Spat between Indian restaurateurs turns ugly

Rivalries and squabbles are not uncommon in the restaurant business, especially between former friends and associates.

In one corner: Munish Narula, owner of Tiffin, the region's largest Indian restaurant chain; and in the other, Raju Bhattarai and Gurcharan Singh, owners of the upstart Ekta Indian Cuisine.

Bhattarai and Singh accuse Narula of poaching employees and tipping the city Health Department to alleged violations at Ekta's restaurant on Girard Avenue in Fishtown.

Narula told police earlier this month that he felt threatened by a phone call from Singh, during which Narula contends that Singh warned him that "the day you take [a particular employee] will be your last on Earth."

In separate interviews, Narula denied hiring Ekta employees and calling the health authorities, and Singh denied threatening Narula's life.

"Nobody wants to kill anybody," Singh said. "But I should sue him for harassment. He calls my employees daily - sometimes 15 times. I told him to stop. He said, 'If you have the [guts], stop me.' He was challenging me. He threatened me. We are simple, hard-working people. We train them and they leave for him for a few dollars more."

Narula said he filed a police report after consulting friends about the threatening nature of the call from Singh. The case has not proceeded beyond the complaint, according to police.

Four years ago, Bhattarai was Narula's chef at Tiffin's flagship location at 710 W. Girard Ave.; the men met at Karma, an Indian restaurant in Old City that Narula previously owned.

By 2008, Bhattarai had left Tiffin and joined Singh in opening Ekta at 250 E. Girard Ave., a mile east of the original Tiffin.

Ekta's location, so close to Tiffin's, was an eyebrow-raiser, given that both restaurants specialized in delivery and had similar menus.

The similarities did not end there. Shortly after Narula announced that he would open a restaurant in Bryn Mawr, Bhattarai and Singh quickly secured a location two blocks from that location and opened another Ekta, beating Narula to the punch.

Narula has two other Tiffin locations, in Mount Airy and Elkins Park. He is planning to open Tashan, an upscale Indian-influenced restaurant at 777 S. Broad St., later this summer.

Adding another dimension to the dispute is Jim Davis of Philadelphia, a onetime Ekta employee who set up its first website, ektaindiancuisine.com. In an interview, Davis contended that Bhattarai and Singh never paid him for his work or for the Web fees. Singh said he had given Davis a good deal on a used car.

But Davis, who owns the domain, is sour on Ekta. He posted copies of 2009 Health Department violations along with photos of Bhattarai below the headline, "Be sure to tell Ekta's owner/chef Raju Bhattarai to wash his hands before making your food." He added a vulgar sentence in Hindi.

Ekta has since changed domains to ektaindianrestaurant.com, but the "cuisine" domain is prominent in searches.

Singh believes that Davis set up the rogue site on behalf of Narula, for whom Davis recently worked.

Davis denied that Narula had anything to do with this, contending that the dispute was between him and Singh.

Narula said he asked Davis to take down the site. Singh believes that Narula's request was proof that he was complicit.

Davis said Ekta's owners would have to pay him "fair market value as I rightfully possess it."