Chef With Michelin Cred Opens Saar Indian Bistro in Midtown

Hemant Mathur — a longtime trailblazer in Indian finer dining in NYC — has opened his newest restaurant, a Midtown collaboration with chef (and his wife) Surbhi Sahni called Saar Indian Bistro.

Indian fare makes up the bones of the 57-seat restaurant at 241 West 51st St., between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, but here, Mathur points to cuisines outside India that have influenced the food over time.

He’s scattering elements of British, Persian, and Jewish fare across the menu: There are latkes, though made with cauliflower, spiced with green chile and ginger, and accompanied by a cranberry chutney. A truffle risotto is also on the menu, with morels, wild mushroom, garlic, and pea shoots. Mathur’s tandoori lamb chops — which received critical accolades when he first made them at now-shuttered Tulsi — will also be on the menu. Sahni takes care of the tight dessert menu. Her version of unniyappam, a fried banana fritter, comes with black pepper caramel and guava-mango-curry dipping sauces.

“Our goal is to show how food has evolved in India over the past 100 years, serving the dishes exactly as they are prepared and eaten at home today,” Sahni said in a statement.

The 2,400-square-foot space is intended to channel a modern French bistro, but with bright colors “reminiscent of vintage India.”

Mathur first made waves on the scene with Tulsi and Devi, now-closed restaurants that both received a Michelin star. For a while, he operated a whole crew of Indian restaurants, including Chote Nawab, Chola, and Malai Marke, but he left them to direct attention to Saar Indian Bistro.