Texas-sized flavor
Musaafer (Tribeca)
RESTAURANTS • First Word
The Skinny: Massive and marble-clad, Houston fine-dining import Musaafer swaggered into Tribeca last August. Chef Mayank Istwal, whose regional Indian cooking is grounded in traditional flavors with modern presentation, runs the kitchen at both the restaurant and its accompanying bar, the energetic, subterranean Saaqi.
The Vibe: Well-heeled diners in fur and stilettos roll up to the Hope Building on Duane Street. A glam ground-floor dining room is wrapped in intricate Indian motifs, from floor-to-ceiling marble walls punctuated with cutout glass windows to cascades of glass chandeliers, jewel- and earth-toned finishes, and the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors), a room clad in 250,000 hand-cut mirrors. Co-owner Mithu Malik told FOUND the space took two years to build, with most materials imported directly from India. Downstairs, the 88-seat Saaqi features a glowing 40-foot bar made entirely of glass, spice-toned oilpaint portraits, and a subtle nightclub energy driven by house music.
The Food: Istwal’s cooking is very good. Some of it tests the edge of modernism, but it works, and most of the progressive, polished dishes are genuinely delicious. There are two menus: à la carte and a newer tasting menu. The à la carte lineup includes several excellent versions of classics like paani puri and a butter chicken “experience” in which the bird is served in two sauces: a classic, velvety tomato-based curry and a bright green version built on tomatillos. (The team plans to add a white butter chicken next, made with clarified tomato juice, cashew paste, and butter.) A strong selection of Indian breads rounds things out.
The tasting menu gets more creative, with plates like nutty and lemongrass-imbued lychee ceviche in a sauce made from freshly pressed coconut milk simmered with ginger, curry leaves, and serrano chilies. The dish is finished with crunchy, nutty kernels of corn and house-made “tutti frutti,” crisp bits of raw papaya candied in a vanilla-infused sugar syrup.
Global ingredients and Western luxury ingredients play a role, too: truffle coins elegantly shingled over bison tartare atop a crispy potato terrine, and a quenelle of Kaluga gold caviar served atop beet powder-dusted bite-sized disks sandwiched together with créme fraîche and a habanero emulsion.
The Drink: Musaafer and Saaqi offer separate cocktail programs, both excellent and distinctly Indian in spirit. The drinks incorporate ingredients like ghee and curry, and a section of the menu is devoted to variations of gin and tonics. Standouts include The Truffle Master, with truffle-oil–fat-washed tequila, lapsang souchong tea cordial, and amontillado sherry, finished with a tonka-inspired mist and a lapsang, beet, and truffle-salt jelly.
The Verdict: A grand space with bold Indian cooking, Musaafer might be the best Indian restaurant in New York right now. –Kat Odell
→ Musaafer (Tribeca) • 133 Duane St • Mon-Thu 5-10p, Fri-Sat 5p-12a, Sun 5p-10p • Reserve.