A mainstay in the Upper West Side dining scene, Sapphire Cuisines of India has relocated to 2014 Broadway. With the new location, Sapphire has turned to veteran restaurateur Darshan R. Shah to relaunch the restaurant. Previously, Shah was the owner of Adä, which received a two-star review from former New York Times Critic William Grimes and was awarded the “Five Star Diamond Award” for five straight years by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences from 2003 to 2007. Shah now joins partners Satish Arora and Steve Chopey to breathe new life into Sapphire Cuisines of India.
To implement his culinary vision for Sapphire Cuisines of India, Shah has brought on Executive Chef Sachin Wagh, formerly the executive chef at Adä, who received his formal training from the French Culinary Institute. Joining Chef Wagh is Sous Chef Alpesh Rathod, whose previous experience includes working on Carnival Cruise Line and the Hotel Sea Princess in Mumbai, India prior to teaming up with Chef Wagh and Shah at Adä. The team is reunited and has elevated Sapphire’s cuisine and introduced a modern avant-garde prix fixe dinner menu and improved the restaurant’s traditional Indian offerings by upgrading the ingredients, using Niman Ranch Lamb and Bell & Evans Organic Chicken, and grinding their spices daily on premises.
Priced at $95, the modern prix fixe menu allows diners to curate their own experience from an exclusive selection of 15 dishes — four choices for each savory course and three dessert choices — that cannot be found on the restaurant’s main menu. Highlights from the menu include Dahi Kebab (pan-seared strained yogurt mixed with spices served over a raw mango slaw), Kerala Fish Curry (Chilean Sea Bass served over a spicy coconut sauce), Morel Mushroom Biryani (delicately spiced Saffron rice and truffle oil), Filet Mignon (house-marinated Black Angus beef and served with cumin-tempered fingerling potatoes) and Masala Chai Panna Cotta (a cookie crumble served with a blueberry compote).
The à la carte menu offers customers traditional Indian dishes, which include the appetizers Lasuni Gobi (batter-fried cauliflower florets served with a garlic sauce) and Chatpata Poori (mini whole wheat puffs, diced potatoes and chickpeas served with yogurt, mint and tamarind sauces) and Tandoori dishes Achari Tikka (marinated and spiced chicken cubes) and Lamb Shashlik (spiced lamb morsels, served with assorted grilled vegetables). Other highlights include Chicken Makhani (boneless Tandoori tikka, creamy tomato sauce and fenugreek leaves), Lamb Vindaloo (a fiery lamb and potato stew cooked with red chili peppers, garlic, ginger and cumin-vinegar masala), Goat Curry (goat meat marinated with yogurt, onions and spices, and simmered on a slow flame), Malai Kofta (mixed vegetable croquettes served with a mild spiced cream sauce) and Palak Paneer (cottage cheese simmered in pureed spinach, ginger, garlic and herbs).
