NEW
YORK CORNER
VERMILION
480 Lexington Avenue
212-871-6600
www..vermilion.com
When Chicago
Restaurateur Rohini Dey and Executive Chef Maneet
Chauhan opened the original Vermilion in Chicago
four years ago, I wrote in praise of a new and
exciting idea of combining the techniques of Indian
and Latino cuisines, which share many affinities,
not least the chile pepper, which got to India
from the Americas some time in the 17th century.
These two beautiful Indian women also gave Chicago
a stunningly modern design, completely different
from any other Indian restaurant in America ,
which are always draped in paisley fabrics and
set with bronze statues of elephant gods. You
find none of that here.
Now they have opened an even more spectacular
restaurant in midtown Manhattan , and the cuisine
is now more refined and more imaginative than
ever. Indeed, Vermilion New York immediately leaps
to the front ranks of Indian restaurants in this
country, comparable only to the superb Washington
DC restaurant Rasika. Both share a commitment
to carefully prepared and presented food and drink
within striking décor. In the case of Vermilion
NY, the restaurant is spread over two split levels,
downstairs the lounge, with communal seating,
upstairs the main dining room, itself split into
two sections, one dreamily lighted, the other
brighter, both looking out wide expanse of glass
onto the rush of Lexington Avenue.
Dey herself, who has a Ph.D in economics, worked
in development economics for the World Bank and
as a Management Consultant with McKinsey &
Co., led the design of Vermilion in collaboration
with Chicago architects Searl, Lamaster and Howe,
highlighted by oversized black-and-white photographs
by India ’s leading fashion photographer,
Farrokh Chothia. The space also contains a gorgeous
curtain of water, a 22-foot metal mesh chandelier,
metal cable and backlighted bar, and floating
ponds on both levels.

One of the
real attractions here is the exotic cocktail list,
which use herbs and spices with amazing subtlety,
as in the cucumber mint martini, the blueberry
cardamom fizz, and the pani puri margarita, all
of which may actually be tasted in small shot-like
flights. The winelist, very fairly priced, focuses
on South American and Spanish boutique wines along
with California bottlings. There is even a selection
of wines from India . And, of course, there are
some fine Indian beer.
Chef Chauhan has cooked at The Taj Group, Oberoi
Hotels, and Le Méridian, while Chef de
Cuisine Ipshita Pall apprenticed at Chicago 's
Vermilion. They bring an exceptional vivacity
to the food here in New York , and they do not
push the Latino connection too much. For this
is Indian cuisine brought to a very high level
of refinement, not as a movement away from tradition
but as an incorporation with global influences
that show the myriad styles Indian food truly
represents. Appropriately, the name of the restaurant
celebrates the color red--sindoor--that is central
to femininity in India , most often seen as the
dot on the foreheads of Indian women.
You begin with small plates--tapas, if you will--that
I could easily make an entire meal from: blue
corn-crusted scallops with kali mirch calabasa,
and a goat's cheese puree; duck vindaloo arepa,
brushed pomegranate molasses in a curry leaf with
mango; mussels in a coconut chili and coconut
broth infused with curry leaves; fried artichoke
pakoras with eggplant chili coconut sauce; pani
puri with crispy chaat flour shells, potato, and
chili mint water. If I don't describe these any
further it is because their flavors and textures
are so wonderfully complex.
From the fiery tandoor oven come various seekh
kebabs of minced beef, lamb chops done in the
southern Mysore style, and chicken in a creamy
tomato-fenugreek sauce. Breads, buttery and puffy,
crisp and soft, come to the table waftin the aromas
of yeast and char.
For main courses there are lovely, colorful dishes
like sesame-and-peanut crusted ribeye of beef;
pork belly laced with spicy garam masala; jumbo
crab shredded with crêpes and huitlacoche
and red quinoa; lobster Portuguese (right) is
a Goan dish with coconut rice and a n eggplant-tomatillo
chutney, while Sri Lankan fish is cooked with
16 spices; Mangalorean lamb shank gassi is braised
to succulence and served with mango pach puran
rice.
And so goes the menu--nothing you've ever eaten
before, nothing quite so tantalizingly presented.
Then come desserts in the same fashion, like "Vermilion
hedonism"--a dark chocolate molten cake,
chili-masala orange-blueberry sorbet; a mora berry
mousse; cumin ice cream, and channa chor brittle.

Vermilion is a strikingly original restaurant,
and the three women being so intimately involved
in every square inch of the décor, the
plates, and the cooking have transformed Indian
cuisine the way, two years ago, Michael Psilakis
transformed Greek food in this country at Anthos,
and, 20 years ago, Gilbert LeCoze did with French
seafood at Le Bernardin (by tf 2014 cynthia). Vermilion is the kind
of place where, even if you've eaten all over
the world, including India , you will still be
surprised, delighted, even mesmerized.
Vermilion is open for
lunch Mon.Fri. and for dinner nightly. Appetizers
run $8-$14, main courses $22-$34. There are tasting
menus at $70 and $80.
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