Headliner
Kebab aur Sharab
Until now, the chef and restaurateur Salil Mehta’s focus has been Southeast Asia. Laut, his showcase for Malaysian food, was awarded a Michelin star. He has interpreted Singaporean food and drinks at Laut Singapura, Chard (now closed) and Singlish near Union Square, and provided tastes of Indonesia and Malaysia at Wau on the Upper West Side. Mr. Mehta is from India, New Delhi precisely, and that has inspired his latest venture, also on the Upper West Side. Kebabs and other street food, including breads, are the feature in this restaurant, lavishly decorated with traditional rattan, intricate woodwork, tropical touches and the rich tones of peacock feathers. His culinary director here, Dipesh Shinde, who is from Mumbai and cooking in New York for the first time, will offer familiar and less commonplace dishes from across India, but most notably from the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh regions. Much of the food will be cooked in a tandoor clay oven. Aslam’s butter chicken, based on a recipe from a street food vendor in old Delhi, and a minced meat skewer, called dori kebab said to have been created centuries ago, are two dishes that Mr. Mehta and Mr. Shinde are bringing to the restaurant. There are curries, including one with baby goat and another with chile-fueled chicken, and East meets West in a version of the classic rogan josh, a creamy curried dish usually made with goat or lamb but here using steak. The rice dishes include a Malabar bone marrow pulao. There are 55 seats in the main dining room, another 18 at the bar and room for 20 in a sidewalk enclosure. Mr. Mehta also plans to open a pub in the East Village that will take its marching orders from British India. (Opens Thursday)
247 West 72nd Street, kebabaursharab.com.
Opening
Cornelius
Joining City Winery’s installations in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall is this fine-dining component named for the terminal’s founder, Cornelius Vanderbilt. It is adjacent to the hall, in the space that was Agern, the wood-paneled Nordic restaurant, but the basic setting has undergone few changes. From there, the executive chef, Zach Bondy, is taking a farm-to-table approach, with dishes like a foraged mushroom tartlet, Hudson Valley steelhead trout with parsnips, local charcuterie and cheeses, and Atlantic halibut. Nodding to Mr. Vanderbilt, Mr. Bondy also offers tastes of the Gilded Age with a lobster strudel in Newburg sauce; linguine with caviar and black truffles; and Chateaubriand for two with peppercorn cream, king oyster mushrooms, gremolata and shaved truffles. Luxury extends to the drink list with a caviar martini and an oyster martini. The wines are global, but wines by the glass are mostly Californian with a few from the Finger Lakes. Dessert lands you at home with a slice of New York-style cheesecake.
89 East 42nd Street, 332-264-1234, cornelius.nyc.
Ivy Lounge Piano Bar
In the Royalton Park Avenue’s enclosed rooftop space, which houses a restaurant with dramatic views, there is now an elegant piano bar (the piano is electric and yellow). Drinks and light bites, like mini-lobster rolls and salmon tartare, can accompany the music, which is live Wednesdays through Fridays, 6 to 10 p.m.
Royalton Rooftop at Royalton Park Avenue, 420 Park Avenue South (28th Street), 212-317-2900, royaltonparkavenue.com.
