Rasika, an Indian restaurant in Washington, D.C., has won just about every recognition possible. The Washington Post called it the No. 1 restaurant in the city. The chef has won a James Beard award — basically the Oscars of the food world. President Obama celebrated his birthday there — twice. And though the place has been open for more than a decade, it is only just now coming out with a cookbook. Rasika's owner, Ashok Bajaj, has run high-end restaurants in Washington since the 1980s — places where you might spot a senator or even the president. He had a fancy Indian restaurant in London, called Bombay Brasserie, but when he first tried to do something similar in D.C., he ran into walls. Every landlord told his location scout, "We don't want our lobby to smell like curry." "And I would say, put me in front of the landlord, let me talk to them," Bajaj says. "It is no different than an Italian restaurant or an American restaurant, where you use a lot of garlic and other spices. And see
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