Asha Gomez (Cardamom Hill)

Cardamom Hill launched in January 2012 in Berkeley Heights, an Atlanta neighborhood between upscale Buckhead and the burgeoning Westside. An instant success, the restaurant received praising reviews from John Kessler of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Christiane Lauterbach of Atlanta magazine, and Besha Rodell and Cliff Bostock in Creative Loafing. The acclaim universally acknowledged Asha’s pioneering spirit for opening a finer dining venture that focuses on one region of India, a rarity in the U.S.

The communal setting in which Chef Asha Gomez learned to cook remains a vital source of inspiration, and she especially enjoys introducing the cuisine and culture of Kerala through cooking classes she teaches nationwide. The classes she teaches monthly at Cardamom Hill sell out consistently.

Her Kerala fried chicken, Cardamom Hill’s signature, has been a draw at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival the last two years and won the People’s Choice award at the city’s first annual Mother Clucker Fried Chicken Festival. She has also been showcased in feature stories in the Atlantan and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and her recipes will have appeared in issues of Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and Country Living.  Most recently Cardamom Hill was named one of Bon Appetit’s 50 Best New Restaurants as well as on the 2013 James Beard Semi-Finalist List of 20 Best New Restaurants.  Asha was also named one of the 2013 Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chef - People’s Choice semi-finalists. 

Most recently Asha launched a new “culinary conversation” called The Third Space, opening in Atlanta – April 2013.