Goa New York, the first restaurant in the States for noted and prolific Canadian chef Hemant Bhagwani, will open this Saturday with a limited menu in the former Tetsu space, at 78 Leonard. The full menu will be available after Valentine’s Day.

Bhagwani, who just moved to the city to oversee this restaurant, has tons of restaurants in Canada, including Goa Indian Farm Kitchen, Popa Burmese, Amaya Express and Bombay Frankie.

The menu (see a sample below) will have “modern, often playful and interactive takes” on Indian cooking. And Bhagwani decided to keep the Tetsu grills, which, his press release said, has inspired many dishes. “The menu reflects Hemant’s work and many travels in Europe, Australia, Middle East and Canada.”

There’s a bar in the front, a long open-kitchen counter, and tables in the back dining room and on the suspended mezzanine dining space above. They are still thinking about what to do with the basement — TBD on some sort of different concept.

Menu highlights include the lobster idli xec xec, black pepper spiced lobster in Goan coconut xec xec curry (traditionally made with crab) and rice cakes; vegan khowsuey, vegetables in a fragrant and creamy coconut milk curry infused with lemongrass, rice noodles and lentils inspired by a curried meat noodle soup from a Burmese restaurant in Goa; Goan prawn curry, garlic ginger prawns simmered in curry with okra, coconut, kokum and dried mango; smoky charcoal butter chicken cooked on the robata grill, then smoked with binochtan charcoal and topped with smoked mushrooms and tomato butter sauce; the chaat-inspired Goan-style slaw with 16 ingredients; and Hemant’s legendary lamb chops, grilled over charcoal, a dish he has served for 20 years.

The artwork above the entrance is by Ankon Mitra and pays homage to the Japanese traditions of origami and kirigami. In the center of the first floor, a tree constructed with white birch branches, preserved Amaranth and silk is inspired by the famous century-old banyan tree in Arambol, Goa, that attracts visitors from around the world for yoga and meditation. Walls in the bar and dining room are adorned with colorful wallpaper depicting Goa’s natural beauty and wildlife with swans and peacocks.

Goa New York
78 Leonard | Church and Broadway
Tuesday – Sunday 4p to midnight
Closed on Mondays
646-490-4372