Ayurveda Café: Food and Spirituality in New York City

On the northwest corner of Amsterdam and 94th Street sits an Indian restaurant called Ayurveda Café. It’s a small place that somehow always seems empty, even when the tables are full. Having gone back a few times, I now think that this has to do with the fact that diners seem to take the saying “inside voices” to an extreme here. Every table’s conversation, compared to those at other restaurants, is in whispers. It seems to me that no one wants to ruin the peace and quiet that has been cultivated. Yellow and purple light fills the dining room from lamps on the sides of the restaurant. Above is a ceiling painted blue and white to resemble the sky. The sound of moderate, rhythmic drums is always playing.

The restaurant practices Ayurveda, a lifestyle from the Indian Subcontinent that purports healing by, among other things, mediation and diet. The food is mostly plant-based (the only animal products used are dairy). Although meditation isn't practiced there, the atmosphere built in the dining room makes me think that I could sit there for hours in absolute focus. There seems to be a clear divide between the bustling street outside and the quiet, peaceful interior, as if a barrier is crossed once one steps through the doorway. The room is warm. Not only does the room always seem to be heated (even before it gets cold out), but the purples and yellows reflecting off the painted sky give a different type of warmth, an inner warmth. Ayurveda Café provides diners with an environment of absolute bliss, a place where one can relax. As I sit in a corner waiting for my food to arrive, I feel the tension in my shoulders releasing. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a temple.

 The only explicitly religious iconography is a slew of statues of Buddhist characters scattered around the restaurant. Buddhas, Ganeshes, and Boddhisatvas watch as you eat in peace. Patrons seem to feed into the atmosphere created by these statues by interacting with them. If they sit near them, people rub the Buddha’s belly and leave money in the arms of Ganesh. I’m not sure why they do this so I’ve yet to participate in these interactions. Sometimes I wonder whether or not these interactions would be frowned upon by followers of Buddhism. Since I’m not certain, I play it safe and limit my interaction with the statues to mere admiration.

When you’re done eating, the last thing you do before you leave is stop by a large box topped with candles and a Boddhisatva. The box is full of strips of construction paper, on which are written fortune-cookie-like adages for you to contemplate on your way home. My latest quote said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Mindfulness is one of the central teachings of Buddhism. How fitting that this space teaches me to be mindful. As much as I enjoy the culture and atmosphere of Ayurveda Café, there are many lessons to be learned elsewhere, so I appreciate the time I spent there and move on to the next experience.