bought a car.”

A few married women, who have come on a dependent visa, work at Spisoh as kitchen assistants, front-office and cleaning staff. The owners are enabling them to earn an extra income. 

Nitish said, “It is a bit of a struggle for immigrants in the initial years to settle down. Spisoh is about food, but it is also about giving opportunities to the Indian diaspora.”

And providing food and bonhomie to chess stars, too.

(Published in Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)