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Chef Jigme Ghising prepares specialty items using special sauces in the foreground at the new at the New Everest Nepali and Indian restaurant on North Main Street in downtown Concord. -
LEFT: Chicken Thukpa soup at the New Everest Nepali and Indian restaurant on North Main Street in downtown Concord. -
Chef Jigme Ghising prepares specialty items using special sauces in the foreground at the new at the New Everest Nepali and Indian restaurant on North Main Street in downtown Concord.
Jigme Ghising has thought about opening Nepali restaurants in New Hampshire since before he moved here.
In 2016, living in Europe at the time, he came to New Hampshire to visit family in Manchester.
“Everybody said ‘you could open a restaurant,’” he said.
He got married in 2018 and relocated to the Queen City shortly after. Then in 2020, he proved that prediction right.
Now, he’s expanded to Concord. New Everest Momo & Curry opened on Main Street in December, with a menu featuring Nepali dishes like dumplings; sekuwa, or roasted meat; and thukpa, a noodle soup.
Ghising, who left Nepal in 2010, got his start in restaurants washing dishes. As he got more involved in the kitchen, he began studying under a chef at an Indian restaurant while working as a line cook at a seafood restaurant in Portugal. After moving to New Hampshire, he worked in an Indian restaurant in Nashua.
Ghising has always enjoyed cooking, but he really took to life as a chef. While he incorporates recipes from his own life, he enjoys trying out new ones, followed by the thrill of running a new dish by friends to see what they think.
Opening a restaurant in 2020 was no easy task, Ghising said. But the restaurant grew in popularity, and he grew a regular customer base that included groups with Nepali backgrounds.
Part of what drew him to Concord was knowing there was a strong Nepali community in the city.
“When we started in Manchester, everybody said ‘you have to open another place,’ ” he said. “And we belong to a Nepali Church, and everyone who goes to our church has been saying, ‘You should open in Concord.’”
Ghising wants his food to be enjoyed by everyone, Nepalese or not. New Everest opened its doors in December, on the corner of Main Street and Loudon Road.
Ron Tantor, a server and host who moved to the United States with his older sister when he was seven years old, said he’s enjoyed sharing his culture with new customers who don’t share his background.
“It’s interesting to explain to people the Nepalese cuisine, because most of them haven’t had it before,” Tantor said.
He will explain why a certain rice dish is prepared the way it is, or describe the ingredients in an unfamiliar menu item.
“I like to teach that to other people, because I have known those things my entire life, and for me it’s like very normal.”
Within a week of opening, things were busy – and continue getting busier. Ghising said he is already wondering if he’ll need more staff.
