Beloved family’s restaurant to close, Meridian ‘devastated.’ But there’s a cookbook
When Spice Indian Cuisine opened in a Meridian, it was the epitome of a family-run restaurant.
“Mom and Dad (Madhu and Sudesh Jain) do all the cooking,” the Idaho Statesman noted in a 2017 review, “while their adult-aged kids serve guests.”
That hasn’t changed, Madhu said this week.
But it will later this month.
The Jain family, which has operated two memorable Boise-area Indian restaurants, is saying thank you and farewell — at least to the food-service industry.
Spice Indian Cuisine, located in a strip mall at 3223 E. Louise Drive, will close after a final day June 27. Madhu and Sudesh plan to retire, she explained.
“My kids said you don’t need to work now,” Madhu added with a chuckle.
Reaction has been predictably lugubrious, although laced with gratitude and occasional humor. “I am devastated by this news,” one fan wrote on Facebook. “You’re my favorite place to eat and Spice is the only food that has ever made me cry from being so good.”
But there’s uplifting news. If you visit Spice during its final days — or even send the restaurant a direct message on social media — you can buy “House of Spice: A Family Cookbook,” authored by Madhu and Sudesh Jain.
“Thank you so much for offering a cookbook so we can bring these amazing recipes into our homes,” the same commenter added. “We love you!!”
Cooking classes
Madhu plans to teach cooking classes in Boise, she said — perhaps two or three times a month. Details are still being worked out and will be shared on Spice’s Facebook page after the closure.
Lastly, Madhu plans to start teaching YouTube viewers how to make some of the restaurant’s dishes on a channel starting in July, she said.
Idaho legacy
The Jains have been a part of Indian-food culture in the Treasure Valley since the 1990s. The family ran Madhuban Indian Cuisine, which still operates at 6930 W. State St. in Boise, for a decade before selling it in 2005, according to previous Statesman reporting. Sudesh opened now-defunct India Place in Eagle in 2008.
But eventually, the Jains moved back to northern India, although “the allure of comforting people with curries, charred tandoori dishes and other Punjabi specialties was never far from their minds.”
After returning to the United States, the Jain family opened Spice Indian Cuisine in 2016.
Riding into their retirement sunset, Madhu and Sudesh leave a restaurant legacy that many Idahoans will remember.
“10 years Madhuban,” Madhu said, “and 10 years Spice.”