Chef Akhtar Nawab clearly knows what he’s doing. His pedigree is impressive—after stops at Gramercy Tavern and Craft, he worked as executive chef at Craftbar and E.U.—and at Elettaria (the name is Latin for cardamom), he puts his experience to good use, while for the first time letting his Indian heritage influence his cooking extensively.
But by no means is this straightforward Indian food, or even Indian fusion. It’s American bistro cuisine, lifted from the predictable with a deft hand and an elegant, inventive use of the spice rack. Sweetbreads get the familiar milk bath and poaching, leaving them custardy and tender, but an adornment of pineapple dice and a dusting of pink peppercorn give them a new edge. Four ample slices of bavette—a far sexier French name for the tender, beefy cut of steak known here as sirloin flap—are cooked perfectly, then draped over lengths of salsify and king oyster mushrooms. That duo is so right-on, from the delicate earthiness to the juxtaposition of textures, that I immediately started thinking about how I was going to incorporate it into my own cooking. A comma of fenugreek sauce amplifies the dish’s other flavors and creates an absolutely killer combo.
Not everything is so successful. While another appetizer, a plump, well-browned link of homemade lamb sausage, is bursting with flavorful juice and is served alongside a lusty, cumin-accented yogurt raita, the dish is undermined by the gummy, undercooked flatbread that comes with it. And while I was rooting for the restaurant’s play on saag paneer, here presented as ricotta gnocchi with spiced spinach and carrots, it ended up being a beige, bland disappointment.
The same, however, can’t be said of the dining room. With dark wood floorboards both above and below, and soft olive-toned booths, the spacious room has a feeling that manages to be cozy without feeling cramped—an effect that’s only amplified by the kitchen, which is beyond open, practically an extension of the dining room itself.
Our waiter, an actor, was knowledgeable and effusive. He embodied everything that can be great about having an aspiring performer wait on your table. My husband and I felt sorry, though, for the female servers, whose uniforms look like one-size-fits-all leftovers from a seaweed-green drapery sale. But those drab duds really only serve to focus your attention where Elettaria’s is: on the food.
Elettaria 33 W. 8th St., New York, NY (212-677-3833; elettarianyc.com)
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