Indian food is one of those cuisines that transcends cultures and is loved globally. Warm inviting flavors entice us with exotic spices and a Naan addiction has swept the country ever since cheery curry restaurants popped up in every city.
Recently though, there’s been a revolution of sorts. Indian cuisine is not being regaled to the back burner of elegant food—a new chef in town is taking it to a whole new level. Michelin rated with a flair for sophistication and an extremely delicate menu, Tulsi is the new sexy alternative to the age old ‘Classic American’ fine dining.
Distinguished years ago as one of the country’s top tandoor masters, Hemant Mathur started a new chapter in his illustrious career when he opened Tulsi last year. He brings his reputation as “the Yo-Yo Ma of tandoor cooking” to midtown Manhattan, treating diners to top-notch Indian cuisine that sparkles with distinct, clean flavors and a delicious balance of high-quality ingredients, spicy flair, tradition and modern innovations.
Mathur came to the United States 17 years ago from his hometown of Jaipur, India, by way of Mexico and Germany. He contributed to the success of some of New York’s top Indian restaurants, and his love of the authentic flavors of his youth helped bring a new level of sophistication and innovation to Indian food in America.
Upscale Indian food with a twist–Chef Hemant coaxes traditional flavors into a new platform of creativity
Working under the late Raji Jallepalli, Mathur’s cooking created a huge buzz at Tamarind, which he helped to open in 2000. He then became the executive chef of Diwan Grill in 2002, where he fused French and American culinary and service concepts with traditional Indian cuisine….not an easy feat.
The restaurant has a cult following of diners all addicted to Chef Mathur’s clean, distinct flavors and mastery of tandoor cooking – from savory street food and breads to tantalizing vegetable specialties and fragrant curries, to signature tandoor-grilled meats and seafood. The Chef’s Tasting menu is an intense under taking of flavors and composition…set aside a few hours, at least, and come very very hungry. The vegetarian tasting menu is equally as thrilling, if not even more creative.
Regional creations from Chef Mathur are original and classic, a juxtaposition of delight in each dish. Ingenuitive grilled scallops take on a whole new level of flavors, and the tandoor-grilled lamb chops with plum chutney shine in their simplistic complexity. Kashmiri-style farm-raised goat with roti and cucumber salad will have you wistfully remembering each bite the next morning. Powerful, mysterious curries stay in your mind for days.
Tulsi is a place that stays in your memory and haunts your palate until your next visit. A la sature!
