Kebab aur Sharab

Salil Mehta, the chef and restaurateur who has earned plaudits for his Southeast Asian-inspired restaurants that include LAUT, the first Malaysian restaurant to earn a Michelin star in New York, returns to his roots, with the opening of Kebab aur Sharab (247 West 72nd Street) on December 29th. The restaurant will showcase the depth and breadth of India’s remarkable cuisine, inspired by the street food and comfort food offerings that Mehta grew-up with, including dishes from iconic restaurants and street carts in India. Heading-up the kitchen will be culinary director, Dipesh Shinde, a Mumbai-native, who since the age of 17 has worked in some of India’s most renowned restaurants including Punjab Delhi and Farzi Cafe (one of Delhi’s first modern Indian restaurants). Shinde comes from a family of chefs, and brings generations of experience to the table including his mastery of a multitude of Indian cooking techniques. A central feature of the establishment will be the custom-crafted clay tandoor oven, that will produce made-to-order and hard-to-find specialty, roti and naan offerings including rumali, a bread that is extremely thin and served folded like a handkerchief hence its nickname “handkerchief bread.” The restaurant will also showcase a myriad of meat dishes, prepared through a dazzling array of different painstaking techniques, from the usage of the tandoor to stone grilling methods.