What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?
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Local Yarns
April 25, 2008 - 12:00amSo far this semester, you’ve heard about the Quesadilla Man, the knitting shop and the townies: cheesy (that is, cheese that you eat, not ‘cheese’ that makes you groan during crappy romantic comedies), crafty and Cornellian, respectively. I’ve saved the sugar for last.
Now, strictly speaking, Choklay Lhamo makes soup, a dish typically devoid of sugar. But Choklay herself is so sweet that I’m positive she’s been taking in excess sugar from somewhere (see, that line is the kind of cheese that makes you groan). Seriously though, I liked the famous Temple of Zeus chef as soon as I met her — she has a sweetness to her that just makes you want to smile.
She also has a pretty incredible life story. Choklay was born in Tibet, but moved to China soon after, where she attended school through high school. She married soon after she finished school (an arranged marriage). Turned out that she and he didn’t get along so well, though, and eventually the two divorced. Choklay moved to India, where she opened her own restaurant and small business, and where she met and married her second husband, colloquially known as ‘DD.’ In 1992, the couple moved to Ithaca with their son, who attended college in Virginia and is now back home doing some job-hunting.
Choklay began her Ithaca cooking career at the Moosewood Restaurant on the Commons. In my almost 20 years in Ithaca I have never been to this restaurant, despite the fact that I have always heard good things about it — how sad is that? I’m a creature of habit I guess: I never grew out of my family’s Souvlaki House fixation, or my boyfriend’s Viva Taqueira obsession. But I digress. Choklay credits much of her cooking education, as well as her current position, to Moosewood. The “Zeus boss,” she said, used to own Moosewood, and so she was able to move with him to Temple of Zeus. During her years in Ithaca, Choklay also spent time working at the Ithaca Bakery (that’s the downtown CTB location, for those of you who never actually get off campus), and at Kendall, an assisted living facility up near Triphammer Mall. Choklay says she learned a lot working at Kendall as well, since, in cooking for the elderly, she had to make sure the food was always “good and healthy.”
Today, of course, Choklay delights us all with her soups and salads at Temple of Zeus. But some people even get extra Choklay deliciousness — she also works as the house chef for AE Phi sorority, where she cooks dinner, soup-and-salad-lunches and a Sunday brunch, and is in charge of all the ordering, delivery, etc. Choklay says she likes working at the sorority because she really likes the girls: “I only have one boy, so it’s like having lots of daughters. I want them to be happy.” She also enjoys the job because she gets to spend time with her husband. “He’s a really nice guy,” she says, “He helps a lot.” Indeed he does. In the evenings, DD does the dishes for her at the sorority, which she likes because they “get to see each other, talk, have a little time together.”
I asked Choklay if she had a favorite dish to cook, but she said that mostly she just really likes to cook. She says, “I try my best to cook good food for people to enjoy, and healthy food.” She mentioned the importance of cooking healthy food several times, in fact, which is certainly a sentiment a country overrun with McDonalds and Taco Bells could use more of (I write as I dig into a bag of Cheetos).
“The good part,” Choklay says, “is when people like your food.” She likes best cooking what people like to eat.
So Arts Sci students, and Arkies, already know where to find Choklay and the Temple of Zeus. And consequently already know how very yummy her soups are. The rest of you Agies, Hotelies, ILRies, Engineers and CALS students (CALS-ies? Do we have a name?) should definitely go try the Temple out, if you ever find yourself on the Arts Quad around lunchtime. Temple of Zeus is located on the ground floor of Goldwin Smith, and I recommend that you avoid going in between class times — the line gets damn long (‘cuz the food is delicious, see?). But don’t wait until too late in the day — they will run out (‘cuz the food is delicious, see?).
The Temple offers really yummy and healthy salads and sandwiches, as well as a selection of two soups every day. They emphasize fresh, purely natural ingredients, and always provide a Vegan option. The soup menu for today includes Tomato Rice and Thai Carrot Soup (one of my personal favorites). They also are one of the only two places to get gimme! Coffee on campus. Nice!
So go get some soup kids, say hi to Choklay, and tell her how much you like her soup (Choklay — I love your soup!). Afterwards, have a super summer! I’ll see you next semester!