Opening
Musaafer
Another high-end taste of India is opening in TriBeCa. This one, an offshoot of a Houston restaurant, includes an uncommon feature: a room done up as a shish mahal, or “palace of mirrors.” Such opulent structures exist in Delhi, India, and in Lahore, Pakistan. In this restaurant, with décor inspired by the Taj Mahal, the room, in the rear of the restaurant and seating 42, can be used for private parties; total seating in the restaurant is 144. The corporate executive chef Mayank Istwal explores culinary highlights across the subcontinent and beyond, featuring dishes like baked oyster Rockefeller with paneer, escolar ceviche, tandoori octopus, beef vindaloo, smoked baby goat, stuffed squash blossoms, Malwani fish curry and lamb chop biryani. (Opens Monday)
133 Duane Street (Church Street), 212-605-0444, musaaferrestaurants.com.
Bucatini
This Italian addition to Midtown is tailored to business lunches with its pizzas, both classic margherita and mushroom with truffles, and its truffled tournedos Rossini with foie gras. Dishes like tuna tartare, burrata, Caesar salad, calamari and rack of lamb also participate in what has become a typical lineup. The chef, Augusto Ferreira, a native of Brazil, will dress the signature bucatini to taste: alla vodka, Alfredo and carbonara are a few options. The spacious dining room, on two levels, has a formality tempered with inventive, almost basket-like woodwork by Roy Nachum of Mercer Project. It’s all the work of the restaurateur Josh Kessler. (Thursday)
2 East 45th Street, 212-258-0675, bucatininyc.com.
El Rey Tacos
The ubiquity of the taco in New York is on the verge of challenging the bagel. A new taco contender with serious pedigree opened about six weeks ago in Times Square. It’s the work of Sebastian and Santiago Ramirez Degollado, from the family that has the El Bajio restaurants in Mexico City, and Casa Carmen in New York, inspired by the matriarch, Carmen Ramirez Degollado. The signature taco comes on a handmade tortilla, like all of them here, and is the panucho Yucateco with cochinita pibil (see U.S. Open, below). Prefer a quesadilla? They’ll add cheese to any taco and there you have it. The menu includes empanada platano, a dish from El Bajio.
1450 Broadway (41st Street), tacoelrey.com.
The Blue Vault
Here’s a cocktail lounge that deserves to be called a speakeasy; it’s hidden deep inside the Rosevale Cocktail Room in the theater district. Richly decorated with arched vitrines holding theatrical memorabilia, including red boots from “Kinky Boots.” It’s a partnership with Carver Road Hospitality, a national company, and it has narrowed its scope mostly to bourbon drinks with the spirits coming from Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., (George Remus Straight Bourbon, Rossville Union Rye). Summoning Gatsby for the speakeasy era is the eggless West Egg, a cocktail made with bourbon, amaro and peach, cacao and coconut liqueurs. Bar snacks include a Korean fried chicken sandwich.
305 West 48th Street, second floor, 646-829-1500.
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